So, I finally figured out how to update my A7R with the latest firmware. I didn't realise, but it's been years since I have updated the firmware, and we are now on version 3.20... my camera is 1.02!!!
There's a problem with the Sony updater in Mac OS High Sierra. It's because naughty Sony want root admin privileges, and Mac OS is very protective. Good things from Apple, slightly naughty from Sony, really.
So, head over to this page, and proceed with the update...
You'll want to go and make a coffee...
And, now the update is done... how is it? Well, the camera really does turn on a lot, lot faster. Pleasingly so. I suppose it should do; there have been several updates now and I simply forgot all about doing them. Each update they improve the start up time, but having sat out so many updates, I can say that it’s almost as fast as my old Canon 450D. Which is funny as that camera is ancient, but doesn’t have a live viewfinder for a 36MP image, so it’s kind of fair enough.
Which kind of reminds me... do I need 36MP? God no. I often think about getting a camera that’s faster, quieter (A7R shutter is loud), and has smaller files as the RAW files just eat up space. If I don’t shoot RAW then there’s no point having this camera TBH. If all I do is post to the web, then there’s also not much point, but I do print a few photos every now and then, so I will keep playing with this camera for a good while yet and try to further improve my photography.