Sony Updates its Remote Camera SDK to Work Better with Drones
Sony will update its remote camera SDK with additional features that are especially useful for drone applications which comes alongside the unusual ILX-LR1 compact camera for drones that was also announced today.
The SDK, which is short for software development kit, allows users to remotely operate Sony cameras from a computer. Currently, the SDK allows users to remotely change a supported camera’s settings, take photos or start and stop a video recording, and also provides live view monitoring. A full list of currently supported cameras can be found on Sony’s website.
The updates will come in the form of version 1.10 and 1.11 which will launch on September 13 and sometime in November, respectively, and will bring new features that Sony says are particularly important for inspection and surveying, drone, e-commerce, and video shooting applications.
The updates will also expand functionality to the a7C R and a7C II cameras (in version 1.10) and the ILX-LR1 (in version 1.11). The only difference between these updates is camera support, as features (below) remain the same.
The update will bring new support for Sony’s “Focus Position Setting” which the company describes as enabling remote acquisition of the current focus position and focus sending to an arbitrary position. Sony says that it is also enabling the ability to remotely acquire focal length information as that has been a highly requested feature among existing users.
The SDK will also have an expanded menu for photos and videos, including the ability to shoot at intervals and adjust the sensitivity of autofocus tracking. Finally, the update will also provide notifications when certain tasks are complete.
“Event notification such as video recording start/stop and ‘Focus Position Setting’ completion to enable high-speed, remote command processing. In addition, status acquisition, such as during media writing, is expanded so that the system can efficiently organize workflows by understanding the camera status,” Sony says.
Sony’s SDK is free to use and the update will also be free to download. The current SDK is available from its dedicated website and the updated versions which support the new cameras will be posted there on September 13 and again in November.
Image credits: Sony
