Mac OS X RAW Support for Sony Alpha a 300

Published: 2008-06-20 10:30:30

Apple's recent OS X update added support for Sony Alpha a200 and a350 RAW files, but omitted the a300. Despite hardware similarities, the a300 lacks compatibility. To address this, a script has been created to convert a300 RAW files to a200 format, available as a command-line script or an Automator Action, simplifying the process for users.

Mac OS X RAW Support for Sony Alpha a 300

During one of the newer OS X software updates Apple extended the list of compatible RAW Cameras by the Sony Alpha a 200 and the a 350. The a 300 however was omitted. This is insofar weird, as the hardware differences between the a 200 and the a 300 have no effect neither on the ccd nor on the exposure / shutter options. The only difference is the tiltable LCD-Screen as well as the option to shoot using LiveView. Thus the basic RAW picture from a a 300 should be similar to a picture from a a 200. I researched this a bit and found that that's mostly the case. Thus I present a small script which will convert Alpha a 300 RAW Files to Alpha a 200 RAW Files. The process is rather simple.

You can download it either as a commandline script, or as a Automator Action. The commandline script can be used in the following way: "python ./A300fix.py DSC0001.ARW" in order to convert the file DSC0001.ARW to A200 raw. Please note that the script doesn't create copies but changes the original file. So you're advised to create copies of your original RAW files in case anything doesn't work out as expected - although this never happened to me so far. Alternatively you can use "python ./A300fix.py all" to convert all scripts in the current directory.

The usage of the automator action should be rather clear.

Download the commandline script here

Download the Automator Action here