A7 R3 language !

Hello All,

 

Found an A7 RIII with low shutter count (around 5k) and quite cheaper than the new one in local ebay.

There is a problem: There is no English on the menu.

 

Is it possible to add English or any other language to menu? If we run the new firmware is it possible to have preferred language on the menu?

 

Thanks for contributions

 

All the best

 

Samy

You might try reaching Sony in the country of origin. You can determine that from the serial number and a little on-line research. Loading mis-matched firmware can brick your camera. The Sony update software is supposed to check compatibility, but that's your risk.

I have read that Sony do this on purpose. In Japan for example, a camera may retail for less than elsewhere, but the menu is restricted to Japanese. It's a way of protecting against grey market imports that could have a negative impact on Sony's ability to sell cameras at some desired price point in certain markets. Updating firmware doesn't have any effect. I've also seen reports online of people "hacking" the firmware of their camera in order to switch it to English, but of course, this would void any warranty, and could potentially turn the camera into an expensive paperweight. You might find more info searching around online, but I am not advocating for this course of action.

This is a common problem when a camera or any other piece of electronics has its language changed. The names for the language options also change into the chosen language. A stupid way to do things, but it seems to be 'the way it's done'.

 

I'd be surprised if English wasn't one of the options, but you have to know the foreign word for 'Language' and 'English' before you can change it!

 

Even worse if the foreign language uses an unrecognisable script, like Hangel, Kanji or Cyrillic.

Edited November 23, 2018 by rodeo_joe|1

If you can get into the menu, scroll over to the tool box>go down in tool box and move right to the 4th page>in the 4th page move down to the 6th line, this is language, go into that selection and see if you can change it to English. The A7RIII supports a lot of languages including Japanese and Chinese looking characters.

 

I would be surprised the option to change language is not in the menu, just you can not find where it is since it is in unrecognizable characters.