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Sony-NEX VG10 and NEX cameras Firmware Hack
  • mr Vitaliy Kiselev. Can you Hack Sony NEX-VG10 Firmware?
    I know plenty of people that wishes this....
    you can see at Vimeo Here http://vimeo.com/groups/nexvg10/forumthread:231466
    I 'm sure that you already know this....

    Look CLIFFLIX post:
    "Seriously,...how many people would throw in $200 each for this guy (Vitaly Kiselev) to enable peaking, zebras, 24p and maybe NEX5 type monitor focus zoom? That's easily worth it to me! 20 to 50 people or more here on this board at $200 bucks each? That's nice bank! no?

    My God,...that stuff enabled would actually make the VG10 almost a "PRO" camera!"


    Do something for us..... We will support you for sure
  • 32 Replies sorted by
  • I already answered this, as I remember.
    VG10 firmware is encrypted. This is first.
    Adding low level functions as you described is almost impossible.
  • Vitaliy -

    I remember seeing you answer previously that the firmware is encrypted - but you use a very intriguing word here - "almost" impossible.

    What would it take to make this possible?

    Thanks in advance for thinking about it.
  • Almost impossible had been used for low level functions part only :-)
    If you want me to be blunt - forget about that.
  • VG20 is coming soon, I'd forget about this for now. NEX 3C or 7 would be better candidates for a hack I think.
  • From the tests I've seen on the Web the Sony-NEX VG10 suffers from pretty bad moire/aliasing, so why bother...
  • A little off topic, but I've seen a couple VG10's on Quibids lately. Last one went for $170 I think this afternoon.
  • Vitaliy -

    On the Vimeo forum mentioned about, we have pretty serious dollars ready to commit to someone who could do the "almost impossible" to resolve these issues and add a couple of key features. A number of us have committed to the VG-10 as a camera.

    Does that change the calculus at all?

    Or is there someone else with your skills who would be willing to have a go?
  • @egraphic

    You'll need to find real pros.
    Who'll be able to dump firmware, reconstruct it to proper file system, reverse encryption, etc.
    First, they are almost impossible to find. Second, it'll be thousands and thousands.
    Better wait for VG20.
  • Alternative solution. Get GH2 as B cam. :)
  • @stonebat

    more like an A+++ cam :)
  • @Vitaliy_Kiselev

    Спасибо за ответ и за откровенность.

    Since I'm not a pro, it doesn't make sense for me to invest in the the next VG, or one of the semi-pro cameras mentioned.

    I'll just figure out how I can get the best video from this cam, despite its limitations. I picked up a slightly used version for about $1,400, and it works great with my Nikon primes in manual mode.

  • @egraphic Your investment isn't in the camera, its in the lenses and the accessories (good tripod, mattebox, follow focus, microphones, sound recorders etc) that goes along with it. Camera tech advances far to quickly for it to be an investment.

    Everything has limitations, its working around it. Even VG10 out of the box is good enough for these issues to not limit you creatively.
  • What is the HDMI output on the VG10? Is it 8bit 4:2:0? Has anyone tried recording to a Ninja?
  • The new Sony NEX5 firmware does include peaking. Is it possible to fool the updater into thinking the connected VG10 is an NX5? They share the same circuit boards.
  • @clifflix
    They are not identical. And thanks to god you can't fool updater, so you won't brick anything :-)
  • Wonderfull...LOL..this sucks!
  • I'd give up on changing the VG10. Keep it as a B cam to the new VG20 when it arrives. Just guessing that the VG20 is gonna be a BEAST! Considering that they've had time to address the issues with the camera. It will still be unique in its form factor at that price range. If it wasn't for the Moire, poor UI and limited frame rates, I might've bought the VG10. If they solve those issues I can see it being a very successful camera. Doesn't seem like anyone else wants to play in this market with them. It'll still be "consumer" grade, so don't expect it to have all the features of an F3 or even FS100, but I think they can get the IQ up to very near the FS100 level.
  • I was able to hack a firmware for A33,A55, Nex3, Nex5 and VG10. This is a full list of supported models at this moment. The modified firmware for a55 is available and can be checked by anybody. I hope to move to dedicated host with Vitaliy's help and will post a link here when it happened.

  • Yep.

    Project site will be http://nex-hack.info .

    Will be up very soon.

  • Pretty nice flash so far :)

  • @someone1 awesome! It'll be fun to see where this goes.

  • It's up to community that we're trying to build here and later on the mentioned site. My personal interest is to hack Nex5n, Nex7, A65, A77. Firmware feature requests will be collected and implemented if possible depending on interest and difficulty.

  • @someone1 a hack for Nex3/5? I loooveee youuu!! :))) manual control (ISO) are avalaible now for nex cameras?

  • @someone1 Do you think will be possible hack the new Sony RX100?

  • I dont have NEX and working with A55 at this moment. Will check when get one. Exactly the same for RX100.