Recipe Lab

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Contents

• What it is
• The recipes
• Compatibility
  • Cameras that run PlayMemories apps
  • Cameras that cannot run camera apps
• Installing
• How to use
• Custom recipes
  • Making one
  • The edit buttons
  • Rename, delete, favorite
  • Sharing
• Transfer to phone
• What it changes
• Uninstalling
• Troubleshooting
• For developers
• Credits

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What it is

Recipe Lab is a small app that runs on the camera itself — on Sony cameras that support PlayMemories Camera Apps, such as the A6000, A6300, A6500 and A7 II (see Compatibility). It comes with 76 colour recipes that recreate the looks of other cameras — Fuji film simulations, Ricoh GR image controls, Leica, Hasselblad, Canon and Nikon colour, Sony's newer Creative Looks — and of classic film stocks from Kodak, Fuji, Cinestill, Agfa and Ilford. You can also make your own, and share them.

Recipe Lab has a phone app too. Recipe Lab Studio develops your RAWs on iPhone, iPad and Android with these same looks, plus the film grain and mist a camera cannot do. The camera sends it photos and recipes over Wi-Fi (Transfer to phone), so a look you made on the camera is on the phone, and a look you made on the phone is on the camera. The camera app stays what it is: the looks, stored in the camera.

You turn the wheel, watch the live image change, press a button. From then on the camera shoots that way in every mode, photo and video, with the app closed. Turn it off and on, it is still there.

Honest note. The A6000 has no Picture Profile menu and cannot store tone curves. Every recipe is built only from what this camera can keep: Creative Style, saturation, contrast, sharpness, white balance, exposure bias, Picture Effect and one hidden colour setting Sony never exposed. So these are approximations of a look, not copies of another brand's colour science.

The recipes

brand	recipes
Sony	Factory (the camera's own look), PT, NT, VV, VV2, FL, IN, SH
Fuji simulations	Provia, Velvia, Astia, Classic Chrome, Classic Negative, Nostalgic Neg, Reala Ace, Pro Neg Std / Hi, Eterna, Eterna Bleach Bypass, Acros, Acros +Ye / +R / +G, Sepia
Fuji film	Pro 400H, Fortia 50, Superia 400, C200, Natura 1600
Kodak	Portra 160 / 400 / 800, Gold 200, Ultra Max 400, Color Plus 200, Ektar 100, Ektachrome E100, Kodachrome 64, Vision3 500T, Vision 200T (Asteroid City), Tri-X 400, Tri-X 1600 (pushed), T-Max
Cine	Cinestill 50D, Cinestill 800T, Classic Cinema, Rec709 Video
Ricoh GR	Positive Film, Negative Film, Bleach Bypass, Retro, Cross Process, Hi-Contrast B&W, Hard Monotone, Soft Monotone
Leica	Contemporary, Classic, Eternal, Monochrom
Hasselblad	HNCS Natural
Canon / Nikon	Canon Standard / Portrait / Faithful, Nikon Flat / Vivid
Panasonic / Olympus	L.Monochrome D, L.ClassicNeo, Pop Art, Pale & Light
Other stocks	Agfa Vista 200, Agfa Ultra 100, Polaroid / Instax
Ilford	HP5, FP4, Delta 100, Delta 3200, Pan F 50

See every recipe on the same subject → — 77 frames, one scene, one exposure, straight out of the camera.

Recipes marked JPEG only in the app (Acros +R, Tri-X 1600, GR Retro, GR Hi-Contrast B&W, Sony SH, Polaroid) are built on a Picture Effect because, against the reference frames, its tone curve gets closer than Creative Style can; everything else stays Creative Style on purpose.

Not included, because the camera simply cannot do them: log profiles (S-Log, V-Log, Blackmagic Film, Cinelike D) and tinted black & white (selenium, cyanotype). Sony's camcorder Cinematone gamma exists in the firmware but the A6000's camera layer neither lists nor accepts it, so that door is closed too.

Compatibility

Recipe Lab has no model check in it, and every Sony body that runs PlayMemories apps has the same settings store — so it should install and work beyond the A6000.

The catch: the setting IDs were found on an A6000 and may sit elsewhere on another body, so a recipe could land in the wrong place. A camera gets a ✅ only once someone has stored a recipe on it and power-cycled the camera.

Tried one? File a compatibility report. Failures are as useful as successes.

Cameras that run PlayMemories apps

✅ someone has run it on that body · ❔ app-capable, nobody has reported back yet · ❌ reported not to take the app

camera	model code	status	comment
A6000	ILCE-6000	✅	built and tested on it
A6500	ILCE-6500	✅
A5100	ILCE-5100	✅	no Fn button: the brand list is under hold MENU → Browse recipes
A7 II	ILCE-7M2	✅
A7	ILCE-7	✅
NEX-5T	NEX-5T	✅	some menu labels read differently (#22)
A6300	ILCE-6300	✅
A7R	ILCE-7R	✅
A7R II	ILCE-7RM2	✅	one of four reports lost the look after a power cycle — check the mode dial is not on MR / 1 / 2 (#82)
RX100 V	DSC-RX100M5	✅
HX60 / HX60V	DSC-HX60	✅	zoom and flash could not be used (#42)
A7S II	ILCE-7SM2	✅	the image stabiliser misbehaved with a manual lens while the app was open (#48)
RX100 III	DSC-RX100M3	✅	one owner could not get the look into MR even after registering it from P/A/S/M and power-cycling ()

Two more are unclear: the RX100 II and the original RX10 had Sony's app store, but are missing from the installer's device table, so even the install is untested.

App-capable but pointless: the QX lens cameras (ILCE-QX1, DSC-QX10/QX30/QX100), with no screen or wheel to drive the app, and the Handycams and action cams, with no Creative Style to write.

Cameras that cannot run camera apps

Sony's last app-capable bodies are the ones above, from late 2016 — the A6500 and the A99 II. Everything since has signed firmware and no MENU → Application, so nothing can be installed on it: not this app, not Sony's own store, which closed in 2021.

E-mount, APS-C	A6100, A6400, A6600, A6700, ZV-E10, ZV-E10 II, FX30
E-mount, full frame	A7 III, A7 IV, A7R III, A7R IV / IVA, A7R V, A7S III, A7C, A7C II, A7CR, A9, A9 II, A9 III, A1, A1 II, ZV-E1, FX3
Cyber-shot	RX100 VA, RX100 VI, RX100 VII, RX10 IV, RX0, RX0 II, HX99, ZV-1, ZV-1F, ZV-1 II

…and everything released since, as well as bodies from before Sony's app store, such as the HX50 / HX50V (#115) and the NEX-5N (#136). The menu is the test: no MENU → Application on your camera, no app — so reports of Recipe Lab running on an A6400 or similar are mistaken.

Installing

Takes about ten minutes, once. You need the camera, its USB cable, a memory card and a computer (Windows, Mac or Linux).

Rather watch it done? u/wemax141 made a video walkthrough:

1. Get the installer tool. It is called Sony-PMCA-RE, made by ma1co. It puts apps on Sony cameras the same way Sony's own app store did before it closed.

• Windows: download pmca-gui.exe from the releases page. Nothing to install, just run it.

• macOS: the same page has a macOS build, less tested than the Windows one. Close anything that holds USB devices — Photos, Dropbox, Google Drive — or it takes the camera first.

• Linux, or if the binary misbehaves: Python 3 and libusb, then in a terminal:

  git clone https://github.com/ma1co/Sony-PMCA-RE.git
  cd Sony-PMCA-RE
  pip install -r requirements.txt
  

2. Download the app: RecipeLab.apk — that link always serves the newest release, so it is the one to use. The releases page has older versions and the version-stamped copies.

3. Prepare the camera. Battery charged, memory card inside. In the camera menu go to Setup (toolbox icon) → USB Connection and choose Mass Storage. Turn the camera on and plug it into the computer. The camera screen should say USB Mode.

4. Install.

• GUI: open pmca-gui.exe → Install app from file → choose RecipeLab.apk → wait.

• Terminal, from the Sony-PMCA-RE folder (Linux: put sudo in front):

  python pmca-console.py install -f RecipeLab.apk
  

The camera will flicker, go black and switch modes a couple of times on its own. That is normal — do not press anything. After about a minute the computer prints Task completed successfully. Go by the computer. The camera is usually left on its own Application Download / Connecting via USB... screen, which looks stuck and is not.

5. Unplug, then turn the camera off and on. The app now lives under MENU → Application → Application List → Recipe Lab.

How to use

Open Recipe Lab from the Application List. The live view shows the look. The panel at the bottom names the recipe.

The basics

• Turn the wheel to change recipe. The live view updates at once.
• Press centre to pick it. The camera keeps it — every mode, even with the app closed.
• Press MENU to leave.

Keys

key	does
wheel, left / right, top dial	next recipe on the name line · next chip on the chip row
up / down	move between name, chips and edit buttons
centre	pick the recipe · edit a chip · press a button
hold centre	favorite on / off
TRASH	panel: full → no keys → label → hidden
hold TRASH	back to the factory look (asks first)
MENU	leave the app · close a list
hold MENU	app menu · in the brand list, a custom recipe's options
Fn	brand list (if your camera has Fn — everything works without it)
shutter	take a photo

Badges

badge	means
ACTIVE	the camera has this look
PREVIEW	only a preview. centre picks it
EDITED	you changed values — still shown after reopening the app, once applied

Change a value

• Go down to the chips. centre a chip. up / down changes it. centre again to finish.
• It is only a preview until you choose.
• Buttons appear under the chips: Apply, Save as new, Discard — and Save on your own recipes.
• See Custom recipes.

Brand list — Fn, or hold MENU → Browse recipes

• Left column: All, Favorites, Custom, then the brands. Right column: their recipes.
• left / right switches column. centre picks.
• The wheel then loops only through the list you picked from — your favorites, one brand — even after a restart. Pick from All to loop through every recipe again.

Favorites

• Hold centre on a recipe. A star appears.
• They wait under Favorites, in the order you marked them.

Menu — hold MENU

• Browse recipes · New recipe · Transfer to phone · Sync recipes · Panel visibility · Language · Reset settings · Save a bug report · About · Developer.
• New recipe saves the camera's current settings as a custom recipe.
• Transfer to phone sends your photos to the phone over Wi-Fi — see Transfer to phone.
• Sync recipes opens the same Wi-Fi link for custom recipes: Recipe Lab Studio copies the ones the phone lacks and sends the ones the card lacks. Leave the page with MENU and they are under Custom.
• Languages: Auto, English, 简体中文, 繁體中文, 日本語, 한국어, Tiếng Việt.

Custom recipes

Keep your own looks next to the built-in ones. They live on the memory card, under Custom in the brand list.

Making one

• From a recipe: change its chips, then press Save as new in the buttons under the chips.
• From the camera: hold MENU → New recipe saves the camera's current settings.
• A keyboard opens to name it. Just type — it replaces Untitled. OK saves.

The edit buttons

Change any chip and buttons appear under the chips. Press down to reach them.

button	does
Save	keeps the changes, and stores them (your own recipes only)
Apply	stores the changes in the camera, without saving
Save as new	saves the changes as a new recipe, and stores it
Discard	back to the recipe's own values (asks first)

Leaving a changed recipe asks first: Discard or Cancel.

Rename, delete, favorite

• In the brand list, hold MENU on a custom recipe → Rename or Delete.
• Hold centre → favorite, as on any recipe.

Sharing

• Share: in the brand list, hold MENU on a custom recipe → Share. Pick a shape (4:5, 1:1, 9:16), then Save image (a picture with the settings and a QR code, in playback like a photo) or Show QR code (on the screen, for someone next to you). A phone with Recipe Lab Studio adds the recipe by scanning the code; anywhere else the link shows the recipe on recipelab.io.
• Links: each recipe's link is in RECIPES/LINKS.TXT on the card, to copy into a chat or a post.
• Add a shared recipe: hold MENU → Read Recipe QR Code, then press the shutter with the code in the frame. The photo it takes is deleted once the code is read.
• Each recipe is a small YAML file in RECIPES on the card — e.g. RECIPES/GOLDENHO.YML.
• Export: connect the camera as Mass Storage. Copy the files out.
• Import: copy a file into RECIPES. Keep its name short: up to 8 letters, then .YML. Reopen the app.
• Edit them in any text editor. Each line lists its allowed values:

name: "Golden Hour"
style: portrait              # standard vivid neutral portrait …
saturation: -1               # -3 .. +3
white-balance: 5600K         # auto, keep, or 2500K .. 9900K
exposure: +0.7               # -5.0 .. +5.0 in thirds

• A file with a bad value is skipped. The app says which and why.
• Formatting the card deletes them. Back up RECIPES first.

Full file format: docs/DEVELOPMENT.md.

Transfer to phone

Send RAWs and JPEGs from the memory card to your phone over Wi-Fi. No cable, no computer, no router: the camera makes its own Wi-Fi network.

You need Recipe Lab Studio on the phone: it lists the photos by their previews and pulls the ones you want, then develops them with your Recipe Lab looks, film grain and mist. It also sees your custom recipes in RECIPES, and sends its own back: see Sync recipes in the menu.

1. Hold MENU → Transfer to phone. The camera starts its Wi-Fi; after a few seconds the page says Ready and shows the network's name and password in large type.
2. On the phone, join that Wi-Fi network with that password.
3. In Recipe Lab Studio: Import → From camera (Wi-Fi) → Already on the camera's Wi-Fi.
4. Leave the camera on that page while the phone imports. It will not switch itself off.

MENU stops it: the transfer ends, the camera's Wi-Fi goes off, auto power-off comes back. Leaving the app any other way stops it too.

• Speed: about 1 MB/s — roughly 25 s for a 24 MP RAW. Previews are small, so browsing is quick. Pull the full RAWs only for the photos you keep.
• If it says Error, the line under the card says why. Check Airplane Mode is off, press MENU and open Transfer to phone again.
• Nothing is changed on the card. The phone can only read.

What it changes

Only camera settings you could set by hand: Creative Style and its saturation, contrast and sharpness sliders, white balance and its fine-tune, exposure compensation, DRO, Picture Effect. No firmware is touched, nothing is unlocked.

Picture Effect recipes (marked JPEG only) behave like the menu item does: the camera ignores Creative Style while one is on, and it only works with Quality = JPEG — set to RAW or RAW+JPEG, the camera drops the effect silently.

Quality therefore follows you rather than being dictated by a recipe. The Factory recipe starts as whatever the camera is set to, and every Creative Style recipe uses that. Change it any time with the QUALITY chip. The chip offers RAW+JPG and the JPEG settings, not RAW alone: with no JPEG there is nothing for the look to be applied to. A camera left on RAW alone is moved to RAW+JPG when you store, after the app asks. Only when a recipe needs JPEG and you are on RAW or RAW+JPG does the app ask:

Quality: RAW+JPG → JPG Fine — JPEG is needed to apply this recipe

Cancel changes nothing.

Uninstalling

Is it permanent? The look stays until you change it — on purpose, that is what makes it work in every mode without the app. It is not permanent in the sense of damage. Undo it any time, three ways:

• In the app: pick Factory (first in Sony), or hold TRASH / hold MENU → Reset settings and confirm.
• In the menus: set Creative Style back to Standard 0 / 0 / 0 and White Balance to Auto.
• Or use the camera's own Setup → Setting Reset → Camera Settings Reset.

Removing the app. MENU → Application → Application Management → Manage and Remove → Recipe Lab. This does not put the colour settings back, so undo the look first and remove the app after.

Worth knowing:

• The preview inside the app is temporary; closing the app removes it. Only what you picked stays.
• Removing the app leaves your custom recipes on the memory card, in RECIPES; formatting the card does not.
• Built and tested on the A6000 with firmware 3.21. Several other bodies have been reported working — see Compatibility — but on anything still marked ❔ there, compare what the chips show with your menus before picking a recipe.

Troubleshooting

The common questions — RAW files, damage, LUTs, newer bodies — are in the FAQ.

what you see	what to do
No devices found	USB Connection must be Mass Storage; card inserted; camera on and showing USB Mode; try another cable or port
Stuck at Waiting for camera to switch...	Unplug, turn the camera off and on, reconnect, run again
UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte ... after Waiting for camera to switch..., with getfqdn in the traceback	The installer cannot read your computer's name when it has accents or other non-English letters in it. Rename the computer to plain letters and digits (Windows: Settings → System → About → Rename this PC), restart, and install again (#103)
Not written — the camera holds these settings read-only or WRITE FAILED	The camera refused the recipe. Install OpenMemories-Tweak, open Protection, tick Unlock protected settings until it reads Protection disabled, then pick the recipe again
Look not applied after picking a recipe	Turn the camera off and on
Look gone after a power cycle, or the recipe will not store, with the mode dial on MR / 1 / 2	Memory Recall loads the settings registered to that position at power-on, over whatever the app stored. Turn the dial to P, A, S or M, store the recipe again, and register it to the MR slot from the camera's menu if you want it there (#59)
Look right in the app, gone once you leave it, or no look at all	If your camera has a Picture Profile menu (the A6000 does not), it must be Off: while a Picture Profile runs, the camera ignores Creative Style and its sliders. The app asks to turn it off each time it opens with one on (#90); choose Turn off, or set MENU → Picture Profile to yourself, and pick the recipe again. Older recipes that used the colour matrix could switch PP3 on themselves on these bodies (); picking any recipe now switches it off

For developers

The reverse-engineering notes — source layout, the settings-store ID map, the exit rule, live-preview parameters, key scan codes and how to build — live in docs/DEVELOPMENT.md.

To contribute, read docs/CONTRIBUTING.md first: branch naming, commit format and the release flow are all enforced by CI.

Credits

Author: André Domingues (voxivoid) — reverse engineering of the A6000 settings store (backup IDs, PP flag behaviour, colour-matrix measurement), the app, the recipes, the icon.

Huge thanks to ma1co. None of this would exist without his years of work reverse engineering Sony's PlayMemories camera platform:

• Sony-PMCA-RE — the app-install channel, the updater shell used to dump this camera's firmware and settings, and fwtool.
• OpenMemories-Platform — the backup driver / OSAL bindings this app links against (vendored here as a git submodule).
• OpenMemories-Tweak and OpenMemories-Framework — reference for Backup_read/write, the ScalarInput key codes and the CameraEx API.
• The earlier nex-hack community research he built on and kept documented.

He figured out how these cameras work, documented it openly and licensed it permissively — this project just stands on that.

Thanks also to Veres Deni Alex. His Sony film-simulation recipes and the side-by-side reference frames on his site were the inspiration and the benchmark for many of the looks here (Kodak, Fuji, Cinestill, Ilford, Cinema…). The values in this app are re-derived for what the A6000 can store and are not his recipes.

License: GPL-3.0, © 2026 André Domingues. Releases up to and including v1.7.0 were published under MIT. OpenMemories-Platform: MIT, © 2017 ma1co. QR Code generator (src/io/nayuki/qrcodegen): MIT, © Project Nayuki. ZXing 3.3.3, the QR code reader subset (src/com/google/zxing): Apache-2.0, © ZXing authors (patched where the camera's Java lacks a call, marked "Recipe Lab:" in the source). Inter, Archivo and Space Mono, cut for the recipe card (assets/fonts/Card*.ttf): SIL OFL 1.1, © their project authors.

Additional term under GPL-3.0 section 7(b): any copy or modified version must preserve the attribution "Based on Recipe Lab by André Domingues" in its source notices and, where it has an interactive user interface, in the Appropriate Legal Notices it displays.