Sony's cheeky grid price and Canon's APS-C trick

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Cameras are software products. Anyone who follows this column regularly will have read this sentence several times already, but it can't be avoided this week either. You can thank Sony for repeating it, as they have now taken the principle a little too far. This is because the paid update for custom gridlines for uploading to the camera has recently become available in the USA and Canada.

You have to realize what's happening technically before you consider the potential benefits: For $149 plus tax, you can upload up to four PNG files to the Sony A1, A7s III, A7 IV or A9 III. The Alpha shows the content - primarily gridlines - in the viewfinder, the display and externally via HDMI as an overlay. Nothing else happens, it is just an overlay over the image content, a function that is trivial to program. Especially in view of all the other real-time data that modern cameras can display.

Sony had already announced at the end of 2023 that it would charge for its own gridlines, and now you can also book the license for this bit of software on the Sony website. Those who haven't missed the function so far won't need it now, but for some highly specialized photographers it will be indispensable. As Sony shows on the product page itself, these are people who need to create a lot of photos in a short space of time: for school yearbooks, photo boxes at events, fixed scenes in the studio and so on.

Reaching into the coffers of solo freelancers

So this doesn't affect the super professionals from agencies and large media, who can simply shoot a lot of material and leave the editing to their team. Rather, many solo freelancers will probably pay for the simple function, saving themselves some working time. They will also have earned the money for the grid lines quickly, but it still seems cheeky not to offer such a simple function.

Other companies that have to establish themselves with new devices for new areas of application are more generous. A prime example is Nikon with its lossless digital zoom for filming and the focus trap aka "auto-capture", both of which were made available as a free update. We can only hope that this will continue after the Red takeover.

Incidentally, Sony's new upgrade policy also has a lot to do with films, as paid function updates have long been standard for camcorders and large cameras in film production. It appears that the company now wants to test the users' pain threshold a little. It is up to them whether the strategy can establish itself. If it succeeds, other manufacturers will surely follow suit.

What Canon's RF policy means

A change of perspective from the future to the recent past: What Canon's moderate opening of lenses for the RF bayonet really means has been discussed in countless comments this week. Most observers immediately noticed that Sigma and Tamron will only offer APS-C lenses for the RF mount. In the Petapixel podcast, for example, it was also pointed out that Canon would rather earn all the money for full-frame lenses for professionals themselves.

It is, therefore, slightly exaggerated, just a fig leaf to claim that Canon has "opened up" the RF system. Since Tamron, for example, still has some full-frame lenses on the roadmap for 2024, and this company is now also working with Nikon, the situation regarding "third-party lenses" remains exciting. Especially because Canon has officially welcomed Nikon's purchase of Red - the two competitors will have to work together for better or worse.

A particularly good magazine

Since Sony has already been so cheeky this week, we can do the same: The recommendation for the long read for the weekend is the new issue of our magazine c't Fotografie. And not out of shameless self-promotion, but out of conviction on the part of the columnist. The variety of topics and the depth of the articles are particularly successful this time. As colorful as the cover. The extensive test of the Sony A9 III in the lab, in nature and at a concert, or the detailed interview with Reuters photographer Kai Pfaffenbach and his pictures alone are worth a look. And the cover story on taking photos at parties is something that anyone who knows the phrase "Have you got your camera with you?" can really use. In other words, any dedicated photographer.

(nie)