Sony A7 IV The Hell that is Creators' App. (update: Purgatory, perhaps)

[Thad E Ginathom]

I'm mostly very happy with my new a7iv, but there is this one big blot, one big cloud in the sky.

I've been using Imaging edge on the mobile with my a6500, with few, if any, problems. When I photograph at concerts, I usual post sooc pics to the organisation's Whatsapp group on the spot. Hoping to be able to simply carry on.

I can't really complain that (but I will) that this CA thing won't load on my phone. It's old, it's never been updated, and runs Android 8. Fine, I'll swallow that, and take my tablet along

The attempt has been little but failure. The occasional brief glimpses of success only make things worse. Hey, it works! oh... wait... no it doesn't.

Now I can't even make the initial bluetooth connection.

I see some dissatisfied posts from months ago. Has anybody made it work? For grabbing pics from the camera?

The whole networking/connection tab is a bit of a nightmare. USB/Ethernet adapter: camera "unable to recognise the cable." Duh... What?

FTP I will leave aside at this point. I have made it work to the phone. I have not made it work to my Linux PC, but do have glimmers of wireless success (at least the camera can recognise air. it seems!)

Creators' App. The documentation is a mess and the error messages are an insult. The e-books (Busch and Friedman) are pre-V2.0 and document connection to Imaging edge.

Can anyone help? For starters, what things on the camera networking tab should be enabled, what things disabled, before starting?

Help! As in a high-power laser light flashing SOS!

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

If you're in JPEG, can't you just Bluetooth it without an app? If you're in RAW, maybe Snapseed would be good for a quick edit on your phone. I've never connected my phone to the camera but this came to mind mate.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

If you're in JPEG, can't you just Bluetooth it without an app?

I don't think that is possible.

I don't think it is possible to have a simple USB connection to the camera and view it, as a computer can, as an external device (Camera set to Mass Storage). I wonder if there is any risk in trying that.

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

I can't see why you wouldn't be able to set your phone to storage device and copy images straight to it, no different than uploading to a computer.

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

I wonder if there is any risk in trying that.

It's good to live on the edge...

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I can't see why you wouldn't be able to set your phone to storage device and copy images straight to it, no different than uploading to a computer.

The phone says, doesn't support, wants to erase/format the Sony storage device!

Hmmm. I suppose I could use a card reader. Somehow I don't like taking the card in and out of the camera.

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

I'm hearing you. I don't like the idea of swapping out batteries and memory cards all the time either.

Hopefully you sort something out mate.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I'm hearing you. I don't like the idea of swapping out batteries and memory cards all the time either.

Batteries, I don't mind. When they run out, they run out, and the world doesn't wait for the charger . It's also a very robust contact/mechanism system.

I have heard of people breaking the little sprung arm. Sure, this is the weak point, But I've heard far more often of people with stuck, broken, etc, memory cards. How they do that I don't know, but I'm very aware that I can be cack-handed too. Batteries are a lot tougher than SD cards.

Memory cards, I like to insert and leave. Like ram in a PC. Although my brain has a counter argument that removing/inserting them may help to keep the contacts points clean. Idea imported from audio world, and also PC world where ram contacts need cleaning sometimes to fix a fault.

I take mine out and upload to the computer with a card reader, then put it back in the camera every time. Been doing it for years with many different cameras, no worries.

I think a card reader is faster? Might even be necessary for people who use bursts for sport/birds etc and might have to uploads hundreds or thousands of pics. My usual payload is 50-100 at a time.

A friend, also longer and more experienced, actually asked me: "How do you connect USB to a computer?" He's wedded to his card reader. He also hates to charge batteries in-camera, which doesn't bother me, and I do all the time.

Back to Camera-->Phone Problem...

I'll try working with ftp. You Apple people, it seems can do that direct to your phones; Android needs a mutual network access point, ie we have to set up a mini portable net with another device acting as a hotspot.

I'll get a card reader. Might as well use it as an excuse to add a UHS-II reader to my collection of clutterl

But Creators' [cr] App...

I don't seem to be the only one. But if there's a key, someone must know it. Or Sony must "improve the stability" of this unreliable rubbish.

In this Instagram/social-media world, and with Sony going all out to sell to Content creators, is it only me to whom this matters?

Oh... a6700-and-newer might have been made with this interface: I'll check the e-book for that.

Here I am: a new member, moaning! Thanks for listening. Any more ideas welcome.

 

[GT12]

While I’m not doing stuff on the fly at concerts, I quickly gave up on Sony’s software and use a small card reader to phone when I need. Yes some risk of dropping a card or breaking the catch on camera, but reliable and very fast transfer. I swore less once I made that change.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I quickly gave up

Sad to hear that. I wonder if the situation will improve. I'll order the card reader.

It stings even more as I don't think any of the free-cloud/creator-interaction aspect of the app will be made available in this country.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

After another round of setup, it worked. I went out to a concert and noticed that I had GPS location on the pics! Yes, photo transfer worked.

It's true good to be true. It's just setting me up for another big letdown

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

It's still working. (but I wouldn't turn my back on it).

What's more, I turned on the "Connect when off" function and yes, that works too. Neat, being able to download pics from the camera without even getting it out of the bag and turning it on.

But still, all this Creative Creators Cr__ --- I guess it must work somewhere in the world. But not, it seems, here.*

So I updated the thread title. Maybe it is not hell. I certainly is no heaven. It's just a place which is not much fun where one waits around for something else to happen.

*edit: I mean the whole cloud thing. Left the word out!

 

[Cαscαdian]

Phones are weird, all pretending to have the same features but ..not so much. I have a notorious Olympus Air that is just a tube, the screen and controls are supplied by phone - but I prefer shooting blind to messing with the Wi-Tooth hassle. It seems to like my older Moto 2021 but dislikes my 5g NFC Pixel5.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

It's still working!

It stopped working one day. The transfer when camera off setting was off, so I turned it on. I guess that made the Bluetooth do something and it worked again.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

WAAAAAAAYYYYYY too much trouble.

Especially in this country, where it seems, there is absolutely zero cloud component to Sony's daft creators' cloud app!

But when it works... it works. And all I need is 5-10 pics to my phone or tablet to post on a Whatsapp group.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

in this country, where it seems, there is absolutely zero cloud component to Sony's daft creators' cloud app!

I don't think I just missed it before, but it looks like there is connection now. It remains, for me, filed under Solution waiting for a Problem, but who knows when that problem will pop up!


Cutting the Cr'app --- Making life easier...

This is almost certainly something that was there all along, and I only just found out about it: One can connect phone to camera with a USB cable!

It has to be USB C to USB C. There are a couple of menu options to set, and a small set-up to go through. It's fairly easy.

My tablet is not USB-C. But I seem to have overcome most of the bluetooth+wifi connection problems most of the time. I'll go on using it. But sometimes it gets forgotten, and as far as I could see, only one mobile device at a time can be registered with the camera. For wifi. USB is extra

I'll go on using the tablet because bigger screen. But when I forget it. Whip out the cable, plug in the the phone and I'm away. Up, up and away....


Up Up and away;
In my beautiful balloon

• ILCE-6500
• E 17-70mm F2.8 B070
• 55.0 mm
• ƒ/2.8
• 1/2000 sec
• ISO 160

(Gratuitous Balloon Pic)​