Issues with A6000 since software upgrade to version 3.21

[Andy65]

I purchased my A6000 back in November 2017 and as a new photographer, loved it.  I took the basic photography course which allowed me to take some great pics.  I usually shot in aperture priority but did change to shutter priority when taking pics of my dog/friends dogs and got some great pics.  Over the last couple of years, I've had no complaints at all.  I noticed there was a firmware update that I hadn't done...the firmware was released in 2019 I believe. 

I finally did the update (bad move) just before I went to a friends wedding.  Needless to say, since then, my pics have been of poor quality.  I noticed that the ISO doesn't adjust correctly when it's set to auto.  Shutter speed doesn't adjust properly either when I'm in aperture priority (I used to go into shutter priority, set the shutter speed and change over from time to time with no issues).  I went on vacation, took pics and same issue.  I haven't changed my style on how/where I take pics and/or the settings I've used.  Sony tech support had me reset the camera to factory settings and try again...still the same issue.  This all started after the software update...not before.  I read another person online on a forum state he/she had the same issue after the update.  Does anyone else have issues with their A6000 if you did do the update to version 3.21.  I wish I could flip back to the previous version that the camera came with but there's no option for that.  It's been frustrating going from getting great pics to pics that are below average and Sony support hasn't been much help other than saying they will let their tech team know about it but that they haven't had any complaints.  I did take it into the shop I purchased it at (Henry's Camera) and they looked at it and said it was the settings and focus points I was using.  I've adjusted as per their suggestion and still getting crappy pics...from pics being too bright/too dark to shaky (yes, shutter speed issue in aperture priority mode even if I had set shutter speed previously), lots of noise...I'm not this bad at taking pics based on the pics I took prior to the firmware update.  This only happened after the firmware update...prior to that, as I mentioned, pics were fantastic.  I may have got the odd one that was off.  Now, it's the odd one that's good.   I can't trust my camera now to take pics at important events (pics at my great-nephew's christening turned out poorly and I was the one who was depended on to get the pics).  Any suggestions other than using the camera as a paper weight?  lol.  That's how frustrated I currently am with the camera and Sony support has been of little help.  

[Pieter]

Can you post one of these 'poor quality' pics with the EXIF info? Hard to judge what's wrong based on your post.

Does the camera still take crappy pics while in full auto (green) mode? Sounds to me something like ISO is fixed instead of automatic. In full auto, all settings are chosen by the camera so you can't accidentally have a setting fixed at an inappropriate value.

You're mentioning a shutter speed issue while in A-mode, referencing a previously set shutter speed. Shutter speed is reset when switching to A-mode, so it's irrelevant what shutter speed you set before.

[Andy65]

On 11/24/2021 at 6:37 AM, Pieter said:

Can you post one of these 'poor quality' pics with the EXIF info? Hard to judge what's wrong based on your post.

Does the camera still take crappy pics while in full auto (green) mode? Sounds to me something like ISO is fixed instead of automatic. In full auto, all settings are chosen by the camera so you can't accidentally have a setting fixed at an inappropriate value.

You're mentioning a shutter speed issue while in A-mode, referencing a previously set shutter speed. Shutter speed is reset when switching to A-mode, so it's irrelevant what shutter speed you set before.

Sorry for the dealy in replying.  I didn't use the camera much since I posted and had to get pics without people in them.  I've attached a couple of examples of before and after the firmware update.  DSC02672 was taken today (Jan 24, 2022).  DSC09488 was taken Dec 25, 2020.  Update to firmware was done in Sept 2021.  I tried to find compartive pics that were close in the settings.  I also notice that I have a lot more noise in pics I've taken since the update to the firmware as well.  I find that it's not as sharp as it used to be.  I don't usually touch the other settings.  I found that in November on a trip I was on to the Dominican, I had to adjust either the aperture settings and/or the ISO (which I always leave in auto as I'm still a newbie) or the pic would be too bright or too dark...which it still was even after manually adjusting.

As I mentioned, prior to the firmware update, I had no issues whatsoever with the quality of the pics.  Now, it just doesn't seem to adjust properly on settings that are auto which I never touched in the past.

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[Pieter]

Ok, sorry to say but this is mostly user error.

In both pics you're in Aperture priority mode. In the pic from 2022 you selected F/22 for aperture, which is really really small. Not only does the lens become soft at such a small aperture due to diffraction, your ISO is boosted to 25600 (!!!). This will cause heaps of noise. I don't really understand though why the camera picked such a fast shutter speed. Possibly there's a minimum shutter speed selected in the ISO-settings.

In the pic from 2020 you selected a reasonable aperture of F/4. Combined with the much slower shutter speed this setting worked at ISO 100, resulting in a clean and noiseless image.

[Andy65]

1 hour ago, Pieter said:

Ok, sorry to say but this is mostly user error.

In both pics you're in Aperture priority mode. In the pic from 2022 you selected F/22 for aperture, which is really really small. Not only does the lens become soft at such a small aperture due to diffraction, your ISO is boosted to 25600 (!!!). This will cause heaps of noise. I don't really understand though why the camera picked such a fast shutter speed. Possibly there's a minimum shutter speed selected in the ISO-settings.

In the pic from 2020 you selected a reasonable aperture of F/4. Combined with the much slower shutter speed this setting worked at ISO 100, resulting in a clean and noiseless image.

Thank you...I missed that.  I didn't touch the apeture setting but I should have checked it and failed to do so this time.  The ISO is on auto and that's an issue I've had since I updated the firmware...regardless of paerture, it seemed to be stuck at 25600.  Yes, it could easily be me but I'm just basing it on past pics prior to the firmware update.  It was rare, if ever, that I had to go to any other settings, especially when they were on auto such as ISO, to make changes.  Shutter speed seems to slow right down when shooting...to speeds that require using a tripod and not holding by hand when I shoot in aperture mode.  I did notice before (once again, maybe my imagination), that when I'm in shutter priority mode, and have selected a speed to shoot at, if I switch to apeture priority, it seemed to keep the shutter speed I selected as I could see that in the viewfinder (and I'm definitely not that skilled in having picked the same as what the camera would pick...lol).  That was prior to the firmware update.

Thank you again, I appreciate your reply and tips...I'll do more testing this week and watch to make sure I choose the correct settings for the mode I shoot in and see if I can get this to work like it did before as I do miss how well (for my level) the pics were turning out before.

[Pieter]

Try setting the camera to full auto mode (the green camera on the mode dial). Pics should turn out as nice as they did pre firmware update. Look at the auto settings used in that mode and start working from there. ISO 25600 is waaay too high. Set the max to 3200 or 6400 at most in very dim conditions.

[Andy65]

On 1/25/2022 at 1:01 AM, Pieter said:

Try setting the camera to full auto mode (the green camera on the mode dial). Pics should turn out as nice as they did pre firmware update. Look at the auto settings used in that mode and start working from there. ISO 25600 is waaay too high. Set the max to 3200 or 6400 at most in very dim conditions.

Thank you for the tips.  I finally got around to taking some pics today and made sure to check the aperture (it was at F22 so brought it back to F4 on the lens I was using) and after taking a few pics that were still grainy, change ISO from Auto and played with the settings for it.  Auto seems to keep defaulting to 25600.  I'll have to adjust the max next time I shoot.  It definitely helped...so much better now.  I still have to practise and adjust ISO better than I did in this pic as you can tell but at least, I'm not as frustrated now.  I used the autocorrect in Sony Memories and it looks better than this one but working on trying to limit edits as much as possible...and still have to learn to use better editing software as well.  So, lots to learn yet and will be taking another photography class shortly.  Appreciate your assistance...thank you.

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