{"id":807414,"date":"2026-10-19T09:14:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T09:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/807414\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T09:14:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T09:14:10","slug":"videographer-hacks-sony-a7-iv-to-add-this-feature-i-found-a-path-traversal-bug-allowing-me-to-get-the-fully-decrypted-firmware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/807414\/","title":{"rendered":"Videographer hacks Sony A7 IV to add this feature. \u2018I found a path traversal bug allowing me to get the fully decrypted firmware\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

A photographer has shared on Reddit how he was able to \u201creverse engineer\u201d the firmware on his Sony<\/a> A7 IV to add a shutter angle feature to the mirrorless hybrid stills-and-video camera.<\/p>\n

Reddit user Mr_BananaPants shared the feat of software engineering in a thread<\/a>, although he didn\u2019t go into the specifics of how exactly he achieved it. \u201cI found a path traversal bug allowing me to get the fully decrypted firmware of the A7 IV, which nobody had managed to do before,\u201d the videographer said.<\/p>\n

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Shutter angle is a way of measuring exposure time relative to your video\u2019s frame rate. Measured in degrees, it determines how much motion blur appears in each frame of footage.<\/p>\n

Latest Videos FromDigital Camera World<\/p>\n

While photographers measure exposure in absolute time \u2013 such as 1\/250 second \u2013 cinematographers prefer shutter angle because it automatically scales when you change your frame rate, enabling consistent motion blur without having to do any mental math.<\/p>\n

Although the A7 IV<\/a> would be perfectly capable of calculating shutter angle, Sony restricts the feature to dedicated FX cinema-line models, which include similarly priced models such as the FX30<\/a>, as well as higher-end rigs such as the FX6<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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After the initial hacking success, Mr_BananaPants then tried to enable 8K video recording on the A7 IV, despite the self-professed \u201cmajor risk of bricking the camera.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Sony A7 IV is a full-frame 33MP prosumer hybrid camera for shooting stills and video released in 2021 (Image credit: Rod Lawton\/Digital Camera World)<\/p>\n

Failing to heed his own warning, the videographer\u2019s next update in the Reddit thread was simply: \u201ccamera is bricked and stuck in a bootloop.\u201d That\u2019s to say, the camera had become unresponsive, rendering it useless and requiring a professional service.<\/p>\n

The best camera deals, reviews, product advice, and unmissable photography news, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

Thankfully, as Mr_BananaPants kept the details of the firmware bug under wraps, other users in the thread weren\u2019t able to copy him. \u201cThank you for not publishing full details before you proved the hack \u2013 you probably saved dozens of people from bricking their cameras too,\u201d said another Reddit commenter, HeavyDuty_Ken.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not only the risk of bricking your camera that makes fiddling around with its firmware super risky, either.<\/p>\n

Sony Alpha Rumors also covered this story, and someone left a comment on its article<\/a> claiming to have even been contacted by a law firm representing Sony after publicly sharing that they\u2019d used a similar firmware hack to enable 30fps shooting when using a Sigma 300-600mm f\/4<\/a> lens on an A1 Mark II<\/a> body.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe very cautious. I got a serious cease and desist legal letter served and several threatening phone calls,\u201d said ScottOphoto.<\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s safe to say that, between potentially bricking your camera and facing legal action, it\u2019s probably not a good idea to try to reverse engineer firmware. I know I won\u2019t be attempting it anytime soon.<\/p>\n

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Here’s our pick of the best Sony cameras<\/a> and the best Sony lenses <\/a>to complete your setup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A photographer has shared on Reddit how he was able to \u201creverse engineer\u201d the firmware on his Sony…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":807415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-807414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/807415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}