RemoteCam 1.0.13

Fixes from a day of filming at a bird feeder.

Automatic recording:

• No more filming a fountain all day. Splashing water, the spout and a rock beside it now count as one piece of scenery, and something has to look like an animal twice in a row before it's sure.
• Scenery it has learned, like a suet cake, stays ignored for as long as it keeps being picked up, instead of starting a take every ten minutes.
• It focuses on the animal when Tap does is Off. Before, the focus mark showed but the camera didn't focus.

Other devices:

• An iPhone or iPad can join the computer that has the camera with nothing to type. The computer asks "iPhone wants to use the camera. Allow?" once. A device that already knows the camera's password is let straight in, without the Allow.
• In Setup, Let my other computers join is now Let my other devices join.

Fixed:

• "Card almost full" no longer flashes every time a take stops. It shows only once the card has stayed low for 5 seconds.
• "Waiting for the camera…" clears once the camera is connected.

Windows may show a blue Windows protected your PC box: click More info, then Run anyway. On a Mac, drag RemoteCam to Applications. If CamRemote is already there, drag the old CamRemote to the Trash afterwards; your settings stay.

RemoteCam 1.0.12

CamRemote is now RemoteCam. Same app, same settings and saved camera passwords: updating keeps everything. The download names stay the same.

New:

• Use a camera another RemoteCam holds. A second computer can join the one connected to the camera, over the same Wi-Fi or Tailscale, and get the picture, the controls, C1 to C4, Video and Photo, S&Q and the shutter. Your own computers on Tailscale join without being asked. Use the camera here hands the camera over, and works even when the other computer has been closed.
• A better animal detector for automatic recording. It's larger and sharper, takes a closer look around the last thing it saw, and uses your graphics card when it can, so it keeps up. A person needs a surer sighting to start a take.
• A Help link and an Instagram link in every window.

Faster:

• Connecting: straight to a camera you've paired before, usually in about 3 seconds.
• A camera that's switched on, or comes back in range, is found within a few seconds.
• Live view uses the camera's quicker stream when it offers one.
• The shutter and click-to-focus wait only as long as the camera needs: a half-press now takes about 0.2 seconds instead of 0.5.

Fixed:

• Record starts and stops the way each camera expects.
• A full card that stops recording now says so.
• A camera that's gone no longer leaves its last picture on screen.
• Tap does lists only the choices your camera offers.
• On a Mac, closing no longer freezes the window for 20 seconds.

Windows may show a blue Windows protected your PC box: click More info, then Run anyway. On a Mac, drag RemoteCam to Applications. If CamRemote is already there, drag the old CamRemote to the Trash afterwards; your settings stay.

CamRemote 1.0.11

A small fix to 1.0.10. See what's new in 1.0.9.

Fixed:

• On Windows, updating no longer fails with files in use. Versions before 1.0.9 could leave a hidden copy running after you closed them, which stopped the installer. If an older installer gave you that error, this one works without a restart.
• If Sony's camera software still won't let go when you close CamRemote, the app now closes anyway instead of leaving a hidden copy behind.
• Not connected no longer runs under the Connect camera… button.

Windows may show a blue Windows protected your PC box: click More info, then Run anyway. On a Mac, drag CamRemote to Applications and choose Replace.

CamRemote 1.0.10

A small fix to 1.0.9. See what's new in 1.0.9.

Fixed:

• The Long exposure tab on the Photo tab no longer has its name cut off.

Windows may show a blue Windows protected your PC box: click More info, then Run anyway. On a Mac, drag CamRemote to Applications and choose Replace.

CamRemote 1.0.9

Long exposures, more automatic recording choices, a simpler Drive picker and a tidier window. See which cameras work.

New in this version:

• Long exposure: a tab next to Photo and Time-lapse. Pick a length from 1 second to 8 minutes. Up to 30 seconds the camera times it; longer, CamRemote holds the shutter open on Bulb, so keep the window open until it's done. Tell it the ND filter on your lens and it suggests a length from the meter. Your shutter speed comes back when you leave the tab.
• Automatic recording, your way: it can watch for any animal, birds only, or people. Pick how long it waits after they've gone before it stops, and whether it focuses on what it found.
• Drive in two short rows: Single, Burst, Timer or Bracket, then only that one's speed, delay, step and photos. Anything else your camera has is under the small ▾ button.
• The histogram and meter float over the picture. Drag them anywhere, drag the corner to resize, and click for levels.
• Grid, zebras, peaking, histogram and rotate sit in one row under the picture. R rotates too.
• The window opens at the picture's shape, with no black bars, and comes back where you left it.
• Super 35 crop for the A7S III and FX3.
• Settings your camera doesn't have are hidden instead of greyed out.
• Send log (in Setup): if something goes wrong, one click sends the log to the developer. Nothing is sent unless you press it.

Fixed:

• Menus close when you click their button again, instead of closing and opening straight back up.
• The focus magnifier turns off properly in photo mode.
• Quick taps on the picture no longer pile up and confuse the camera.
• No stuck copies of CamRemote left running after you close it.
• On the A9 II, clicking to focus names the spot size (Spot S, M or L) the same way the Focus area buttons do.

Tested on an A7S III from Windows. The Mac version is built from the same code but hasn't been tried with a camera yet.

One remote at a time: the camera only takes one, so close CamRemote on your computer before you use Sony's app or the upcoming iPhone app.

Windows may show a blue Windows protected your PC box: click More info, then Run anyway. On a Mac, drag CamRemote to Applications and choose Replace.

CamRemote 1.0.8

Saved setups, S&Q slow motion, and a side panel that matches the iPhone app. See which cameras work.

New in this version:

• C1 to C4: press and hold a tile to save your current settings there, and click it to switch back. Each tile shows what it holds: frame rate, file format and exposure for video, or exposure and drive for photos. Your camera's own C1 to C4 aren't touched.
• S&Q (slow and quick motion): switch between Normal and S&Q without turning the dial, and pick what it shoots at (up to 240fps in HD), what it plays back at, and its record setting. A saved setup can be S&Q too, like a 240fps one for birds taking off.
• Both card slots: the readout shows each card, and says when the second slot is empty.
• A cleaner side panel, with the same look as the iPhone app.

Tested on an A7S III from Windows. The Mac version is built from the same code but hasn't been tried with a camera yet.

One remote at a time: the camera only takes one, so close CamRemote on your computer before you use Sony's app or the upcoming iPhone app.

Windows may show a blue Windows protected your PC box: click More info, then Run anyway. On a Mac, drag CamRemote to Applications and choose Replace.

CamRemote 1.0.7

A cleaner window, and click to focus on the A9 II. See which cameras work.

New in this version:

• Less clutter: the audio meters only appear when the picture comes from an HDMI capture card, since the camera sends no sound over Wi-Fi. Record level moves to Setup. The focus ring only shows in MF or DMF, and the line above the picture shows what the big controls don't, such as frame rate and recording setting.
• A9 II: it now connects over Wi-Fi with PC Remote and pairing (steps in the README). To click to focus, set Focus area to a Flexible Spot, and a click moves the spot there and focuses. Time-lapse and card formatting don't work on it.
• Show log file: a small link at the bottom of Setup opens the log in Explorer or Finder, ready to send if something goes wrong.
• Setup tip: set the camera's Power Save Start Time to 30 minutes so it doesn't fall asleep while you wait.

Click to focus is confirmed working on an A9 II. Not tried yet: the tidier window with a camera connected.

Windows may show a blue Windows protected your PC box: click More info, then Run anyway. On a Mac, drag CamRemote to Applications and choose Replace.

CamRemote 1.0.6

The biggest update so far: CamRemote now shoots photos as well as video. Tested on the A7S III. See which cameras work.

New in this version:

• Photo tab: take single shots and bursts, with drive modes and tap focus. The app switches the camera between photo and movie mode for you.
• Time-lapse: choose how often and how many photos, then start and stop it from the big button.
• Photos on your computer: save to your card, your computer or both, in full size or as a small JPEG, in a folder you choose.
• Setup tab: what you change while shooting stays on Video and Photo. Everything you set once or now and then has moved to Setup, including picture source, rotation and phone control.
• New README: clearer on what the app does and how it works.

Good to know: full-size RAW files take 4 to 12 seconds each to reach your computer over Wi-Fi. For bursts and time-lapses, use Both with Small JPEG, and the card keeps the full files.

Not tried yet: the self-timer, F9 on the Photo tab, and tapping the picture in manual focus on the Photo tab. The phone page doesn't have photo controls yet.

Windows may show a blue Windows protected your PC box: click More info, then Run anyway.

CamRemote 1.0.5

Control your Sony camera from your computer or phone. Tested on the A7S III. See which cameras work.

New in this version:

• Phone access code stays hidden: the app shows dots until you click Show code, and hides it again after 30 seconds, so it won't end up in a screen recording or a photo of your screen.
• New code button: makes a new access code if yours gets out. It asks first, and phones already signed in will need the new code.

If you've posted a video or screenshot of the app, check whether your code shows in it. If it does, click New code.

Card formatting from 1.0.4 still hasn't been tried on a real card, so try it first on a card with nothing you need.

Windows may show a blue Windows protected your PC box: click More info, then Run anyway.

CamRemote 1.0.4

Control your Sony camera from your computer or phone. Tested on the A7S III. See which cameras work.

New in this version:

• Animal recording fix: a slow focus move could leave the app saying the camera wouldn't record, and then the take started anyway with nothing to stop it. The app now always starts recording first.
• Format a card: click ▾ next to the card readout. It quick-formats the whole card after asking you first, and it won't run while the camera is recording.

Please be careful with Format: it hasn't been tried on a real card yet. It erases everything on the card, and the app can't tell whether you've copied your footage off. Try it first on a card with nothing you need.

Windows may show a blue Windows protected your PC box: click More info, then Run anyway.