A7RV producing multiple identical images of moving subject - how?

[RichardGB]

My A7RV should be recording 1x RAW and 1x JPEG of an image simultaneously in each media slot. However, it recently started recording 3 copies of the same image, each with a different filename, and each filename having a RAW and JPEG file. Not only is this using up space on the card but its also takes longer to clear the buffer.

The example images below are of successive OOC JPEG files. The train was probably moving at about 30km/h (>8m/s), so fast enough to show any movement if there had been any time difference between exposures.

As far as I can see, the images are identical in time - where the subject is moving there is no difference in position. They may have slightly different brightness, but the metadata for exposure is exactly the same. As far as I know, I haven't accidentally held the shutter release longer than a single shot, and in any case I would have heard multiple exposures.

I have now double-checked that the camera is set to Single Shooting, i.e. no Bracketing and no Cont.[inuous] Shooting, which would have given multiple exposures, and there is now only 1x RAW and 1x JPEG recorded - as there should be.

It is a mystery how the multiple identical exposures arose. Any suggestions?

[PGPMAS]

HI

It looks like you have switched bracketing on

I did the same, you can enter shooting mode and change it back to single shot

[RichardGB]

Thanks for the suggestion - anything is possible - but when bracketing is engaged, the viewfinder display shows 3 downward-pointing arrowheads on the exposure scale. This would be pretty obvious, and I did not see it.

The other thing about bracketing is, as I understand it, the camera takes 3 successive exposures and so I would hear 'click, click, click'. Again, I did not hear this, and I was in fairly quiet environments most of the time. With 3 successive exposures, too, there would be a slight delay between each, and with a moving subject there would be a difference in position - but the train is in the same place. A possibility, I suppose, is that the camera does the bracketing electronically, by changing the gain of the readout from the image sensor; this would not need 3 actual exposures, but 3 images could be written on the card; the Help Guide does not mention one way or the other whether this so, and the metadata shows the same exposure.

I do not rule out 'finger trouble', i.e. I touched something accidentally without realising, and as a precaution have disabled the touch screen while shooting function.

I have also been in contact with Sony Support, and at their suggestion have 'initialised' the camera, i.e. returned it to the factory-default settings. This was not undertaken lightly as it then means I have had to go through all the menus to set-up the camera again to my liking. Unfortunately, there was no suggestion from Sony about what actually caused the problem - the possibilities they suggested were the same as those already checked (see earlier posts).
In a Google search, I see the problem has surfaced from time to time over the years and models. As for me, I shall be keeping a close(r) eye on everything for the time being.

[MaggieGreene]

Hi @richardgb, what are your file settings? Make sure that they're adjusted to your desired options by following the steps here: https://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/2230/v1/en/contents/TP0002927433.html Also, make sure that your camera is updated to the latest version: https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/e-mount-body-ilce-7-series/ilce-7rm5/software/00292265 

[RichardGB]

Hi Maggie

Thanks for your reply.

The file settings, as mentioned in my previous post, are for the camera to record 1xJPEG and 1xRAW image every time I take a picture, both files to be recorded simultaneously in both media slots (and I've checked that both cards are recording the same images). Note, too, that the 3 pairs of images, each with successive filenames, are on both cards, so their presence is not an artifact of copying / downloading from the cards.

As far as I know there are no camera settings which would record exactly the same JPEG an RAW files 3 times, which is what appears to have happened. (My previous post and uploaded image shows a moving subject with no difference between its position, so there is no time delay - as would happen with bracketing - between the captured image).

Concerning the camera firmware, this is Version 3.0, which is the laterst version available on the Sony website. It is also the version already installed on the camera when I bought it new in autumn last year.

Finally, the change from the camera behaving as it should, i.e. recording 1xJPEG and 1xRAW image to each card, to misbehaving (recording 3xJPEG and 3xRAW images to each card) happened on the same card - I hadn't installed a new card.

I hope this clarifies these points.

Thanks

[danardeng]

IMHO the point is that the camera has different behaviors with same settings (can you confirm?).

All that customer can do is a reset of the camera just to exclude any settings mistakes, other of that is in change of the camera (firmware?).

[RichardGB]

Hello DAnardeng

Tanks for your message. Yes, re-initialising the camera to its basic (factory) settings would enable the user to set up their camera again. (And I have already done this). However, this would not identify the cause of the problem and therefore not prevent the error from recurring, whether by user-error or a fault in the firmware. Furthermore, setting up the camera again after re-initialising takes some time as it involves going through all the settings, and another downside is that the file-numbering system is also reset.

I have been in contact directly with Sony Support and have offered to send them the original camera files so that they can look at the data recorded on them (on the assumption that they can analyse it). I am currently awaiting their response to this suggestion.