sonycam

name	sonycam
description	Control Sony Alpha cameras over USB PC Remote with sonycam: connect, ISO/shutter/aperture, in-camera movie REC, liveview with red REC tally, and CFexpress/SD pull. Use when recording A-roll, operating an A1/A7/FX body from the Mac, teleprompter camera control, or pulling clips.

sonycam — Alpha camera control

CLI-first control for Sony Alpha bodies via the local Alpha Camera REST API. Verified on ILCE-1M2 (A1 II). Pair with screcord for screen capture — this is not a screen recorder.

Resolve binary

command -v sonycam || echo "$HOME/.local/bin/sonycam"
# from repo: source .venv/bin/activate && sonycam

Preconditions (don’t skip)

1. Camera powered on
2. USB mode = PC Remote (not Mass Storage / Auto)
3. USB cable connected
4. @alpha-sdk/api installed (npm install -g @alpha-sdk/api) and Sony CRSDK license accepted once

Session checklist

- [ ] sonycam server start
- [ ] sonycam connect
- [ ] sonycam status          # connected=True, movie mode, exposure OK
- [ ] sonycam set --iso … --shutter …
- [ ] (optional) sonycam liveview
- [ ] sonycam rec start  → talent → sonycam rec stop
- [ ] sonycam pull --latest --out ~/Movies/sonycam

Standard commands

sonycam server start
sonycam connect
sonycam status
sonycam status --json

sonycam set --iso 800 --shutter 1/200
sonycam set --aperture 2.8

sonycam liveview                 # red border while REC (blocks)
sonycam rec start
sonycam rec stop
sonycam rec status

sonycam pull --list
sonycam pull --latest --out ~/Movies/sonycam

Hard rules

1. Master = in-camera. Liveview JPEGs are monitoring only — never the edit master.
2. Prefer rec start / rec stop over toggle (idempotent via recording-state).
3. If disconnected → sonycam connect (remote-transfer + pc-remote priority).
4. Body must be in a movie exposure mode or REC will stay Not Recording.
5. Agents: prefer --json on status / pull --list.
6. Do not use gphoto2 --capture-movie as the master path.

Failure checklist

Symptom	Fix
Cannot reach API	sonycam server start
Port open, no response	sonycam server stop && sonycam server start
CameraWebApp dyld / OpenSSL	sonycam server start refreshes Homebrew openssl shim
No cameras	PC Remote + replug USB; quit Creators’ App if it holds the device
Property / REC fails	connect then retry; confirm movie mode
Pull empty / wrong clip	--slot 1 (or 2); use --list before --latest

With screcord (YouTube A-roll + screen)

# Terminal A — camera monitor
sonycam liveview

# Terminal B — screen
screcord record --preset tutorial --slug topic --display main

# Camera master still via sonycam rec start/stop + pull

Reference

• Flags + API map: reference.md