Sony releases two new apps for the NEX-5R and NEX-6: Digital Photography Review

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Fake 'God rays' added with Light Shaft app	Multiple exposures combined into one scene using Motion Shot

Sony has released two new apps on their PlayMemories App Store for owners of their Wi-Fi-equipped NEX-5R and NEX-6 cameras. The apps, Light Shaft and Motion Shot, are now available in the PlayMemories App Store for $4.99 each.

Light Shaft lets you add Ray, Star, Flame, and Beam effects to photos you've already taken. Sony's examples show include adding 'God Rays' to a photo, or a lens flare effect to a diamond ring.

Motion Shot takes a series of exposures, isolates the moving subject (such as a skier), and superimposes them over a fixed background.

Comments

Total comments: 68

zzz...

0 upvotes

not for thousands of professional shooters but it's great for millions of point of shooters or beginners.

2 upvotes

Are apps designed for people with zero post production abilities or software? Every one so far is more of a gimmick at best.

1 upvote

That's mostly true, but not completely. The smart remote app allows use of a iPhone or something as an intelligent remote, with remote viewing capabilities. I've got my gripes with it, but it's obviously not something that can be done in post. And the time lapse app, while far from perfect (exposure is locked at the first frame) is also something that can be very helpful. Of these two new ones, I agree with you on the cheesy light shaft one, but Motion Shot might be useful. I've done exactly the same thing, shooting people jumping off a cliff with continuous shutter then combining in photoshop by telling it to stitch them as a panorama, and hand-painting the masks to show the multiple bodies. Works great, but it takes a while and requires full photoshop, not LR, which not everybody has. If Motion Shot works, I'll use it once in a while, because it looks so much easier.

2 upvotes

The more apps I see, the more I like my NEX-7 without them.

4 upvotes

that's kind of soar grapes. you like something because it lack something?

only get nex6 for the timelapse app, and that's enough already.

Comment edited 52 seconds after posting

4 upvotes

10 apps in six months... They shouldn't be working that hard :) . It reminds me of the Soviet Union shops.

3 upvotes

The app looks intresting, dont know how it will be to use, and how popular it will end up to be. theres loads of apps like this! but, need more effects, adding 'rays' doesnt appeal much :/

0 upvotes

Great, fun motion shot app. Makes the old multiple exposure button now seem very out dated and obsolete.

0 upvotes

God rays and holy halos can be done on Photoshop and any number of IPad apps too.

1 upvote

motion shot is really cooll....that's what i was trying to do with ps,, and it was really hard to do with PS...good offers.

2 upvotes

Are these rays by God?
Or rather by a meteor or a fake alien ship?

0 upvotes

three are the same isn't it.

Comment edited 21 seconds after posting

2 upvotes

Sony philosophy is to remove useful features from the camera menu and replace them by selling the applications. May introduce applications that will surprise me, and not complement the missing basic features like exposure correction (1/2 step) autoBRK (in 5 shots without holding your finger on the shutter button) or rear curtain flash fire or AutoISO with manual mode, or turn off the preview points AF can be used to clear on the golden ratio grid.

5 upvotes

not sure about the other app. but that multiframe NR and proBKT being put in an app really anger me.

OK to buy it..but then the APP is severely limiting the OTHER normal camera parameters, that's the main problem

0 upvotes

Not only that ... but Bracket Pro does NOT do Ev bracketing. Found out after I bought it ... really Sony - your whole App model is a total bust. Hopefully the newly released API's will enable the developer community to add some real value. But the API looks very limiting to me. I think from what I have seen in the specs, that Ev bracketing will still be impossible to build. I'm very annoyed!

0 upvotes

I thought the Motion Shot looked fake. So I checked out Sony's links and it says at the bottom "Samples and on-screen displays are simulated." I G*ogle'd for samples and found none. Anyone have any real samples?

2 upvotes

I love the Sony simulated photos. At least this time they included a disclaimer. Previously, I'd seen photos of with/without photos for their steadyshot image stabilization showing sports photos with motion blur added/removed.

1 upvote

Just what we need is more fake crap with pictures. No one believes anything about pictures now. I don't like the trend.

10 upvotes

I like my NEX-6 and I'm really happy as long as I don't touch those Slowwww Lageee apps. The apps button should be deleted from the home menu ( or at least customizable so that user can decide where it appear).

3 upvotes

I hate the fact that Sony Apps are not open to third-party developers, but the new Motion Shot app is pretty nice.

3 upvotes

Breaking news: Sony releases fun apps for their cameras, camera enthusiasts on DPreview get mad.

17 upvotes

These are mostly fanboys from other brands that are upset. Most of these whiners don't even own these cameras.

15 upvotes

Some are elitist whiners. Don't want beginners to have fun with their cameras.

0 upvotes

Just like Sony to come up with a great idea but then waste it with their proprietary selfishness. A camera that can run apps is a great idea (probably not theirs but whatever). It would open up a world of possibilities with the ability to add features to a good camera without having to hope and wait for firmware updates. But they waste it by not releasing an API so third parties can develop for it. Come on Sony! Put it out there and watch a community of developers rally around your platform. You would have features that no other camera would have. Keep it closed, and keep putting out crap like 'God Rays,' and all you are doing is alienating your base.

14 upvotes

first iphone took 6 month to open up.

4 upvotes

I think people are missing the point here. The whole WiFi, FB integration, app thing is for people who either don't have a computer or don't know/want to use it. It's for people who like to take a photo, add effects and share it; all on the camera.
And of course one can discuss the usefulness of an app even if it's optional. We discuss cameras and lenses and phones. They all are "optional" as in we don't have to buy them. Just don't be a hater.

8 upvotes

Wonderful, 'god rays' using Light Shaft is awesome and adding fake cheap effect on a modern digital camera is a revolution! I could not wait to buy a Sony NEX-6 to have this effect applied to my photos, to share them on 800x600 on facebook!

Seriously Sony??? What about the lenses (fast ones) ?

On the other side, Motion Shot is a good idea for creative shooting...

2 upvotes

oh, yes, that 'star' flare effect... which directly mimic shots where the aperture is stopped down to a very narrow aperture, and the NUMBER of aperture blades is reflected in the number of 'points' flaring out of that 'star' look.

silly. yes, glass filters for 'fake starry look' is just as absurd. [used in both film and digital era cameras]

absurdity of it all is that tiny apertured digicams where it has a fixed CIRCULAR aperture, is actually a virtue (ideal in larger systems, but not fully possible, just 'almost' possible if there are 'more' blades rather than 'fewer' blades), so it LACKS the FLAW of the 'pointy-star-flare' effect. no reason to fake it, or include a flaw, does it?

sdyue

Comment edited 3 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

a better 'app' from anyone would be to offer a 'super-shallow-dof' look that is foreign to tiny aperture/tiny sensored systems, but originally a royal pain of larger FILM/digital sensor systems, where all had to make something artistic out of it. which they did (thus: bokeh-generator or bokehnator app)

this way, tiny smartwebmobilecellphonecams can have that FF 'big wide open aperture' look or TELE lens look where one is stuck with shallower dof than deeper dof.

sdyue

0 upvotes

I think it already exists. It's Photoshop Blur Gallery.

2 upvotes

mimicking fake analog optical lens flare?
lol.

ridiculous. as bad as seeing it replicated in non-photographic paintings or graphic illustrations [ditto: fake 'patterned' bokeh of OOF images]

i see it in many modern movies which use CGI animation, even if it is a 'full animation (like the recent: The Croods - 3D, which otherwise all else was visually exquisite to watch), it's just as absurd. why highlight a flaw of analog optics [the bane to any photographer] in a 'digital virtual world' makes absolutely no sense except for it's sentimental 'hey look, we can fake pretending we have a real optical lens involved!' rather than a virtual (mathematically calculated image of a light source (sun, spot-lights, what have you) shining into a 'virtual camera')

next, they'll have 'fake bad sky polarization' effect on wide angle shots, or 'fake digital rainbows', which were so often misapplied INCORRECTLY via optical filters in the film days.

sdyue

Comment edited 2 minutes after posting

2 upvotes

I'm already daydreaming of a 'fake chromatic aberration' app!

5 upvotes

How about a 'forgot the lens cap on' app?

7 upvotes

:-) I would like to have this, is it possible that they are able to do it?

0 upvotes

Faking lens flare isn't starting with this app. You can find a boat load of brushes on Photoshop for the effect.

1 upvote

It scares me to think people are actually buying these apps. While I can see some fun in using Motion Shot, the Light Shaft app is completely absurd. People should learn to photograph instead of relying on these thingies to make their pictures more (superficially) striking.

5 upvotes

Have you heard of post processing?

3 upvotes

What's your point? I use post processing, but I don't fake my pictures.

1 upvote

While I agree that the light shaft effects are rather pointless and kitschy, I realize that others may disagree. I'm fine with that.
I also don't think that altering a photo for artistic purposes is necessarily the same as faking the picture. For many artists, a photo isn't just a depiction of reality, it's a starting point to be further reworked into an artistic image.
For example, I wouldn't consider a fantasist/surrealist like Leszek Bujnowski a.k.a. Alshain, as someone who fakes his pictures. That's not an accurate description of what he does.

http://500px.com/Alshain
http://alshain4.deviantart.com/gallery/

4 upvotes

Revenant; Thanks for the links. Check out this one
http://500px.com/photo/29623313?from=popular

0 upvotes

Revenant, you're right. Manipulation for artistic purposes has been used since, say, Man Ray. I don't object to that. On the contrary, some of these photos are fantastic. (One by Yves Klein, named 'Saut Dans Le Vide', comes to mind as one the most accomplished examples of manipulation for artistic purposes.)
The question is - will people buy these Sony apps for making surrealistic art? Or any kind of art? I have some doubts...

0 upvotes

@KodaChrome25
Yes, that's a very nice one. Excellent composition and technically well done.

@ManuelVilardeMacedo
No, I doubt that these Sony apps will be used to make great art.
And yes, that Yves Klein photo is indeed a classic, often imitated by others, but never surpassed.
I somehow got the impression that you belonged to the "photography should always be documentary" crowd. Sorry for that, your reply shows that you are more open-minded than that.

1 upvote

People like to use their money to make themselves or family & friends happy. They are not going to care fake or not fake. They are not going to say: "look, there were 5 skiers doing simultaneous jump. I took that picture." kind of stuff. Just have fun. why so rigid.

Comment edited 33 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

@ManuelVilardeMacedo
> The question is - will people buy these Sony apps for making surrealistic art? Or any kind of art? I have some doubts...

Why does it matter to you?

1 upvote

Light Shaft looks terrible, super cheesy, but Motion Shot is a nice effect familiar from TV sports. I don't shoot action, but if I did, that would be a nice option.

2 upvotes

The great thing about apps is that you don't have to buy them if you think they are cheesy. It's that simple. If someone wants the effect and doesn't have skills and patience with photoshop, there is light shaft app for her/him.

Comment edited 10 minutes after posting

6 upvotes

Thanks Sony, but we need fast lenses, not gimmicks that can be applied in post using free applications.

Comment edited 48 seconds after posting

10 upvotes

Be careful with such a request, they might come up with a fourth 18-200mm...

2 upvotes

I am sure you would not want lenses designed by the software developers. If you actually meant that the people responsible for the apps should design lenses instead...

0 upvotes

Be sure to specify fast aperture or you run the risk of Sony thinking you meant fast autofocus on a lens and they will just re-introduce more of the same with slightly faster AF.

0 upvotes