Sony Electronics is addressing, the company says, “one of the most common challenges for professional content creators – maintaining consistency and quality when capturing multiple images – with its new Custom Grid Line license.” As I wrote when the Sony custom grid lines were announced, there was a time when photographers would draw lines, with a marker pen – or any other way – on the focusing screen of their medium-format cameras, to define where the subject would be placed in the frame.
While that was possible with medium-format cameras and, in some cases, with SLRs that had changeable focusing screens, it’s not a viable option with modern cameras, so the alternative Sony found is to offer an update that adds the grid lines. The update is available for anyone interested but you need to buy a license that costs $149 USD/$202 CAD, per permanent camera license, through Sony’s Upgrade and License Management Suite at https://ulms.sony.net.
The license upgrade, built for volume photography and video production professionals, lets creators import up to four customized original grid lines. These can be displayed on the camera’s electronic viewfinder (EVF) and rear LCD monitor, or on an external monitor using an HDMI output, to ensure consistent results during long shooting sessions.
Custom grid lines alleviate the burden of volume photographers working at schools, photo studios, theme parks, cruise ships or malls who often need to take similar shots repeatedly, sometimes thousands in one day. The ability to clearly see pre-set customized grid lines, especially when working quickly or in challenging lighting conditions, provides unprecedented peace of mind knowing that each shot will be framed perfectly.
Additionally, sports photographers can apply one set of grid lines for full team photos and another for individual player shots, enabling uniformity. They can also create grid lines customized for specific sports to follow the action and player movements more precisely.
Additionally, videographers can benefit from Sony’s Custom Grid Line license. It lets creatives capture videos looking at the aspect ratio they need, allowing users to frame content that can easily be repurposed for social media or other specific uses.
The combination of Custom Grid Lines with Alpha camera features, such as Face AF and Eye AF, make it easy to line up standard family and couple photos, as well as capture dynamic activity shots.
Users can create the grid lines as PNG files – which can also contain characters, logos, and other graphic elements – and replace them as needed. They can also choose grid line colors, for example, to avoid blending with subjects’ clothing color or backgrounds.
While currently supported cameras include the A1, A7S III, A7 IV, and A9 III, the Custom Grid Line license will be available for other Alpha camera bodies with future compatible models announced through the web site: https://pro.sony/digital-imaging/. Information about the license and how to purchase it can be found on Sony’s camera upgrade website: https://pro.sony/digital-imaging/.