We usually set this to Faster setting for taking portraits or otherwise Standard. and auto-flash… additional issues, perhaps for another time, are the flash itself has a label “zoom 24-105mm”. The reason I ask this is because my cousins and I are planning to do our own Music Video for the family. Custom Button 4 — SteadyShot. We shoot with the LCD or “monitor” most of the time to have more awareness of our surroundings, but in bright sunlit situations we use the electronic viewfinder. This has the zoom or magnifier button. SAIFFER Settings Set up your camera with the following settings: Shutter Speed: Use1/60 sec or faster […] We set this button to Eye AF when possible. Sony A7 II Review - A7 II Exposure. 0 My Sony A7 III Camera Settings for Portrait Photography. Can I please ask your settings in Sony a7II when you are filming? Function Upper3 — Flash Comp. Down Button — Finder/Monitor Sel. If you’re looking to go out and create a similar look, keep in mind that you’ll have to keep your strobes at their lowest power settings. Does “focus hold” work in video mode? Nearly a decade since its initial release, Sony A7 camera owners now have plenty of lens options at their disposal. Custom Button 3 — Smile/Face Detect. By default this button says ISO, and it is useful to remember this function. On my canon if in A Priority as I thumb the ISO wheel I can see the speed change. This is the down position of the toggle. A. Thanks much for the clarification of the Eye AF difference between the a7ii and a7rii cameras. By default this button says ISO, and it is useful to remember this function. Function Upper1 — Picture Profile The kicker light was set a couple clicks above the lowest setting just to add a bit of a highlight to separate her from the backdrop. I need to also preface this article with the fact that I am a Sony Artisan but receive no financial remuneration from Sony nor did they have any direct input for this review. We have set up our a7II and a7RII cameras with similar custom buttons and functions, so that we can easily switch between them. On the a7II this button is set to ISO, which is the default. where do I find that? I listed my preference, let me know what you think. Indoors, under normal incandescent lighting, color balance is too warm and orange with the Auto white balance setting, though results here are … Currently you have JavaScript disabled. Function Lower2 — Silent Shooting (not available on the a7II) If you’re planning on attending WPPI this year, be sure to stop by the Savage Paper booth on Monday, March 2nd from 10:30 – 11:15am for my live demo “Creative Business Headshots with Collapsible Backdrops.” I’ll be demonstrating a similar technique and answering questions, so be sure to stop by and say “Hi!”. Hi, I just got my A7 and wondering what are the most useful setting you guys can recommend to change out of the box. But cannot seem to find the Finder/Monitor Sel. I was very close to doing a hard reset on the a7ii when I came across your explanation through a Google search. And yes, my monitor/finder is NOT on AUTO… I would really appreciate if you could help : ). Make sure to set this option to NOT “Auto” for the custom button to work as a toggle between the LCD and the view. Shooting at a shallow depth of field also created a natural blur on her skin which gave the image a soft, dreamy look straight out of the camera. Great setup information. Is it so difficult to offer that via a firmware upgrade? Function Upper5 — Grid Line This test shoot ended up being a great image for my portfolio. Switch between Multi, Center or Spot. AF/MF Button — AF On. We also set our camera to Airplane Mode, which disables the Wi-Fi function and helps conserve battery. Can switch between AF-S, AF-C, AF-A, DMF, or MF. Function Lower6 — Peaking Color. It uses the same 24-megapixel sensor as its predecessor, and the same Bionz X processor as the rest of the a7 series. Hey guys! When the person we are tracking is turned away from the camera or if the face is sufficiently far away, we switch the lever to the up position, using continuous lock-on AF instead of Eye AF. […] those custom and function settings I’d put in place before leaving. It cannot continuously track an eye in the frame in AF-C mode. To enable me to capture images with appropriate settings (and not have to kick myself when I get home for having wasted a photo opportunity due to inappropriate settings) I apply what I call the SAIFFER settings (Shutter-­Aperture‐ISO-­Focus-­Focal Length-Exposure-­Raw). Sony introduced image stabilisation on a full frame camera for the first time in 2014 with the A7 mark II. Here is a quick BTS look at how this image was created. The Sony Alpha a7 II is an image-stabilized full frame mirrorless camera, the fourth release in Sony's a7 lineup and the follow up the original a7. The Canon and Nikon mirrorless cameras are on their first, and the reality is that most first-generation mirrorless cameras aren't very good. I really would rather not use auto ISO to ensure I have the lowest possible ISO with the speed I want. We often use Lock-on AF: Flexible Spot, Center or Wide. Required fields are marked *. The “auto” mode is not reliable, as it turns off the lcd too easily, and attaching a piece of electric tape over the eye-sensor (as many suggest as a patch) shouldn’t be necessary if Sony listened to their customers. Also, when shooting with a shallow depth of field, there is a big advantage to using a camera that has an EVF (electronic view finder). selection anywhere??? SLR Lounge helps over 1.5 million photographers master their craft. LIFETIME Premium Memberships Available [More Info]. Anyone using Sony A7 for professional portrait? I use my α7R II in the video, but the controls and settings apply to pretty much all of the α7 cameras. Sony a7rII + Sony 70-400 w/ LA-E3 adapter in APS-C Mode To enable APS-C Mode, jump into the camera’s menu system and select the “Settings” tab (2nd from the left). I’m coming from a 5Dmk3 and while I’m not trying to set it up the same way I would like to know Agee things. Brian Smith, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, has a great guide to adapting Sony A-mount and Canon EF-mount lenses on Sony E-mount, as well as a more in-depth look at some great new settings on the a7RII. In this case, the whole object will be sharp on average. Silent Shooting: Off. During shooting, the auto review just slows us down. From there, you hold the assigned eye AF button as a form of “back button focus”. Saved me a lot of time and much frustration. Sony has several autofocus settings to choose from, so it can be kind of confusing on what each does and when to … Looking for some help here. Function Lower3 — Quality The manual is pretty bland and not a quick read. E-Front Curtain Shut. Picture Profile: Off. Your email address will not be published. shoot a number of portraits using studio strobes at a shallow depth of field Long Exposure NR (noise-reduction): Off. Portrait settings for Sony A7 III, A7R III, A9: Aperture and Exposure When taking portraits, I always use the M mode (Manual Exposure) to have full control. I found that this post by Lightfinity had explained really well their choices for how they set up their camera and I thought I’d […]. Focus Hold Button — Focus Hold. We also turn off AF with shutter, so that half-pressing the shutter does not trigger the autofocus again and cause the camera to stop focusing on the eye. Both have a “focus hold” button on the lens, but the specifications in the new GM lens does not mention “parfocal focus”. Center Button — Focus Settings. Can you assign the Crop sensor option on the A7Rii to one of the Custom Keys? Brian Smith explores Program Auto Mode, Shutter Priority Mode, Aperture Priority Mode, and Manual Mode in the Sony A7 and A7R cameras. We bind back button focus to the AF/MF/AEL switch lever. This button has a trash can icon next to it, which helps us remember to use this to turn off 5-axis stabilization or SteadyShot for mounting on a tripod. I loved having this guide when setting up my A7II. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. My model that day had amazing skin. https://photographylife.com/recommended-sony-a7r-ii-settings This is probably the first thing we do on the camera, because the beeping is annoying! Again, thinks for the article on setting up customized bottoms and settings for video shooting. Come on sony.. it is really simple. Function Upper2 — Flash Mode In his bag, you’ll find a Sony A7 II with a Zeiss 55mm 1.8. The Sony a7 II’s image stabilization (IS) system works by compensating for movements along five-axis (X, Y, Yaw, Pitc h, and Roll) as shown in the picture.The stabilization corrects the movements for both stills and movie recording. I didn't like the original Sony A7. Is there a way to reassign one of the wheels other than the control wheel to use as ISO adjustment while the other controls F Stop or Speed depending on what mode I’m in (A Priority or S Priority)? Use at your own discretion. Photo of the Day: 2 - Airplane Exit - From HEL & Back. SETUP YOUR MY SETTINGS MENU. In the meantime, here’s a list of the gear I used to create this image as well as the camera settings. If you’re new to Sony, or you simply want to get the most out of the a7r ii… Top Dials and Buttons. Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 Lens ($1,199): An ideal portrait-length lens, this short telephoto has been designed specifically for full-frame E-mount mirrorless cameras.Fast f/1.8 maximum aperture benefits working in low-light conditions and also offers extensive control over depth of field for selective focus applications. Can switch off face detection here so that the autofocus does not get sidetracked by faces. Any chance you’ll be doing an updated version for the A7III or A7RIII? Note that on the a7II this option is not available. Left Button — Drive Mode. Push the button, use the direction buttons to set the focus spot, or turn the dial to change the autofocus mode. The Sony Alpha a7 II is an image-stabilized full frame mirrorless camera, the fourth release in Sony's a7 lineup and the follow up the original a7. Thank you for your help. Auto Review: Off. Hold the button down to use continuous Eye AF. This is a button that only exists on some G-branded lenses, on the lens itself rather than the camera body. Among Sony full-frame mirrorless bodies, a7RII, a7RIII, a7III and a9 can do continuous eye AF tracking. All Sony A7-series cameras, including the A7R IV, have a myriad of different settings and buttons, which can be confusing to understand, especially for first-time Sony users. As a commercial photographer, I make money when I’m behind the camera shooting. I had a GoPro camera in the studio and set it up to record while I was shooting. Your account will be downgraded to a Free Account at the end of your Premium Membership trial. In the video I discuss several others and I go into much more detail about why I set things the way I do. Exercising my new A7Rii… using Nissin i40 flash set on TTL with zero exposure compensation… the flash has settings almost as various and complicated as the Sony… for now I’m curious about all the A7Rii options for hot shoe mounted flash… I tried most of them with mixed outcomes… I wonder what are the intended purposes of the flash settings fill-flash, slow sync, rear sync, wireless (does this mean my camera can fire an unattached flash, perhaps the one I have?) For autofocus during video, you want to be in AF-C and have face recognition on. In order to shoot at f/3.2 with multiple studio strobes, I used an ND filter of at least 3-stops to make sure my exposure was correct. Am I in trouble because the zoom functions aren’t compatible? Hold the same button down to use normal AF, either continuous or single. I recently started shooting studio portraits with a shallow depth of field using my new Sony A7II camera. Can the “focus hold” be a workaround for parfocual? Only turn this on when you absolutely need to, because it results in 12-bit images instead of 14-bit. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. The reason I ask for it is that, now I have 2 G lenses to choose from with A7R II for photo and video: Sony FE PZ 28-135mm f/4 G OSS , which is specifically made for video cam; and the newly announced Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM Lens. In this article, I will provide information on how to best set up the A9 for photography, especially action, and explain each of the important settings. I recently recorded a tutorial detailing the process of shooting strobes using ND filters and am releasing that very soon. day Free Trial. Creative Styles. This is a very fast and intuitive method for autofocusing. But the A7 II that I use was a huge improvement. This is the up position of the toggle. I just got the Batis 85mm and this is very helpful for the autofocus settings. With all of the projects I’ve been working on lately I decided to outsource the post-processing for this image. Read on as I explain the details of how I created this image. This is the default. Real world education & resources from the most successful wedding photography studios in the world. Great write-up, thank you for posting! This is extraordinarily helpful; so happy I came across this. Function Upper6 — Zebra, Function Lower1 — ISO Premium Membership The autofocus will continue to track the person through the frame. My goal with the images from this session was to shoot a number of portraits using studio strobes at a shallow depth of field. Improvements come in the form of 5-axis sensor-based image stabilization, improved AF performance and some overall design tweaks. More detail about why I set things the way I do comments please... A full frame camera for the article on setting up my a7II set your password complex, it s... 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