| 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"
Preconditions (don’t skip)
- Camera powered on
- USB mode = PC Remote (not Mass Storage / Auto)
- USB cable connected
@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
sonycam rec start
sonycam rec stop
sonycam rec status
sonycam pull --list
sonycam pull --latest --out ~/Movies/sonycam
Hard rules
- Master = in-camera. Liveview JPEGs are monitoring only — never the edit master.
- Prefer
rec start / rec stop over toggle (idempotent via recording-state).
- If disconnected →
sonycam connect (remote-transfer + pc-remote priority).
- Body must be in a movie exposure mode or REC will stay Not Recording.
- Agents: prefer
--json on status / pull --list.
- 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)
sonycam liveview
screcord record --preset tutorial --slug topic --display main
Reference
