Such an old video! But I had to go have another look and yeah, it still holds up. This was shot in baked in rec709 on the a9. No log, no profiles, just the basics.
well,i have a7iii with Tamron 28 75 2.8 and i think its very good combination! i research for gimbal those days! check if you like my last video in very dark place,hammam exactly!
Thanks for sharing your personal setup. I have a question, maybe not related to setup but you may know the answer. Oftentimes I use the small flexible spot to focus on something like a bird or other small subject. I have noticed if there's something even NEAR that spot more often than not the camera will grab focus there even though my focus box is entirely on the subject (like a black duck's head) yet it will do something like grab the reflection on the water even though none of the focus spot is on the water. It almost feels like the small spot is actually quite a bit larger than what's shown in the viewfinder.
@@WesPerry Yes, I'm sure I actually use that one too but for small subjects felt flex spot small would work the best. I thought perhaps it was my camera but a friend with the A7iii had the same thing occur. It's not every situation but when your subject isn't high contrast and there's something near it that is even though the spot isn't even touching that other high contrast area it grabs focus on it. It has happened a few times, most recently taking photos of ducks with dark heads and dark red eyes in a pond. They weren't moving fast or doing anything that would have caused motion blur or other issues but clearly the rippled water was where the focus was. Yesterday taking photos of a Pileated Woodpecker that wasn't in great light the focus often grabbed the tree he was on even though once again the focus spot was not on the tree at all. The cameras used were the A7iii and A7Riii with both the 100-400GM and the 200-600 with and without 1.4TC.
This is the camera within my budget so I'll be getting one next year :) This helps a lot. Thank you! I've always wondered, do the compressed and uncompressed RAW files have a huge difference in quality? Or is it safe to shoot a whole event using compressed RAW to save space?
Depends on the sort of event. Most things I would say yes, as long as the light isn’t too extreme or dramatic (difference between light and dark). That being said, I don’t even take my own advice and rarely switch out of compressed.
... btw: the new features, brought by the latest firmware, are very welcome - makes it a little bit easier to use a flash. 👍🏻 Hopefully the a9/a9 II will get this also with the next update.
I honestly hadn’t noticed any difference. Didn’t have time while making this video. Haha. What does it change?? I’m at a photoshoot right now with it ;)
Wes it adds the “External Flash Set” function: This function allows you to configure the settings of an attached flash or wireless radio commander directly from the camera. 👍🏻
Oh. I assume that would require a Sony flash to be used? I gave up on those long ago, back in the troubled era of the f43m and f60m, which would often overheat after 5 or 6 shots. 😬
Wes Perry ... ah, yes! You need a HVL-F60RM/HVL-F45RM or the wireless radio commander FA-WRC1M to use the feature. I own both flashes and can not confirm overheating problems... maybe a issue with the old m-models? 🤔
It was definitely an issue with just the old models. I sent one back on warranty and they said there was nothing wrong with it. But soon after I sold them all, Sony admitted there was an issue and offered to update the firmware on them to fix it. But that involved sending them in to Sony. Much more of a pain than most other manufacturers updates. It was too late at that point, though.
I like to watch these settings videos from time to time because there is always something new or different to learn about setting up these highly customizable cameras. Also with new firmware updates some custom button setting can be made obsolete or less necessary ( like Eye AF) and others become a desire. I just reconfigured last night when I saw that I could assign a button now to quickly switch between Human and Animal subjects for Eye AF . As I mentioned in another video cats ( and dogs!) rule the world. Animal Eye AF worked splendidly on sheep as well. I am going to make a cup of tea and watch this video in earnest, but right off, I have to say how great everything looks with that 35 F1.4 - you are really making it hard for me not consider that as a future purchase!
It’s definitely not a perfect lens, but near enough when it comes to video. I wouldn’t want to shoot my copy on an a7Riv. The decentering would be horrendous at that resolution! 😬
Chryseas S. I would get the sigma 35mm 1.2. I have the 35 zeiss as well, and the sigma is sharper at 1.2 than the zeiss is at 1.8. Probably the best 35mm in the world right now.
Wes I have the latest software v3.01 but I don’t have a video setting at 60p. Maximum on this camera is 50p at 1080. Any idea why they are not the same? I bought my Sony A7111 early Feb 2020
Tim Rogers That means you have a PAL version of the camera. You can switch it to NTSC, but it will show you a warning every time you start it up. Where do you live?
@@WesPerry I am in the UK where we use PAL not NTSC. Thanks very much for the solution. Reassuring the know that is the answer. Also I have switched to this camera from Nikon and after using it for the first time yesterday I have to say that right now I have buyer remorse. Sony menu is hideous. Much less intuitive than Nikon.
Tim Rogers It’s both a little less organized and contains a Lot more options. Which is why I made these videos. I hope it helps! Once you get it up and running and customized to your liking, I’m sure you’ll be quite pleased ;)
Photo. I have some other video settings that I didn’t really cover. I don’t consider myself an expert at video, though, so I probably won’t be going over that.
Thanks, very thorough. I matched your setup and I'll give that a go for a few weeks. I'm curious as to why you don't like the back button focus. I've been doing back button focus for years now, mostly because I use the shutter button to lock exposure (focus, bob my head to expose for highlights, then correct in LR). Is it because Sony is awesome with auto exposing the scene? That'll take some getting used to and effort to memorize all the new buttons and settings, hoping that the camera will properly expose the highlights as well. wish me luck!
Good luck! ;) I almost always shoot in full manual, so I don’t put much thought into the camera’s exposure evaluation. I only use aperture priority in extreme lighting circumstances. As far as back button focusing goes, AF-C is so reliable it’s just not worth the extra button presses. And especially since I actually got an a9 before I got an a7iii, and the Real Time AF is just amazing and a game changer, making back button focusing archaic in most circumstances. The a7iii isn’t as good for that, but it’s important to have both cameras set up the same way regardless, to prevent muscle memory mistakes.
But also, when it comes to Sony auto exposure, the ability to tie point exposure to the focus point is super useful, and also makes it much less necessary to do that expose and recompose maneuver.
That can certainly be useful, but sometimes will wreck you unexpectedly. Like if there are pot lights or light sconces in the shot, or a reflection on a shiny object, all of a sudden you can’t even get your shot back with +3 exposure compensation and it takes too long to switch your exposure method back. I guess locking exposure would be useful then, to look away, lock it, and look back ;) I was at an event last week and I had highlights turns on for an exposure test I was doing previously and the candles on all the tables killed the exposure. 🤷🏻♂️
Yep. My a9 after about 100,000 frames is getting a bit hesitant on the shutter button (I’ll send that in to pro support soon), but my a7iii around 40,000 frames is still good as new 🤞🏻
I think it’s just Sony overestimating the longevity of the weather sealing if I had to guess. I’d open it up and fix it myself (probably just need some contact cleaner), but I’m not Entirely insane 😉
Hi Wes - watched this all the way through . A couple of suggestions; I found it a bit distracting with you cutting back and forth from the screen to your face as there is so much info to take on board. Perhaps you could do a voice over with just the screen showing or have a picture in picture set up for the explanations. There was a lot of dense material quickly covered ( by necessity) that could make this hard to follow for someone brand new to the system. I think you could have broken this down into maybe two separate videos ( maybe a stand alone for the custom keys?) These are just meant to be helpful suggestions- the content was great! I bumped up my viewfinder brightness considerably at your suggestion here- not sure if I like or not!
A lot of those cuts are actually to hide me getting lost in the menu, answering the door, answering the phone, sneezing, pausing because I’m blanking on terminology, and stopping and starting the recording because I went over the 29 minute mark 😂 I’m always hiding a whole host of things in my cuts that most people don’t realize how much I’m actually editing out to make myself sound smoother 😉
@@WesPerry Well, you did a great job with it and without any help from your cats! I am going to look at the custom key segment again at some point and review how you have yours set up. I am always fiddling around and refining things depending on how I am shooting. I am loving my new 24 GM with the aperture ring on the lens but am still not satisfied with what to program on the lens focus hold button though; I have one on the 24, the 85 f1.8, the 90 macro and the 70-200 f.4.
@@WesPerry I found that I absolutely love using the aperture ring and I don't find it difficult to switch back to the camera when using another lens - the focus button doesn't really add much and I find the AF/MF switch rather fiddly. I have switching the modes programmed to the back of the camera anyway. I do like the AF/MF clutch system on the 90 macro lens though!
I mostly love the linear manual focus on the 90mm instead of the dynamic manual focus on the test. Fuji added the option to switch that via firmware update last year and I was hoping Sony would follow suit. That dynamic manual focus is almost impossible to use.
I'm blown away by the quality of this tutorial. I'm talking color, sound, content, etc. Thanks for creating it.
Such an old video! But I had to go have another look and yeah, it still holds up. This was shot in baked in rec709 on the a9. No log, no profiles, just the basics.
Thank you my man, just picked up my first A7III today & this help me heaps to get started!
I've been using the a7iii for a year now, I already set up mine the best, but hey, that's Wes and I'm gonna watch this video anyway!
Thanks - this was really helpful.
Awesome tutorials.... Thank you so much....
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year..!
Merry Christmas, Peter!
... Thanks for all your videos. And also Merry Christmas and a happy new year. 🥳
Thanks TW! Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Very Thanks for all the videos over the Years
Thanks, Masud! And Merry Christmas to you and yours!
thank you sir Really Helped!
Great video I don't have a A7iii but my friend does and I showed him this and he loves his new layout do thank you for making this video.
Glad I could help!
well,i have a7iii with Tamron 28 75 2.8 and i think its very good combination!
i research for gimbal those days! check if you like my last video in very dark place,hammam exactly!
I definitely need that e-front curtain shutter video. These mirrorless cameras got me confused. HAHA
Thanks for sharing your personal setup. I have a question, maybe not related to setup but you may know the answer. Oftentimes I use the small flexible spot to focus on something like a bird or other small subject. I have noticed if there's something even NEAR that spot more often than not the camera will grab focus there even though my focus box is entirely on the subject (like a black duck's head) yet it will do something like grab the reflection on the water even though none of the focus spot is on the water. It almost feels like the small spot is actually quite a bit larger than what's shown in the viewfinder.
Are you sure this isn’t the expanded small flexible spot? The one further down the list?
@@WesPerry Yes, I'm sure I actually use that one too but for small subjects felt flex spot small would work the best. I thought perhaps it was my camera but a friend with the A7iii had the same thing occur. It's not every situation but when your subject isn't high contrast and there's something near it that is even though the spot isn't even touching that other high contrast area it grabs focus on it. It has happened a few times, most recently taking photos of ducks with dark heads and dark red eyes in a pond. They weren't moving fast or doing anything that would have caused motion blur or other issues but clearly the rippled water was where the focus was. Yesterday taking photos of a Pileated Woodpecker that wasn't in great light the focus often grabbed the tree he was on even though once again the focus spot was not on the tree at all. The cameras used were the A7iii and A7Riii with both the 100-400GM and the 200-600 with and without 1.4TC.
This is the camera within my budget so I'll be getting one next year :) This helps a lot. Thank you!
I've always wondered, do the compressed and uncompressed RAW files have a huge difference in quality? Or is it safe to shoot a whole event using compressed RAW to save space?
Depends on the sort of event. Most things I would say yes, as long as the light isn’t too extreme or dramatic (difference between light and dark).
That being said, I don’t even take my own advice and rarely switch out of compressed.
@@WesPerry THANKS!
... btw: the new features, brought by the latest firmware, are very welcome - makes it a little bit easier to use a flash. 👍🏻 Hopefully the a9/a9 II will get this also with the next update.
I honestly hadn’t noticed any difference. Didn’t have time while making this video. Haha. What does it change?? I’m at a photoshoot right now with it ;)
Wes it adds the “External Flash Set” function:
This function allows you to configure the settings of an attached flash or wireless radio commander directly from the camera. 👍🏻
Oh. I assume that would require a Sony flash to be used? I gave up on those long ago, back in the troubled era of the f43m and f60m, which would often overheat after 5 or 6 shots. 😬
Wes Perry ... ah, yes! You need a HVL-F60RM/HVL-F45RM or the wireless radio commander FA-WRC1M to use the feature. I own both flashes and can not confirm overheating problems... maybe a issue with the old m-models? 🤔
It was definitely an issue with just the old models. I sent one back on warranty and they said there was nothing wrong with it. But soon after I sold them all, Sony admitted there was an issue and offered to update the firmware on them to fix it. But that involved sending them in to Sony. Much more of a pain than most other manufacturers updates. It was too late at that point, though.
I like to watch these settings videos from time to time because there is always something new or different to learn about setting up these highly customizable cameras. Also with new firmware updates some custom button setting can be made obsolete or less necessary ( like Eye AF) and others become a desire. I just reconfigured last night when I saw that I could assign a button now to quickly switch between Human and Animal subjects for Eye AF . As I mentioned in another video cats ( and dogs!) rule the world. Animal Eye AF worked splendidly on sheep as well. I am going to make a cup of tea and watch this video in earnest, but right off, I have to say how great everything looks with that 35 F1.4 - you are really making it hard for me not consider that as a future purchase!
It’s definitely not a perfect lens, but near enough when it comes to video. I wouldn’t want to shoot my copy on an a7Riv. The decentering would be horrendous at that resolution! 😬
@@WesPerry Good to know Wes. I will dial back my GAS issues, ha,ha!
Chryseas S. I would get the sigma 35mm 1.2. I have the 35 zeiss as well, and the sigma is sharper at 1.2 than the zeiss is at 1.8. Probably the best 35mm in the world right now.
@@jasonmalwitz8044 Thanks, Jason!
Jason Malwitz it’s gigantic though. I’m seriously considering moving down to the Sony 1.8 just so I can get a lens that’s sharp across the frame 🤷🏻♂️
I just got my A7iii and I barely understand how to use it. Still, your video was very educational and well paced. Thanks!
Glad I could help!
FABULOUS! i am an appreciative subscriber. if you are ever in NYC, i will buy us coffee/tea or even libations! thumbs up.
Wes I have the latest software v3.01 but I don’t have a video setting at 60p. Maximum on this camera is 50p at 1080. Any idea why they are not the same? I bought my Sony A7111 early Feb 2020
Tim Rogers That means you have a PAL version of the camera. You can switch it to NTSC, but it will show you a warning every time you start it up.
Where do you live?
@@WesPerry I am in the UK where we use PAL not NTSC. Thanks very much for the solution. Reassuring the know that is the answer. Also I have switched to this camera from Nikon and after using it for the first time yesterday I have to say that right now I have buyer remorse. Sony menu is hideous. Much less intuitive than Nikon.
Tim Rogers It’s both a little less organized and contains a Lot more options. Which is why I made these videos. I hope it helps! Once you get it up and running and customized to your liking, I’m sure you’ll be quite pleased ;)
Is this setup for video or photo shooting?
Photo. I have some other video settings that I didn’t really cover. I don’t consider myself an expert at video, though, so I probably won’t be going over that.
Gracias por el video
Great info...thanks Wes!
Thanks, very thorough. I matched your setup and I'll give that a go for a few weeks. I'm curious as to why you don't like the back button focus. I've been doing back button focus for years now, mostly because I use the shutter button to lock exposure (focus, bob my head to expose for highlights, then correct in LR). Is it because Sony is awesome with auto exposing the scene? That'll take some getting used to and effort to memorize all the new buttons and settings, hoping that the camera will properly expose the highlights as well. wish me luck!
Good luck! ;)
I almost always shoot in full manual, so I don’t put much thought into the camera’s exposure evaluation. I only use aperture priority in extreme lighting circumstances.
As far as back button focusing goes, AF-C is so reliable it’s just not worth the extra button presses. And especially since I actually got an a9 before I got an a7iii, and the Real Time AF is just amazing and a game changer, making back button focusing archaic in most circumstances. The a7iii isn’t as good for that, but it’s important to have both cameras set up the same way regardless, to prevent muscle memory mistakes.
But also, when it comes to Sony auto exposure, the ability to tie point exposure to the focus point is super useful, and also makes it much less necessary to do that expose and recompose maneuver.
@@WesPerry I just found a "highlights priority" exposure metering option, that might help in some cases. Thanks for all your valuable tips!
That can certainly be useful, but sometimes will wreck you unexpectedly. Like if there are pot lights or light sconces in the shot, or a reflection on a shiny object, all of a sudden you can’t even get your shot back with +3 exposure compensation and it takes too long to switch your exposure method back. I guess locking exposure would be useful then, to look away, lock it, and look back ;)
I was at an event last week and I had highlights turns on for an exposure test I was doing previously and the candles on all the tables killed the exposure. 🤷🏻♂️
Are you aware of the issues with the shutter button mechanism on the A7III?
Yep. My a9 after about 100,000 frames is getting a bit hesitant on the shutter button (I’ll send that in to pro support soon), but my a7iii around 40,000 frames is still good as new 🤞🏻
@@WesPerry Built in obsolescence?
I think it’s just Sony overestimating the longevity of the weather sealing if I had to guess.
I’d open it up and fix it myself (probably just need some contact cleaner), but I’m not Entirely insane 😉
Wes Perry I’ve had my A9 in for the second time now for the shutter button starting to becoming less responsive with half press. Almost numb like.
Hi Wes - watched this all the way through . A couple of suggestions; I found it a bit distracting with you cutting back and forth from the screen to your face as there is so much info to take on board. Perhaps you could do a voice over with just the screen showing or have a picture in picture set up for the explanations. There was a lot of dense material quickly covered ( by necessity) that could make this hard to follow for someone brand new to the system. I think you could have broken this down into maybe two separate videos ( maybe a stand alone for the custom keys?) These are just meant to be helpful suggestions- the content was great!
I bumped up my viewfinder brightness considerably at your suggestion here- not sure if I like or not!
A lot of those cuts are actually to hide me getting lost in the menu, answering the door, answering the phone, sneezing, pausing because I’m blanking on terminology, and stopping and starting the recording because I went over the 29 minute mark 😂
I’m always hiding a whole host of things in my cuts that most people don’t realize how much I’m actually editing out to make myself sound smoother 😉
@@WesPerry Well, you did a great job with it and without any help from your cats! I am going to look at the custom key segment again at some point and review how you have yours set up. I am always fiddling around and refining things depending on how I am shooting. I am loving my new 24 GM with the aperture ring on the lens but am still not satisfied with what to program on the lens focus hold button though; I have one on the 24, the 85 f1.8, the 90 macro and the 70-200 f.4.
I pretty much never use the lens rings or buttons. The camera is enough for me I guess!
@@WesPerry I found that I absolutely love using the aperture ring and I don't find it difficult to switch back to the camera when using another lens - the focus button doesn't really add much and I find the AF/MF switch rather fiddly. I have switching the modes programmed to the back of the camera anyway. I do like the AF/MF clutch system on the 90 macro lens though!
I mostly love the linear manual focus on the 90mm instead of the dynamic manual focus on the test. Fuji added the option to switch that via firmware update last year and I was hoping Sony would follow suit. That dynamic manual focus is almost impossible to use.
Ha,ha Wes , firmware for A7iii has already been updated this morning to ver. 3.10 !
That’s why I did it today! I had just updated to 3.10, so I figured it would be the latest for at least a couple days 😏
... puuuh, great video Wes! 👍🏻 But I‘am so glad, that I could save and load all my settings in my a9 II and a7R IV! 😌
Yeah, I really wish that had been possible with these older cameras. It takes SO LONG!
First
🤦🏻♂️
Wes Perry I’m still in your basement
🔥
I’m selling my house with you in it.
Wes Perry no thanks