Sony A77

[JudyN1]

I see you asked for some shots from a Sony A55.  I have an A77 and would be happy to provide some shots.  I posted a question in the The "exiftool" Application forum related to an issue with the A77 Maker Notes.  It appears there are two fields named Dynamic Range Optimizer with different contents.  Also, I'd like to move the HDR information to a field I can see in Lightroom, and that information is confusing. 

Here's what I expected:

0x200a    HDR    int32u    0x0 = Off
0x10001 = Auto
0x10010 = 1.0 EV
0x10011 = 1.5 EV
0x10012 = 2.0 EV
0x10013 = 2.5 EV
0x10014 = 3.0 EV
0x10015 = 3.5 EV
0x10016 = 4.0 EV
0x10017 = 4.5 EV
0x10018 = 5.0 EV
0x10019 = 5.5 EV
0x1001a = 6.0 E

But what I'm getting is instead of, say, always getting 0x10018 for 5.0EV occasionally it's 0x20018 or 0x30018.  This happens even when I take a series of shots changing only this setting in the camera between shots. 

Judy

[Phil Harvey]

Hi Judy,

Interesting.  It appears that the high word of the HDR tag has some other meaning.  Is it always 0x1, 0x2 or 0x3?  I can change the decoding to do this in the next release:

Code Select Expand

    0x0 = Off
    0x10001 = Auto
    0x10010 = 1.0 EV
    0x10011 = 1.5 EV
    0x10012 = 2.0 EV
    0x10013 = 2.5 EV
    0x10014 = 3.0 EV
    0x10015 = 3.5 EV
    0x10016 = 4.0 EV
    0x10017 = 4.5 EV
    0x10018 = 5.0 EV
    0x10019 = 5.5 EV
    0x1001a = 6.0 EV
    0x20001 = Auto (2)
    0x20010 = 1.0 EV (2)
    0x20011 = 1.5 EV (2)
    0x20012 = 2.0 EV (2)
    0x20013 = 2.5 EV (2)
    0x20014 = 3.0 EV (2)
    0x20015 = 3.5 EV (2)
    0x20016 = 4.0 EV (2)
    0x20017 = 4.5 EV (2)
    0x20018 = 5.0 EV (2)
    0x20019 = 5.5 EV (2)
    0x2001a = 6.0 EV (2)
    0x30001 = Auto (3)
    0x30010 = 1.0 EV (3)
    0x30011 = 1.5 EV (3)
    0x30012 = 2.0 EV (3)
    0x30013 = 2.5 EV (3)
    0x30014 = 3.0 EV (3)
    0x30015 = 3.5 EV (3)
    0x30016 = 4.0 EV (3)
    0x30017 = 4.5 EV (3)
    0x30018 = 5.0 EV (3)
    0x30019 = 5.5 EV (3)
    0x3001a = 6.0 EV (3)

Then if you can figure out what the high word means, we can decode that too.

Thanks for your offer to help decode more information.  If you are willing, we can start with the AF modes as we have just done for the A55.  Follow the instructions in this post to help with this.  Thanks in advance if you can help here.

Regarding the DynamicRangeOptimizer tag:  Perhaps I should change the order so that the Sony version is shown by default.  I will look into this.  (If I change this, then the Minolta version will be the "Copy1" version.)

- Phil

[JudyN1]

I can work on sending you the information tomorrow.

Re the extra tag, I too think it must have some meaning but couldn't figure out what it might be since I did a series without changing anything but that setting. 

[Phil Harvey]

Hi Judy,

Also, for the A77 I would like to be able to decode the lens corrections (shading, CA, distortion).  I have just managed to locate these corrections in the metadata, but can only decode Off or Auto for each setting.  Can you also set specific values for each?  If so, it would be great if you could tell me the range of values and provide samples at the minimum and maximum value for each.  Thanks in advance if you can do this.

- Phil

[JudyN1]

The settings for shading, CA, and distortion are only auto or off.

[Phil Harvey]

OK, great, thanks.  I got your metadata for the focus modes, thanks!

- Phil

[Phil Harvey]

Hi Judy,

I analyzed the samples you sent, but surprisingly it seems as if the A77 doesn't write the AF information like the A55.  The tags where this information was stored in A55 images are missing from the A77 samples, and I couldn't find the information anywhere else.

I responded by email, but my mail got bounced by "Verizon Online's anti-spam system".

- Phil

[Phil Harvey]

Recent work has discovered the location of this A77 AF information, and I am now going back over the old samples you provided.  I couldn't find it before because Sony is encrypting this information, but the decryption algorithm is now known.

- Phil