Camera RC
V.0.9.4

A little application for remote controlling a Sony Alpha 7 II camera.

Copyright (c) 2016 - 2017 by Friedemann Seebass, Germany
9 April 2017

Contents

1 Introduction
2 Installation
- 2.1 Camera RC
- 2.2 Installation of Sony's Smart Remote Camera App
3 Connecting the Camera
4 The Main Window
- 4.1 Basic Operation
- 4.2 Showing the Last Taken Picture
5 Camera Settings
6 The Timer
7 The Menu Bar
8 Advanced: Camera Commands
9 System Requirements
10 Todo List
11 Change Log

1 Introduction

Camera RC is an application for remote controlling a Sony Alpha 7 II camera from a notebook over WiFi. You can download similar software from Sony's homepage: But the first one (PlayMemories Mobile) is running only on smartphones and not on PCs and the second one (Remote Camera Control) needs an USB cable connection and does not show a live view; mainly this last shortcoming caused me to develop the software.

The software is based on Sony's "Camera Remote API" available on some higher priced Sony camera models. May be the software is running with these models as well - but I could test it only with my Alpha 7 II. The current version is quite usable but not perfect. See the todo list below. What you can do is to set all the camera's parameters available by the API, set the focal point, take pictures and transfer the last taken picture to the notebook. If the camera is in movie mode you can start and stop recording a movie.

The program is written in Java and is successfully tested on Windows, Linux and Apple OS X. It contains no spyware, no adware or other malicious parts. It is published without any warranty and without charge (at least for the time being). See the license in the application's About dialog box for details. Neither the project nor I for myself have any relations to the Sony corporation. Error reports and suggestions for improvement are welcome via e-mail to fs@friedemann-seebass.de.

2 Installation

2.1 Camera RC

Camera RC is written in Java, the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), version 1.8.0 or newer, is necessary therefore. You can download it from http://java.com/download. When the JRE is installed it is enough to unzip the file "CameraRC_094.zip" at an arbitrary place. Under Windows you can alternatively use the installer "CameraRC_094_setup.exe".

2.2 Installation of Sony's Smart Remote Camera App

The communication between the notebook and the camera takes place over Sony's Smart Remote Control application on the camera. Make sure to have the newest version installed. The old built-in version delivered with the camera shows up as Smart Remote Embedded (compare with fig. 2 showing the newest version); in my case it has the old version identifier "Smart Remote Control SR/2.30 __SKZ__", "2.0.1". This will have limited functionality, i. e. the following features are not available compared to the newer one:

Reading the battery status,
setting shutter speed, aperture and ISO value,
changing the quality of the transferred last picture,
may be more, I have not made many tests with the old version.

The version I have used to develop the software is "Smart Remote Control SR/4.10 __SAK__", "2.1.4"; see fig. 14 how to figure out the version in your camera.

You can install the newest version of Sony's Smart Remote Control from https://www.playmemoriescameraapps.com/portal/ directly with your internet browser after connecting your camera via USB cable with your computer; a registration is required.

3 Connecting the Camera

Connecting the camera with your notebook is easy, but you need to know the steps:

Disconnect all network connections (wireless and wired) your notebook currently have; unplug the network cable.
Disable your firewall. Dependent on its settings establishing the connection could be prevented otherwise, shutter speed and aperture cannot be read out and set or the camera cannot be triggered.

Start the "Smart Remote Control" application on the camera:


Fig. 1: Press the camera's MENU key and navigate to the camera applications, ...	Fig. 2: ... start the camera's "Smart Remote Control" application; ...

Fig. 3: ... the camera sets up an ad-hoc network, remember its SSID and press the camera's trash can key to ...	Fig. 4: ... see the network's password.

Establish the connection with your operating system:


Fig. 5: Search in the network list for the camera's ad-hoc network SSID, ...	Fig. 6: ... input the password and establish the connection.

Start the Camera RC application on your notebook. This can be done
- in a shell with the command
  java -jar CameraRC.jar
- or on most systems with a double click on "CameraRC.jar"
- or under Windows with a double click on "CameraRC.exe"; the exe file checks if the needed JRE is installed, and guides you to the download page if not.
The application will connect with the camera automatically.

4 The Main Window

4.1 Basic Operation

When started the first time the application shows basically the camera's live view and a trigger button to take the picture:

Fig. 7: Main window, basic view

Some info and control elements are in the lower left corner:

You can see the battery state (about 75 % energy left in the figure above),
the mode the camera is in ("A" - aperture mode),
the current shutter speed (1/60 sec),
the current aperture (F 5.6) and the ISO setting (AUTO).

Greyed elements cannot be modified, the others are changeable: Move the mouse pointer over them and select the wanted value from the popup menu. And there are three buttons:

With the Live View button you can switch on and off the live view. Turning it off makes sense to save the camera's battery power.

Unfortunately Sony's programming interface does not allow to set the focus manually. But the Touch AF button switches on and off the "Touch Autofocus Mode". If activated you can choose a point in the image the camera will focus on by pressing the left mouse button on the wanted place:

Fig. 8: Focus point is set to a foreground object

Fig. 9: Focus point is set to a background object

The camera will not change the focus when the Trigger button is pressed now until the Touch AF mode is ended. Strange feature in Sony' camera app: You cannot change settings as shutter speed, aperture and ISO rate in this mode.

The application's Trigger button simulates the camera's trigger button's half pressed state: Pressing the left mouse button sends the half pressed state to the camera, releasing the mouse button does the full press and takes the picture.

Sony's programming interface does not allow to change the camera mode. If you want to switch from aperture mode ("A") to manual mode ("M") e. g. you have to do this directly with the camera's mode wheel and to press the camera's trigger button half down to transfer the new mode to the application.

4.2 Showing the Last Taken Picture

If the vertical divider of the main window's split pane is not at the very most right position the last taken picture is transferred from the camera to the application (this needs some time.)

Fig. 10: Main window, showing last taken picture

Some more control elements are visible now. From right to left: The Save button saves the last taken picture into the directory selected with the Folder button. If the Autosave checkbox is selected the last taken picture is automatically saved, even if the Last Taken Picture pane is not visible. The camera allows to transfer the last taken picture in two sizes: "2M" and "Original". You can select between them with the popup menu appearing when the mouse pointer is over the size indicator (1616x1080 in the above figure). The last element (DSC02402.JPG in the figure above) is the file name of the picture; it is not changeable.

5 Camera Settings

The most important settings as shutter speed and aperture can be made directly in the main window as seen above. These and all other camera settings available in Sony's API are accessible with the Camera Settings dialog:

Fig. 11: The Camera Settings dialog

The dialog can be opened with menu item "Camera/Settings ...". Just choose the wanted value with one of the drop down lists, and it is transmitted to the camera immediately. For the sake of compactness the dialog has its own little menu bar rather than buttons or other widgets. The dialog's contents is based on the events the camera sends back to the application when a parameter changes. This list of parameters can be filtered with the "Filter" menu item:

Show Changeable Data:
The parameter list in an event contains many data but only a part of it can be changed by the user; e. g. the battery info can only be read but not set of course. If this item is selected all changeable data is displayed in the dialog.
Show Infos:
If this item is selected all not changeable information available in an event is shown.
Show Unused Elements:
There are a lot of elements defined in Sony's API documentation which are available only with special camera models but not in others. Since all elements defined in the documentation are implemented in the application's data structures you can show them as empty fields when this item is selected.
Show Indices:
Sony's API documentation lists all elements in an event with an internal index. This index will be shown when this item is selected.

With the "Sort" menu item you can sort the list shown in the dialog by some criteria:

By Priority:
Of course some parameters as shutter speed or aperture are more important than others. I have tried to make a useful sequence that is shown when this item is selected.
Alphabetical:
All parameters in the event list are sorted alphabetical.
By Index:
As said in Sony's API documentation each parameter is listed with an internal index. The list is sorted by this index if the item is selected.

When changing the filter the dialog will show more or less elements than before and will probably need another size. To adjust the size again you can Resize it with this button. The Close button does the same as the closer ("x") in the upper right corner.

6 The Timer

Menu item "Tools/Timer ..." opens the Timer dialog:

Fig. 12: The Timer dialog.

You can define the number of Pictures to take, a Start Delay after that the triggering of the camera starts and the Time Interval between each picture. The process can be started and stopped when pressing the Start button and paused with the Pause button. The Countdown field shows the time until the next picture will be taken.

7 The Menu Bar

The menu bar shows the following options:

Fig. 13: The menu bar

File menu:
- Save Settings And Exit: Closes the application and saves all parameters and the current window layout. They are restored when starting the program the next time. Parameters and layout are not saved when closing the application with the closer cross in the upper right corner.
  Attention: These are the settings used in the application, not the settings of the camera!
- Exit: Closes the application and does not save anything. Does the same as the closer cross in the upper right corner.
Camera menu:
- Settings ...: Shows the Camera Settings dialog described in chapter 5.
- Live View: Switches the live view on and off. Does the same as the button in the main window. Needed to have a shortcut key.
- Touch AF: Switches the Camera's Touch Autofocus Mode on and off. Does the same as the button in the main window. Needed to have a shortcut key.
- Half Press Trigger: Sends the half press command to the camera. Does the same as the Trigger button in the main window while the left mouse button is pressed but can toggle the state.
- Trigger: Triggers the camera. Does the same as the button in the main window but cannot trigger the half press state. Needed to have a shortcut key.
- Expert Commands ...: Shows the Camera Commands dialog described in chapter 8.
Tools menu:
- Rotate: You can rotate the Live View and the Last Taken Picture panels around 90, 180 and 270 degrees. Useful if the camera is mounted in portrait format or other positions on a tripod.
- Invert Colors (Live View): If activated the live view's colors are inverted. This is seful when copying negative slides.
- Invert Colors (Taken Picture): If activated the last taken picture's colors are inverted. This applies only to the view; if saving the picture it is not modified.
- Timer: The Timer dialog described in chapter 6 is opened.
Window menu:
- Maintain Aspect Ratio: If activated the Live View and the Last Taken Picture panels keep their aspect ratio when resizing the window or moving the split pane divider.
- Show Taken Picture: Shows the Last Taken Picture panel; not by moving the split pane divider but by enlarging the main window.
- Fit Live View: Fits the Live View panel to its original size as it is delivered by the camera.
- Fit Taken Picture: Fits the Last Taken Picture panel half the size as it is delivered by the camera. Only active when the size of the taken picture is "2M".
Help menu:
- Contents: Shows this manual.
- About: Shows the license and system info.

8 Advanced: Camera Commands

For experimental purposes all functions available in Sony's programming interface are accessible with the Camera Commands dialog. It is shown when menu item "Camera/Expert Commands ..." is triggered:

Fig. 14: Camera Commands dialog

Sony's camera API is divided into four so called services: "accessControl", "avContent", "camera" and "guide"^*. It can be selected with the Service drop down list. Each service offers a number of functions, Sony calls them "methods". Which methods are available depends on the state the camera is in. The currently available methods are listed in the Method drop down list. Some methods need parameters to work; their types are shown in the Parameter Types field (just for better memorization) and must be entered in the Parameters field. If this is done the method can be triggered with the Send button: The command will be sent to the camera, and the camera's answer is printed in the Response field. The response is given in the so called JSON format, i. e. basically as a list of labels and values included in curly braces.

You will not be able to use this mechanism without knowing Sony's programming interface. It is described in the document "API references for
Camera Remote API beta", you can download it here: https://developer.sony.com/develop/cameras/. Some method examples are given in the following list to see how to hand over the parameters:

camera/getVersions:
This method has no parameters; it can be immediately triggered.
camera/getEvent:
This method has a boolean parameter. You must type true or false into the Parameters field; the value must not be enclosed in quotation marks.
camera/getMethodTypes:
This method needs a string as parameter, e. g. "1.0". All strings must be enclosed in quotation marks.
camera/setWhiteBalance:
This method needs three parameters, a string, a boolean and an integer. Multiple parameters must be separated by a comma. A valid parameter list would be
"Color Temperature", true, 2500
in this case. Integers must not be enclosed in quotation marks.
camera/setContShootingMode:
This method needs a named parameter. Parameter lists of this kind must be enclosed in curly braces, a name must be enclosed in quotation marks, the value must be separated from the name by a colon, and for the values apply the same rules as stated above: strings must be enclosed in quotation marks, boolean and integer values must not; multiple parameters must be separated by commas. Example:
{"contShootingMode": "Spd Priority Cont."}
avContent/deleteContent:
This method needs a named parameter and a string array as value; arrays must be enclosed in brackets. Example:
{"uri": ["image:content?contentId=XXXXXXXXXX", "video:content?contentId=XXXXXXXXXX"] }

^*Note: "accessControl" is not described in Sony's documentation, the service "system" described there is not available in the Alpha 7 II.

9 System Requirements

The application has been successfully tested with a Sony Alpha 7 II and the following operating systems:

Windows 7 SP 1 (64)
Windows 8.1 (64)
Windows 10 (64)
Debian 8.4 (64)
Fedora 23 (32)
openSUSE Leap 42.1 (64)

Probably it will be working with other Sony cameras and other operating systems as well.
The Java Runtime Environment 1.8.0 or newer is needed.

10 Todo List

Some things in the application are still missing:

It is not possible to inspect or to transfer the images stored in the camera.
A German translation of the user interface and the manual is planned.
You should be able to change the application's look and feel; Java provides the "Metal" or the "Nimbus" design e. g.

11 Change Log

9 April 2017, Version 0.9.4:

New dialog Camera Settings is available; all camera parameters provided by Sony's API can be set now.
New dialog Camera Commands is available; it replaces the former Generic Methods split pane in the main window.
Shortcuts for all buttons available.
Event handling improved.

8 November 2016, Version 0.9.3:

The live view and the taken picture can be rotated (in steps of 90 degree). Useful if the camera is mounted in portrait format on a tripod.
The live view's and the displayed taken picture's colors can be inverted. Useful when copying negative slides.
Some shortcut keys are defined.

5 June 2016, Version 0.9.2:

Touch AF functionality added.
Reentrancy problems with the underlying JSON parser solved - making the application more stable.

27 April 2016, Version 0.9.1:

Timer dialog added.

15 April 2016, Version 0.9.0:

First published release.