Just weeks into the new year, Sony has released its first major firmware update of 2025, adding new features and improvements to three of its flagship mirrorless cameras – the Sony A1 II, A1 and A9 III.
This update brings enhancements to still photography, video capabilities, and overall camera operability, while also expanding Sony’s Camera Authenticity Solution to help professional photographers maintain content integrity.
For photographers, the update introduces several new Shooting Functions that improve flexibility and precision. The original Sony A1 and A1 II both gain focus bracketing for continuous shooting, enabling the cameras to automatically shift the focus position during bursts, which is particularly useful for macro and product photography.
These cameras also receive expanded exposure bracketing settings, giving users more control over exposure value adjustments and the number of shots captured in each bracketed sequence. Additionally, both the A1 II and A9 III now support the use of Focus Magnifier and Auto Magnifier in MF when shooting in Bright Monitoring mode, making it easier to nail focus in challenging lighting conditions.
One of the standout stills features in this update is exclusive to the Sony A9 III. The camera now offers shutter speeds of up to 1/80,000 of a second at all aperture values when the Exposure Value Expand function is enabled. This will be particularly helpful for sports and action photographers who need to freeze ultra-fast motion or shoot at wide apertures in bright conditions without worrying about overexposure.
On the video side, Sony continues to enhance its hybrid capabilities that the brand is known for. The A1 II and A9 III both see improvements in image quality when applying user LUTs (Look-Up Tables), which enables filmmakers to monitor footage more accurately during recording and simplifies color grading in post-production.
The original A1 also receives a useful update that generates still images from movie frames using the Shot Marks feature, providing a faster way to extract key frames without interrupting the flow of a shoot.
Sony has also made small but impactful improvements to overall operability and transfer functions. Users can now customize buttons for playback control, making it easier to navigate through images and videos during review. Cameras will also notify users when new firmware updates are available, ensuring that photographers and videographers always have the latest features at their fingertips.
The full table of functions that are included in the update can be found in the image below:
In addition to these creative enhancements, Sony is expanding its Camera Authenticity Solution to all three bodies. This initiative aims to provide a higher level of image verification by enabling photographers to add digital signatures to their images, confirming that the files haven’t been tampered with. This is particularly valuable in industries like photojournalism, where image authenticity is critical.
As a member of the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), Sony is helping to establish industry standards for digital content verification. By integrating these tools directly into its cameras, Sony is addressing growing concerns around image manipulation and misinformation, providing professionals with a streamlined workflow to ensure the authenticity of their work.
This firmware update is available now from the Sony a1 (Ver.3.00), Sony a1 II (Ver.2.00), and Sony a9 III (Ver.3.00) download pages, where a guide on how to download the firmware is also available.
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