I'm predominantly an architectural photographer and have decided to dip my toe in the water with a new Sony A7rii. On many levels it's a decent enough camera but in the usability stakes particularly in respect to the smart remote app its a massive headache.
I want to be able to shoot from either the camera or the smart remote app and see a full res or medium res shot on my iPad right after. It needs to be quick and efficient and show me enough detail to check focus and composition. I can't really check composition on such a small screen as the camera's rear screen and focus checking is just a little bit too laborious and fiddly.
My frustrations are many fold. I can't use the viewfinder when the smart remote app is running on the camera. On a sunny day both the iPad and the camera screens are incredibly difficult to use to compose with so activating the viewfinder is a must. If I want to check composition on the iPad even in a dark environment it's ok using live view but far better doing it with a downloaded image. To do this and check focus I need to set the image preview size to original instead of 2M. This could be ok except that the image downloaded isn't the original and way too small to check focus. If I turn on image saving the iPad photos app receives the full res image. This is closer to being useful but still frustrating because I have to switch apps after every exposure. Seeing the original size image in the play memories remote app would make a lot more sense. Less clicks, more efficient, so less fidling. Ideally I'd like to see the app capable of downloading, storing, and displaying each capture on my iPad as they become available in the one app.
It seems that the app is designed for consumer users who aren't pressed to ensure every shot is achieved efficiently to the highest standard. (This seems at odds with the professional specs of this body.) I would like to urge Sony to either develope a tethering style app that doesn't hobble the camera in any way, which allows the app to control the camera, and displays a decent sized image quickly that is suitable for clear and accurate focus and compositional confirmation. Alternatively Sony should allow the established shuttersnitch app access to the images after each capture as that app is fantastic. I can live without remote controlling the camera from my tablet or phone but viewing images efficiently is a critical function in any professional camera.
