a580 firmware update ?

[Paul H]

I have two a580 bodies with software version 1.1 and have not found anything on the Sony support website where I can upgrade or update. Are they too old, is it too late ?

By way of introduction, I worked as a commercial photographer from 1980 to 1999 so I come from the world of film, mostly large and medium format, mostly studio. I am recently retired from another profession bought the 2 580s just to have my hand on a digital camera and take them with me on trips.

Thanks in advance.

     ~Paul

 

[Chrissie]

Paul, thanks for your introduction and welcome from my side.

I tried to find something for you but can only confirm, that there seems to be nothing available for your cameras on the official Sony support download page. Are you aware, that the A580 is at least nine years old, which is ages in the realm of DSLRs?

I'd recommend you go and acquire a more recent second-hand camera for which there's still official support available.

Chris

[Alejandro]

I have just read this thread. Maybe it is a bit too late to add a comment on this thread as it is from last year (and maybe “About the Sony Alpha Forum” line of threads was not the better place to bring up the issue), but I felt I wanted to do add my thinking about the subject.

I have a Sony A-580 which I am still using and which has the 1.11 software version. It is a great camera in my opinion. It depends on what do you want it for. Specially OK if using it to shoot still photos, and I think that 16.2 MP are more than enough if not needing to do large prints. And if it comes to its resolution, if thinking of doing normal prints, and for showing photos through the web and watching them on a screen, even Full HD, UHD or 4K have resolutions which are less than 10MP (4K is something as 8.3MP, I think, which is almost half than 16.2).

Of course a newer camera (of an equivalent level of what the A-580 was at the time) might be more efficient in many respects, and they have more aids for shooting a photo than the older ones as could be the A-580 (e.g.: focus peaking assistance, zebra, eye AF, etc.), but that does not mean that one can’t take good photos with an A-580 or the like.

The point I am try to make being: It would make sense to decide to buy a newer camera for the reasons I mentioned in the preceding paragraph, but in my opinion, not based on that the firmware has no update available. Is there anything wrong with the camera that could have been fixed with a firmware update? Is a firmware update needed? Is the camera not working fine and not doing everything it ought to do, efficiently? If the answer to those question is “no”, then, which is the problem with the existing firmware that would justify to buy a new camera?

Just a thought.