This was very much in depth, I learnt so much especially the menus, it wasn't as complex as I thought. The best review I've seen thus far. Thank you for taking time out to do it.
Thanks Jay, that tutorial has saved me a lot of time and I have now set up my camera with the function menus and busy experimenting. Look forward to your future posts.
A friend had bought her A7 & kit lens new in 2015 thinking she'd switch over from Nikon. She never bonded with the A7 & hardly used it so when I asked if I could try it out she gave me the A7, kit lens, & 4 batteries to test out. If I like it I can keep it. Thanks for posting this, I had no idea how to even get started.
Just got one of these for 400$ with the 24-70 OSS lens with 8000 SC and your very well done tutorial will help me a great deal ! I guess you earned yourself a new subscriber thanks Jay 🙏🏽
Great overview. Helped me with a few questions I had on my A7, but also worked for better understanding my a6000, and even RX100M3! Great work and keep it up!
This video is exactly what I've been looking for... great explanations of menus etc... I just bought the a7 MK2 but can't find anything as good as this for that camera. Luckily there are a lot of features the same. Thanks for this great video
Thanks Jay for all the great info. and your work. I received my new a7 with the kit lens today, and just happened to land on your review after typing "Sony a7 review and set-up" What a great and helpful review for first-time owner. I just can't wait for tomorrow now to shoot photos with the camera. Thanks, Rey.
Hi Jay, I appreciate all your great tutorials. I got the Sony A7r in December 2013. I am a pro and I have used Nikon for ever. I am dissapointed in the Sony. With out a pop-up flash I don't think it is even a good point and shot. I find the menus to be a nightmare. Where do I find formatting the memory card? When is Sony coming out with some lenses? Why should I have to use a adapter? I can't find a adapter that will alow me to use my great Nikon glass in full auto. Thanks Steven
Hi and sorry to hear of you issues. No built in flash is a problem for a lot of people and hopefully the next model will have that built in, plus a touchscreen and GPS for those that want it. Do a google search for "electronic lens adapters nikon" They do exist, but fast af is not going to happen.Formatting the memory card is in the suitcase area all the way to the right side, and new lenses coming out soon hopefully! Jay
Great tutorial - much appreciated (as the Sony manual for the A7 is so bad). It helped me a lot to tune my settings. I'm still struggling a bit the the Eye AF - isn't there an option to always turn it on? Seems you can only assign it to a custom button!?
Thanks for the comments Marc Diefenbruch As far as I can tell, you have to have Eye-AF assigned to a button. there is no auto as far as I know. The facial recognition does a great job though, so I would not worry about it. It's a sun-set of the facial recognition allowing you to pick which eye you want. The facial recognition itself already attempts to get the eye sharp by default. That is the whole purpose. Being able to select the eye is more of a specialty situation when the head is slightly turned and your using an extremely shallow depth of field. In those cases, it's a button press away. I'm thinking Sony looks at it like that. If it came up every time automatically, you would have to pick an eye before it fired every time. I hope that helps, and if I learn anything new I will let you know ;) Jay
Hey Jay! Great video! I JUST picked up an A7R tonight for some commercial landscape work, and I have tons of Canon L glass. I am looking at the Metabones 3 that you have in this video, but I just noticed there is a MetaBones 4 now. Do you know the difference? Someone told me that the light meter on the camera is not active with the Metabones 3 but it is on the 4. Any thoughts? Thanks so much!
Eric Marks Photos Hi and the version 4 has slightly better internal light diffusers, plus something else relatively minor I thought. The light meter works fine on the version III I have unless you are talking about something else?
Hello Jay, Nice video. Just a remark. I don't know about SONY, but generally, what the long exposure NR does is subtracting the dark current from the image. It does so by taking a second picture with the shutter closed, i.e. captures a dark frame with the same exposure time as the original picture, whence the long time required. The dark frame pattern is then subtracted from the original image. Because the dark current pattern depends on the sensor temperature, it must be taken every time you make a new picture. This technique cannot be replaced at all in post processing. Dark current itself doesn't appear in the image as high ISO noise (grain), but there is also grain associated with the dark current. The grain assoiated with the dark current is removed exactly the same way as the high ISO noise. I presume the long exposure NR also takes care of that, but that's a relatively quick operation.
Yes exactly, long exposure NR is not the same than noise reduction in Lightroom (for example). Technically you could do the process manually, take a dark frame shot and a photo and combine them in post processing, but I don't think that is what he was talking about. Olympus cameras have the same feature as well. They also have a neat feature (which I never use, but would be nice to have on Sony) it is called "live bulb" and basically it is bulb mode but you can see your shot being exposed "in live" on the LCD screen. There are a few other simple features that I miss on Sony. For example the brightness of the focus magnifier on Olympus is automatically regulated, it stays bright so that you can see well and focus, even if you change the aperture or move to a dark area. Also if you have an AF lens you can autofocus with the magnifier on. On Sony the auto-exposure just stops functioning when in magnified view. If you close the aperture on a manual lens, you have to exit the magnifier and bring it up again to brighten the image, and Sony you can't use the magnifier in AF mode. However you can't use the magnifier in video mode, in Olympus, which is a major bummer, and a major feature on the a7. In practive I never have the time to use the magnifier when filming a moving subject, but occasionally I would want that option. The movie AF is very good though. I bought the Sony mainly for use in "slow" photography and with manual lenses so I am not too bothered.
Thx for the review, nice to see a good review of this one. I have a quick question. Should i buy a used sony a7 or a new sony a6000? i can get both for the same price. Im going to use 50% of the time for video... i know that these cameras do not have s-log, but isnt easy to shoot flat and get the same kinda effect?
Hey there! I really enjoyed this a lot of great info in here but my questions is... If it only shoots in 1440 x 1080 and i go to edit my vids in adobe and make thumbnails which a lot of RUclips thumbnail are set to 1920 x 720 How do i maneuver my way around not having that 1920 x 1080 look! Thank you for this video and i hope you understand my question! And i know this was 8 years ago haha but any help would be amazing!
Good video but I've got questions 1. You turned off long NR - but should I turn it off to do night photographing? I like doing milky way And where could you use the dynamic range optimisor option you turned off? Cheers
Those features are awesome, but the camera is doing the processing for you. The Long NR in particular takes a few seconds to complete and you might miss a shot waiting, which is the main reason I turn it off... The feature itself is really cool though if you need it, which it sounds like you do :) Dynamic Range optimizer helps with shadow and highlight detail, but basically is just processing the image for you on camera and often times will add a bit more noise in the process. If you are not editing you photos in post, then this is another great feature for better straight off the camera results... I prefer to edit on the computer, and would rather have control over these things myself... I hope that helps?
@@Jason_Hermann thanks that helps. Usually I'll do 25 sec shutter speed when taking photos of stars or Milky way. And sometimes I'll do Timelapse interval shots 25-30 sec apart
Hi Jay, Thank you for your thorough and concise review on the a7! Would you mind sharing the link to the lens adapter you mentioned from Metabones? I have some Canon mount lenses that I would really like to use on the a7. I googled for your brand and there seems to be multiple versions, so I want to make sure that I am purchasing the right version. Side question, do you know if Sigma lenses that were made with Canon mounts would also work with the mount you mentioned (ie 35mm 1.4)? Once again, thank you so much for sharing your review!!
+Crystal Tai Thank you for the very nice comments :) I was using the mark III Version and the Mark IV is out these days. Here is the link to Amazon: amzn.to/1MtuZu3
i need this video. thanks. i'm a canon 5D3 guy and renting this A7R, it will come wednesday so i need a headsup on the system as i have no clue on sony.
At 22:30, important point to me that the camera battery gauge symbol at 58 percent does not really reflect that value when seen graphically. So if looked at quickly without looking at the percentage number, the bars show more battery life then the numbers do. A closer representation would be the half-way mark instead of what looks like 80 percent graphically. I LOVE this camera with my manual focus Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 lens which does not always show the manual focus assist and does not always zoom in to help focusing even though I have both selected on the menu. I think it might be because when shooting at a very open setting like f/1.4 it never gets sharp enough to show the focus peaking or also when shooting to dark. Not sure if others have the same issues. Again, still LOVE this camera and greatly appreciate Sony's hard work and great price.
Had an opportunity to pick up the A7 up new for $1,179 Cdn open box with the kit lens, but decided that the a6000 has too many advantages over it, especially since reading the jpg issues with this camera. Thx for the review.
Hi Jay. Thanks for all your hard work and effort to keep us informed. This video was quite interesting and useful for a novice in this camera like myself. Now I have a couple of questions. Last friday, I was shooting my a7, with a minolta mf, 50 f1.2 md. My viewfinder was dark, even when my pictures were over exposed (I was shooting lake Michigan frozen waves)... So, my question is what setting should I tweak in order to have keep the viewfinder truthful to my aperture, iso and shutter speed settings? and/or why was it dark? The second question is not related to this video, but to know if you had experimented any sort of vignetting when shooting with the la ea4 and old minolta af lenses (Mostly Maxxum). I was shooting a 70-200 (beercan) f4, and when used in f4 there were a strong vignetting on my pictures. Please let me know. Thanks and keep on the good work. peace, KIKO
Hi Jay, where I can find more info about video setting for Sony A7. All the information around is very simplistic. I have over exposed footage and somebody told me is a figure called picture profile, but I think that options in in the newest version of Sony cámaras; I can't find anything
Hey Jay, would you recommend turning on Face Detect even if you're using an adapted minolta lens ? I plan on just using that and focus peaking, correct me if I'm wrong, Face + Eye detect is more so for FE glass or AutoFocus turned on..?
Hallo Jay, Happy New Year! I want to buy this camera, for photography & videography use. But, I'm so confused because Sony Alpha 7 can't switch over PAL & NTSC just like the brother Sony A7s. I'm recently use 1920 x 1080 at 25fps or 30fps for my video work. Can't you give me info what's the Sony A7 model (PAL/NTSC) that sell in my region & country because I can't get this info when I ask it to the store I visited. I live in Indonesia, South East Asia. Thank you & sorry for my bad English :D
I have Live View Display set to 'Setting Effect ON' but it only gives an accurate preview up to a point. It seems to work only within certain exposure boundaries. To give a specific example: I have my camera set to manual - ISO 1250 - aperture F11 - shutter speed 1/15.... the image that I take a photo of matches the image that I am shown on screen/viewfinder - good. However, I move my shutter speed to 0.7" and my preview DOES adjust, getting gradually brighter but only up to that point. At 0.7" or slower the preview remains the same, it shows me a much darker image than the one that is taken (depending on how far I push the shutter speed). I tried to rectify it by displaying the histogram so I had an indication of what the final image exposure would look like... but that has the same issues. The histogram is telling me I have an underexposed image when clearly, due to my settings (long exposure), I am going to have an overexposed image! Do you know if this is a general design fault? Or do I just need to adjust some setting somewhere? Maybe the camera is faulty and I should take it back?
Hello jay, I love watching your videos they are very informative and helps me out a lot on my decisions. I recently bought an a7 and was setting up my camera like yours. I noticed however that when I put it in JPEG my image size for L is only 10 and not the 24m you had. I was wondering if my 40mb/s would have anything to do with the size that I'd have to upgrade my sd card.
+angrysake Thank you very much fort he kind words ;) As far as your trouble goes, check the image aspect ratio. You are probably set to 16:9 or something?
I’m just seeing this now just upgrades from Nikon D 500 and the price was awesome: one question you didn’t explain the creative style on my 500 it’s on neutral because I shoot raw and that’s the best. Is it the same fore the A7
Nice video, very information so thank you. However, I must point out that, while the hotshoe is proprietary of sorts ("Multi Interface Shoe") it actually contains ISO 518 contacts which means it will work with flashes made for other manufacturers. You wont get TTL etc however, if you have a manual lens (like the type from Yongnuo etc) for Canon they will actually work just fine on this camera.
Well, that really depends on what lens you are using and what kind of light source you have also? Are you using a Macro lens for example or a regular lens? How close are you to the jewelry?
Hello, we are just using the lens that come with the camera when we bought it we are also trying to use natural light and we won’t to get up very close because these will be product shots for a website. With the research we have done it is all tell us we need a macro lens. What macro lens would you suggest that not to expensive as we just spent $1600 for the camera? Thanks again for your help it’s muchly appreciated
@@DAYBY_DAY_ If you are not planning on getting that close to the products, then you do not need a macro lens. Macro lenses will allow you to get super close, like a few inches away for example. If you are taking shots of a neckless for example and the camera is a few feet away you won't need a macro lens. It all depends on how close you get. Every lens has a minimum focus distance, so you can only get so close and still have the proper focus. So, in that case I would set the camera up on a tripod to insure maximum sharpness and perfect framing for the product. Then once set-up you can just swap out the product and the camera will already be setup perfect for the next shot. I would use f/5.6 for the aperture, ISO 100, and a 2 second self-timer, also to insure maximum sharpness. As far as the camera lens goes, I would try to zoom in to at least 50mm to get a good perspective of the product.
Hi jay thanks for the great no helpful video. I am thinking about a new lens for my A7. The 35mm 1.4f and 55 mm 1.8f are on my list. Which one would you recommend for A7.
+Tony Fang The 35mm f/1.4 is made for the full frame e-mount. The 50mm f/1.8 is made for the APS-C e-mount cameras like the A6000. The 55,, f/1.8 Lens is made for the full frame E-Mount. I would go with the 55mm personally, but the 35mm is a killer lens and significantly wider angle if that is what you need. The 55mm would be better for portraits than the 35mm for example. 35mm better for street photography possible depending on your style. I hope that helps, Jay
+Jay SonyAlphaLab hi jay thanks for the reply. i meant 55mm 1.8f. i have ordered the 35mm 1.4f, big damage of my pocket, but i am very exciting for it to arrive.
Hello there, I was wondering what would be the best flash for this camera. I am purchasing one and I am doing a wedding in June and I wanted to know what flash would you recommend to buy for the this camera.
+Andrew Dominguez A really good one if you are doing weddings! Don't cheap out, because they will over heat and/or the batteries will die super fast! Something like the Sony HLV-F60M would be my recommendation: amzn.to/1OVn11Y
Hi Jay, Does the A7 allow you to set spot metering on an off centre AF point? Would you use the A7 for indoor concertphotography? Thanks in advance, nice video!
+Mike Hydropneumatic No it does not allow you to move the spot metering. I would just use it quickly and the set the camera to manual setting accordingly. You could also use exposure comp if you like to swing the exposure up or down. Tracking in Spot metering mode is very difficult and more used as a tool most time in my mind. I hope that helps, Jay
When in manual focus (Sony A7 II) the distance display goes from left to right until it gets to infinity, but it does it in meters, is there a way to have the display in inches or feet? I couldn’t fine anything in the settings. Thank you.
Does the A7 have a zoom feature like on the a77? I normally use it to quickly confirm focus and adjust if necessary. I remapped the AE button as a zoom so it's right next to my thumb. This has spoiled me now I'm hoping the A7/R has the same feature.
Hi Jay, I have this camera since January 2014 and I think it is a great camera!!! Coming from Cannon it was a nice surprise to see the quality and practicality of it. I live in Japan and my camera came with the Japanese Menu. The english menu is not available and if I wanted it the price goes up like crazy. I have the english manual but this is the first time I really got all the details looking at your video. I wonder if it's possible to change the OS of the camera to English?
Does this need any particular read/write speed sd card for optimal performance ? ( just for stills) Would high write speed be good for long exposure processing. Also about the colour space do you know of AdobeRGB is good for astrophotography also ? I normally post process in Adobe Lightroom
The higher write speed of the SD Card will just clear the camera buffer faster. It will not process photos any faster, because that is done on the camera. If you are shooting in Jpeg the AdobeRGB offers more colors to work with in post, but if shooting Raw it makes no difference. The Long exposure noise reduction feature sounds like what you are talking about, because that takes a few seconds to process after the photo is taken. You can turn that off to speed things up for you and just apply noise correction in post processing...
Hi ron greco I have used the feature to remote shoot with my phone via the playmemories portal. Works really well for self portraits! I also sent the pics to phone as I shot them which was pretty convenient if I wanted to instantly email or text it etc.. That is really all I did so far though Ron. You need help with something specific?
hi,I've recently bought an a7 as a secondary camera for wedding videos,I bought an emount lense and had to change it to apsc,does this affect the quality of my video's? it doesn't look as sharp as I would like,I don't know if it's settings within the camera doing this or just the lense I have? any feed back would be great thanks
Jay thanks for this expert run-through - REALLY useful for when I got my camera out of the box. Do you have an equally detailed run-through for video settings? I bought my Sony A7r camera principally for the video features. Thanks.
I'm wondering how to toggle between the view finder and the monitor manually, I'm not a fan of how they will toggle by them selfs due to the sensor the viewfinder has.
Hi Jay. I used my Sony A7Sii video for the first time tonight. It is new. When I video, it ticks like a clock/watch. It can also be heard on the video footage. I dont know how to turn off the ticking sound. It sounds like a watch/clock. Its constant. I cant find a setting to remove the ticking. I would appreciate your help.
hi. Just wondering how to Displays the auto-focus points for Phase Detection AF in a7? I just can't find this option in the menu anywhere. Thank you very much>
Sorry about that. Great video on settings.I have an A7R, there are a few settings that are different.I couldn't get the focus eye part. Also I have 35 2.8 could you a recommend a lens in the nikon, I have an adapter for nikon that I had with the nex. Thanks again great video.
I don't have any Nikon lenses ron greco , but the 50mm primes lenses are very popular! Check out this list of lens options: sonyalphalab.com/2012/05/the-ultimate-lens-and-lens-adapter-combos-for-the-sony-nex-e-mount-camera-system/
Thanks for doing this video, but I find many explanations trivial, sometimes making me think you're not quite sure about what every function REALLY does. Adobe RGB also only makes sense if you have an AdobeRGB enabled display for instance (besides that it doesn't matter if you shoot RAW). I would have loved to learn more about the custom function buttons and the custom function menu. I hope you don't mind that I am being direct.
+Christian Blum Sorry you did not find what you are looking for and I greatly appreciate the feedback! If you pay some money to Gary Fong for example, he has some really detailed video tutorials that span hours from what I understand. For myself, trying to make the video's in a reasonable amount of time is mostly the issue, but I also don't know everything in all the menus. The video features in particular are my least knowledgable. The amount of time required to learn every single menu item in detail I just don't have unfortunately. I know what Adobe RGB does and I use that in my editing applications as an active colorspace. If you don't do that, then sRGB is a better option for you is what I was trying to get at. Otherwise you will have files in the wrong profile, for your particular work flow. Obviously if shooting raw this makes no difference, but raw+jpeg it will make a difference and is why I mentioned it. It's hard for me to find a balance in sharing info and also being concise and not confusing... The menus are brutal on the newer Sony cameras! I have the A7r Mark II now and the menus are even deeper and more confusing! Thanks again, and I will go over the function menu on the New A7r II in more detail, so stay tuned for that review as it may help you out ;) Jay
jay im having bad time figuring out how to set audio recording levels .... i need to drop down the db ... but i cant seem to find how to ? help me out here
Colour space doesn't matter if you shoot in RAW. Your advice about "don't use AdobeRGB if you're using JPEG" is actually incorrect since the Colour Space only matters if you're taking jpgs. And, you are correct that Adobe RGB is better but only if you're taking jpgs. Again - just a correction.
rahdisas Thanks for the comments! I said that because if people shoot jepg and upload directly to the web, Adobe 1998 is no good for most browsers. Therefore the direct upload shooters would want to use the sRGB colorspace to avoid color issues in web browsers...
Yes, it's in the menu under the suitcase on the far right side, #1 - Audio Signals On/Off. That will disable the beeps when focusing and recording. I hope that helps,Jay
strange how my a5100 is better in low light (video wise) than my a7. There's more noise with my a7 which i found disappointing. Maybe I need to change some settings
back button focus? Not sure what that is exactly ron greco I used the camera on the default setting as far as buttons go and the focus buttons worked as I would have set them up personally. basically you just press the button with your thumb and it's in manual mode. like a toggle.
Yes you can toggle between AEL and auto focus for the button. You just flip the switch to use either one. When you press the button it auto focuses instead of using the wobbly shutter on the A7's. And yes this feature is on the A7 and A7R.
Jay - if I use an E ( not FE ) lens with the A7 - like the E 50mm F1.8 I know the image will be cropped to APS-C size and what I understand it will be around 15MP - the question is - will the Bokhe or shallow DOF be like that of a FF sensor or as the image was cropped just be as the Bokeh of an A6000 ?
No, what that sets whether or not to use autofocus when you look through the Electronic Viewfinder. It's not focusing on the eye of the subject like on the newer cameras if that is what you were thinking..
No you don't because these cameras have no mirror and are much thinner. Therefore the adapter is filling in the gap to the normal distance the lens is designed for ;) Jay
***** Jay, thank you for your quick reply! I am really considering getting one of those as I shoot mostly landscape. Having live histogram on both rear display and view finder is very appealing.
I would try Shutter Priority mode first (S) Then you can dial in the shutter speed and put the ISO at what you need also. If it's blinking, that means you don't have enough light for the given shutter speed.
I am such a novice. I just bought this camera and this video is so very helpful. Thank you.
This was very much in depth, I learnt so much especially the menus, it wasn't as complex as I thought. The best review I've seen thus far. Thank you for taking time out to do it.
Thank you :)
Thanks Jay, that tutorial has saved me a lot of time and I have now set up my camera with the function menus and busy experimenting. Look forward to your future posts.
+Tom Loates Thank you very much!
Thank you for your tutorial, i'm from US and i live in Japan and my camera is in Japanese language, for this video very big help for me.
A friend had bought her A7 & kit lens new in 2015 thinking she'd switch over from Nikon. She never bonded with the A7 & hardly used it so when I asked if I could try it out she gave me the A7, kit lens, & 4 batteries to test out. If I like it I can keep it. Thanks for posting this, I had no idea how to even get started.
Just got one of these for 400$ with the 24-70 OSS lens with 8000 SC and your very well done tutorial will help me a great deal ! I guess you earned yourself a new subscriber thanks Jay 🙏🏽
Thank you Jay! I am a beginner with an A7 and this tutorial helped me get more efficient with it.
Good tutorial, Jay. I just switched the 5100 for an A7 and it is a completely different animal.
It really is a different animal Chris and thanks for the kind words :)
Just bought this camera. First camera for me. Great starter camera I think
Thank you lots for the video. After 2 years of using this camera still managed to learn a few tips:)
Wonderfully explained. You should be writing the manual which comes with the a7/a7r. You made it soooo easy. Thanks a million.
Thank you very much!
Look forward to getting some more video from you. All the best and have a happy new year.
Regards,
Jamal
Great, in-depth review. Loved it and thank you for taking the time to put this together!
Thanks Gary!
Jay
Great overview. Helped me with a few questions I had on my A7, but also worked for better understanding my a6000, and even RX100M3! Great work and keep it up!
Thank you just got my A7 and this really helped...
+Robert Burke Thank you for the comments!
Thank you so much man great vid ! Just bought the A7, switched from Canon u really helped me out thanks!!
Thank you for the complete review and tour. I recently bought a japanese A7 and your video was invaluable.
Glad it was helpful!
This video is exactly what I've been looking for... great explanations of menus etc... I just bought the a7 MK2 but can't find anything as good as this for that camera. Luckily there are a lot of features the same. Thanks for this great video
+Patricia Koury Awesome, thanks!!
Thanks Jay for all the great info. and your work. I received my new a7 with the kit lens today, and just happened to land on your review after typing "Sony a7 review and set-up" What a great and helpful review for first-time owner. I just can't wait for tomorrow now to shoot photos with the camera. Thanks, Rey.
Man you are really good. You've really helped me out .
Thanks man
Thank you very much for the kind words and I'm glad the video helped you out!
Hi Jay,
I appreciate all your great tutorials. I got the Sony A7r in December 2013. I am a pro and I have used Nikon for ever. I am dissapointed in the Sony. With out a pop-up flash I don't think it is even a good point and shot. I find the menus to be a nightmare. Where do I find formatting the memory card? When is Sony coming out with some lenses? Why should I have to use a adapter? I can't find a adapter that will alow me to use my great Nikon glass in full auto.
Thanks
Steven
Hi and sorry to hear of you issues. No built in flash is a problem for a lot of people and hopefully the next model will have that built in, plus a touchscreen and GPS for those that want it. Do a google search for "electronic lens adapters nikon" They do exist, but fast af is not going to happen.Formatting the memory card is in the suitcase area all the way to the right side, and new lenses coming out soon hopefully! Jay
This was very helpful. Thank YOU!
Thank you for the comments ;)
Great tutorial - much appreciated (as the Sony manual for the A7 is so bad). It helped me a lot to tune my settings. I'm still struggling a bit the the Eye AF - isn't there an option to always turn it on? Seems you can only assign it to a custom button!?
Thanks for the comments Marc Diefenbruch As far as I can tell, you have to have Eye-AF assigned to a button. there is no auto as far as I know. The facial recognition does a great job though, so I would not worry about it. It's a sun-set of the facial recognition allowing you to pick which eye you want. The facial recognition itself already attempts to get the eye sharp by default. That is the whole purpose. Being able to select the eye is more of a specialty situation when the head is slightly turned and your using an extremely shallow depth of field. In those cases, it's a button press away. I'm thinking Sony looks at it like that. If it came up every time automatically, you would have to pick an eye before it fired every time. I hope that helps, and if I learn anything new I will let you know ;)
Jay
Hey! Quick question: don’t you lose some quality/pixels if u tunr aps-c size capture on,and use a non full frame lens?
Hey Jay! Great video! I JUST picked up an A7R tonight for some commercial landscape work, and I have tons of Canon L glass. I am looking at the Metabones 3 that you have in this video, but I just noticed there is a MetaBones 4 now. Do you know the difference? Someone told me that the light meter on the camera is not active with the Metabones 3 but it is on the 4. Any thoughts? Thanks so much!
Eric Marks Photos Hi and the version 4 has slightly better internal light diffusers, plus something else relatively minor I thought. The light meter works fine on the version III I have unless you are talking about something else?
Thanks, great and very comprehensive Video.
+Aizaz Ali Thank you!
Hello Jay,
Nice video. Just a remark. I don't know about SONY, but generally, what the long exposure NR does is subtracting the dark current from the image. It does so by taking a second picture with the shutter closed, i.e. captures a dark frame with the same exposure time as the original picture, whence the long time required. The dark frame pattern is then subtracted from the original image. Because the dark current pattern depends on the sensor temperature, it must be taken every time you make a new picture. This technique cannot be replaced at all in post processing. Dark current itself doesn't appear in the image as high ISO noise (grain), but there is also grain associated with the dark current. The grain assoiated with the dark current is removed exactly the same way as the high ISO noise. I presume the long exposure NR also takes care of that, but that's a relatively quick operation.
Yes exactly, long exposure NR is not the same than noise reduction in Lightroom (for example).
Technically you could do the process manually, take a dark frame shot and a photo and combine them in post processing, but I don't think that is what he was talking about.
Olympus cameras have the same feature as well. They also have a neat feature (which I never use, but would be nice to have on Sony) it is called "live bulb" and basically it is bulb mode but you can see your shot being exposed "in live" on the LCD screen. There are a few other simple features that I miss on Sony. For example the brightness of the focus magnifier on Olympus is automatically regulated, it stays bright so that you can see well and focus, even if you change the aperture or move to a dark area. Also if you have an AF lens you can autofocus with the magnifier on. On Sony the auto-exposure just stops functioning when in magnified view. If you close the aperture on a manual lens, you have to exit the magnifier and bring it up again to brighten the image, and Sony you can't use the magnifier in AF mode.
However you can't use the magnifier in video mode, in Olympus, which is a major bummer, and a major feature on the a7. In practive I never have the time to use the magnifier when filming a moving subject, but occasionally I would want that option. The movie AF is very good though.
I bought the Sony mainly for use in "slow" photography and with manual lenses so I am not too bothered.
@@jimbopaw Hi, did you actually switched from Olympus to Sony or you keep both?
Greetings @Jorge Lima. Thank you for taking the time to explain the long exposure NR and how it works in camera. It was very helpful to me.
@@jimbopaw thank you for also agreeing with Jorge Lima on the long exposure NR that happens inside the camera it was very helpful to me.
@@bryanmcmanis6942 You're welcome
Really helpful video, thank you for making these!
Thx for the review, nice to see a good review of this one. I have a quick question. Should i buy a used sony a7 or a new sony a6000? i can get both for the same price. Im going to use 50% of the time for video... i know that these cameras do not have s-log, but isnt easy to shoot flat and get the same kinda effect?
HI HELP NEEDED! When I go on mine it only gives me the option of 50i 24m why is this please? thanks in advance for you help!
Thanks a lot. my camera is an A37, do the menu was a bit different.
Hey there! I really enjoyed this a lot of great info in here but my questions is... If it only shoots in 1440 x 1080 and i go to edit my vids in adobe and make thumbnails which a lot of RUclips thumbnail are set to 1920 x 720 How do i maneuver my way around not having that 1920 x 1080 look! Thank you for this video and i hope you understand my question! And i know this was 8 years ago haha but any help would be amazing!
Good video but I've got questions
1. You turned off long NR - but should I turn it off to do night photographing? I like doing milky way
And where could you use the dynamic range optimisor option you turned off? Cheers
Those features are awesome, but the camera is doing the processing for you. The Long NR in particular takes a few seconds to complete and you might miss a shot waiting, which is the main reason I turn it off... The feature itself is really cool though if you need it, which it sounds like you do :) Dynamic Range optimizer helps with shadow and highlight detail, but basically is just processing the image for you on camera and often times will add a bit more noise in the process. If you are not editing you photos in post, then this is another great feature for better straight off the camera results... I prefer to edit on the computer, and would rather have control over these things myself... I hope that helps?
@@Jason_Hermann thanks that helps. Usually I'll do 25 sec shutter speed when taking photos of stars or Milky way. And sometimes I'll do Timelapse interval shots 25-30 sec apart
Thanks for posting this jay , it help me loads nice one mate 👍.
Thank you so much for this great review/tutorial.
Your very welcome and thanks for the comments! Cathelijne de Graaff
Hi Jay, Thank you for your thorough and concise review on the a7!
Would you mind sharing the link to the lens adapter you mentioned from Metabones? I have some Canon mount lenses that I would really like to use on the a7. I googled for your brand and there seems to be multiple versions, so I want to make sure that I am purchasing the right version.
Side question, do you know if Sigma lenses that were made with Canon mounts would also work with the mount you mentioned (ie 35mm 1.4)?
Once again, thank you so much for sharing your review!!
+Crystal Tai Thank you for the very nice comments :) I was using the mark III Version and the Mark IV is out these days. Here is the link to Amazon: amzn.to/1MtuZu3
Get a Canon to e-mount adapter.
i need this video. thanks. i'm a canon 5D3 guy and renting this A7R, it will come wednesday so i need a headsup on the system as i have no clue on sony.
+Juan “CriticalThinker” Dela Cruz Yeah, it's a learning curve for sure ;)
At 22:30, important point to me that the camera battery gauge symbol at 58 percent does not really reflect that value when seen graphically. So if looked at quickly without looking at the percentage number, the bars show more battery life then the numbers do. A closer representation would be the half-way mark instead of what looks like 80 percent graphically. I LOVE this camera with my manual focus Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 lens which does not always show the manual focus assist and does not always zoom in to help focusing even though I have both selected on the menu. I think it might be because when shooting at a very open setting like f/1.4 it never gets sharp enough to show the focus peaking or also when shooting to dark. Not sure if others have the same issues. Again, still LOVE this camera and greatly appreciate Sony's hard work and great price.
Great Review, thank you for taking the time.
funlvr4life Thanks for the comments!
Thanks bro. You would have zoomed the parts you are showing. Helpful indeed
Had an opportunity to pick up the A7 up new for $1,179 Cdn open box with the kit lens, but decided that the a6000 has too many advantages over it, especially since reading the jpg issues with this camera. Thx for the review.
Vikingdescendent Thanks for the comments and best of luck with the camera ;)
Hi Jay. Thanks for all your hard work and effort to keep us informed. This video was quite interesting and useful for a novice in this camera like myself. Now I have a couple of questions. Last friday, I was shooting my a7, with a minolta mf, 50 f1.2 md. My viewfinder was dark, even when my pictures were over exposed (I was shooting lake Michigan frozen waves)... So, my question is what setting should I tweak in order to have keep the viewfinder truthful to my aperture, iso and shutter speed settings? and/or why was it dark?
The second question is not related to this video, but to know if you had experimented any sort of vignetting when shooting with the la ea4 and old minolta af lenses (Mostly Maxxum). I was shooting a 70-200 (beercan) f4, and when used in f4 there were a strong vignetting on my pictures. Please let me know.
Thanks and keep on the good work.
peace,
KIKO
thanks for the reply Jay. can you tell me,where I would go to set that setting up?
Hi Jay, where I can find more info about video setting for Sony A7. All the information around is very simplistic. I have over exposed footage and somebody told me is a figure called picture profile, but I think that options in in the newest version of Sony cámaras; I can't find anything
Hey Jay, would you recommend turning on Face Detect even if you're using an adapted minolta lens ? I plan on just using that and focus peaking, correct me if I'm wrong, Face + Eye detect is more so for FE glass or AutoFocus turned on..?
Hallo Jay, Happy New Year!
I want to buy this camera, for photography & videography use. But, I'm so confused because Sony Alpha 7 can't switch over PAL & NTSC just like the brother Sony A7s. I'm recently use 1920 x 1080 at 25fps or 30fps for my video work. Can't you give me info what's the Sony A7 model (PAL/NTSC) that sell in my region & country because I can't get this info when I ask it to the store I visited. I live in Indonesia, South East Asia.
Thank you & sorry for my bad English :D
I have Live View Display set to 'Setting Effect ON' but it only gives an accurate preview up to a point. It seems to work only within certain exposure boundaries.
To give a specific example: I have my camera set to manual - ISO 1250 - aperture F11 - shutter speed 1/15.... the image that I take a photo of matches the image that I am shown on screen/viewfinder - good.
However, I move my shutter speed to 0.7" and my preview DOES adjust, getting gradually brighter but only up to that point. At 0.7" or slower the preview remains the same, it shows me a much darker image than the one that is taken (depending on how far I push the shutter speed).
I tried to rectify it by displaying the histogram so I had an indication of what the final image exposure would look like... but that has the same issues. The histogram is telling me I have an underexposed image when clearly, due to my settings (long exposure), I am going to have an overexposed image!
Do you know if this is a general design fault? Or do I just need to adjust some setting somewhere? Maybe the camera is faulty and I should take it back?
Good video, thanks for sharing!
+Cold World Thank you!
Hello jay, I love watching your videos they are very informative and helps me out a lot on my decisions. I recently bought an a7 and was setting up my camera like yours. I noticed however that when I put it in JPEG my image size for L is only 10 and not the 24m you had. I was wondering if my 40mb/s would have anything to do with the size that I'd have to upgrade my sd card.
+angrysake Thank you very much fort he kind words ;) As far as your trouble goes, check the image aspect ratio. You are probably set to 16:9 or something?
I’m just seeing this now just upgrades from Nikon D 500 and the price was awesome: one question you didn’t explain the creative style on my 500 it’s on neutral because I shoot raw and that’s the best. Is it the same fore the A7
Nice video, very information so thank you. However, I must point out that, while the hotshoe is proprietary of sorts ("Multi Interface Shoe") it actually contains ISO 518 contacts which means it will work with flashes made for other manufacturers. You wont get TTL etc however, if you have a manual lens (like the type from Yongnuo etc) for Canon they will actually work just fine on this camera.
Hello, there is no marker display option to see the crop for a 2:35 aspect ratio?
Hello, this video was so helpful. But what settings would I recommend to photograph jewellery?
Well, that really depends on what lens you are using and what kind of light source you have also? Are you using a Macro lens for example or a regular lens? How close are you to the jewelry?
Hello, we are just using the lens that come with the camera when we bought it we are also trying to use natural light and we won’t to get up very close because these will be product shots for a website. With the research we have done it is all tell us we need a macro lens. What macro lens would you suggest that not to expensive as we just spent $1600 for the camera? Thanks again for your help it’s muchly appreciated
@@DAYBY_DAY_ If you are not planning on getting that close to the products, then you do not need a macro lens. Macro lenses will allow you to get super close, like a few inches away for example. If you are taking shots of a neckless for example and the camera is a few feet away you won't need a macro lens. It all depends on how close you get. Every lens has a minimum focus distance, so you can only get so close and still have the proper focus. So, in that case I would set the camera up on a tripod to insure maximum sharpness and perfect framing for the product. Then once set-up you can just swap out the product and the camera will already be setup perfect for the next shot. I would use f/5.6 for the aperture, ISO 100, and a 2 second self-timer, also to insure maximum sharpness. As far as the camera lens goes, I would try to zoom in to at least 50mm to get a good perspective of the product.
Great video thanks
Your very welcome! Thanks for the comments ;)
Jay
Hi jay thanks for the great no helpful video. I am thinking about a new lens for my A7. The 35mm 1.4f and 55 mm 1.8f are on my list. Which one would you recommend for A7.
+Tony Fang The 35mm f/1.4 is made for the full frame e-mount. The 50mm f/1.8 is made for the APS-C e-mount cameras like the A6000. The 55,, f/1.8 Lens is made for the full frame E-Mount. I would go with the 55mm personally, but the 35mm is a killer lens and significantly wider angle if that is what you need. The 55mm would be better for portraits than the 35mm for example. 35mm better for street photography possible depending on your style. I hope that helps,
Jay
+Jay SonyAlphaLab hi jay thanks for the reply. i meant 55mm 1.8f. i have ordered the 35mm 1.4f, big damage of my pocket, but i am very exciting for it to arrive.
Hello there, I was wondering what would be the best flash for this camera. I am purchasing one and I am doing a wedding in June and I wanted to know what flash would you recommend to buy for the this camera.
+Andrew Dominguez A really good one if you are doing weddings! Don't cheap out, because they will over heat and/or the batteries will die super fast! Something like the Sony HLV-F60M would be my recommendation: amzn.to/1OVn11Y
is there any picture profile settings (slog,etc) on the menu? i can't find it
Hey Jay. Great review! By chance do you know if the a7 has a 2-10 seconds record delay by chance? Thanks.
+Mike Tedford It's about a second or two I would say, but no where near 10 seconds. Thanks for the comments!
Hi Jay,
Does the A7 allow you to set spot metering on an off centre AF point?
Would you use the A7 for indoor concertphotography?
Thanks in advance, nice video!
+Mike Hydropneumatic No it does not allow you to move the spot metering. I would just use it quickly and the set the camera to manual setting accordingly. You could also use exposure comp if you like to swing the exposure up or down. Tracking in Spot metering mode is very difficult and more used as a tool most time in my mind.
I hope that helps,
Jay
Thanks,
Yes it helps what I buy what it can and can't do.
When in manual focus (Sony A7 II) the distance display goes from left to right until it gets to infinity, but it does it in meters, is there a way to have the display in inches or feet? I couldn’t fine anything in the settings. Thank you.
If i want to shoot model type pictures what settings do i need to set up?
The APS-C size capture you said it could provide extra zoom. However does it use a smaller portion of the sensor thus a smaller MP count?
Yes, correct. It will be lower resolution in APS-C mode on a full frame camera.
Does the A7 have a zoom feature like on the a77? I normally use it to quickly confirm focus and adjust if necessary. I remapped the AE button as a zoom so it's right next to my thumb. This has spoiled me now I'm hoping the A7/R has the same feature.
Yes it does Spawn. The C1 button does it on default. It works awesome and I used it many times with the Minolta MC 50mm f/1.4 PG Rokkor-X lens ;)
Jay
Thank you for a well done tutorial.
Very clear explanations, thank you.
+Robert Ashworth Thank you ;)
Hi Jay,
I have this camera since January 2014 and I think it is a great camera!!!
Coming from Cannon it was a nice surprise to see the quality and practicality of it.
I live in Japan and my camera came with the Japanese Menu. The english menu is not available and if I wanted it the price goes up like crazy.
I have the english manual but this is the first time I really got all the details looking at your video.
I wonder if it's possible to change the OS of the camera to English?
Thanks David for the comments. I don't know of any way to change the language unfortunately. You can try calling Sony and asking. Jay
hot-shoe is a normal one.. works with all my chinese flashes.. check it
Does this need any particular read/write speed sd card for optimal performance ? ( just for stills) Would high write speed be good for long exposure processing. Also about the colour space do you know of AdobeRGB is good for astrophotography also ? I normally post process in Adobe Lightroom
The higher write speed of the SD Card will just clear the camera buffer faster. It will not process photos any faster, because that is done on the camera. If you are shooting in Jpeg the AdobeRGB offers more colors to work with in post, but if shooting Raw it makes no difference. The Long exposure noise reduction feature sounds like what you are talking about, because that takes a few seconds to process after the photo is taken. You can turn that off to speed things up for you and just apply noise correction in post processing...
Hi Jay, great stuff. Have you done anything with the a7s and wi-fi settings?
Hi ron greco I have used the feature to remote shoot with my phone via the playmemories portal. Works really well for self portraits! I also sent the pics to phone as I shot them which was pretty convenient if I wanted to instantly email or text it etc.. That is really all I did so far though Ron. You need help with something specific?
*****
Yes I couldn't seem to get to the update. Could not find the install button.
Did you get it ron greco ?
hi,I've recently bought an a7 as a secondary camera for wedding videos,I bought an emount lense and had to change it to apsc,does this affect the quality of my video's? it doesn't look as sharp as I would like,I don't know if it's settings within the camera doing this or just the lense I have? any feed back would be great thanks
Hi Jason, how can we shoot blurry background? Thank you
Great job Jay, thanks!
+TicketToRideBlog Thanks!
Great video. A must for new owners.
Thanks Bruce Ramsay
Bruce Ramsay i
Jay SonyAlphaLab b
I
In the custom modes it’s not letting me change my shutter speed. Idk why. Or it makes me move the F stop with it :( idk what I’m doing wrong
Please can you do a full revview of.the sony 10-18mm there aent any on RUclips yet!!!
I used the as7ii this weekend and I was shooting sports in a dark basketball gym will these settings work with the ii settings as well
Jay thanks for this expert run-through - REALLY useful for when I got my camera out of the box.
Do you have an equally detailed run-through for video settings? I bought my Sony A7r camera principally for the video features. Thanks.
A7r is primarily for pictures, the a7s is for video
I'm wondering how to toggle between the view finder and the monitor manually, I'm not a fan of how they will toggle by them selfs due to the sensor the viewfinder has.
Hi Jay. I used my Sony A7Sii video for the first time tonight. It is new. When I video, it ticks like a clock/watch. It can also be heard on the video footage. I dont know how to turn off the ticking sound. It sounds like a watch/clock. Its constant. I cant find a setting to remove the ticking. I would appreciate your help.
Very nice information friend
what lens did you use in this video? I'm using 50mm fix lens and the steady shot cannot be turn on
hi. Just wondering how to Displays the auto-focus points for Phase Detection AF in a7? I just can't find this option in the menu anywhere. Thank you very much>
+rt surface Look for Phase Detection in the menu On/Off
Sorry about that. Great video on settings.I have an A7R, there are a few settings that are different.I couldn't get the focus eye part. Also I have 35 2.8 could you a
recommend a lens in the nikon, I have an adapter for nikon that I had with the nex.
Thanks again great video.
I don't have any Nikon lenses ron greco , but the 50mm primes lenses are very popular! Check out this list of lens options: sonyalphalab.com/2012/05/the-ultimate-lens-and-lens-adapter-combos-for-the-sony-nex-e-mount-camera-system/
Thanks for doing this video, but I find many explanations trivial, sometimes making me think you're not quite sure about what every function REALLY does. Adobe RGB also only makes sense if you have an AdobeRGB enabled display for instance (besides that it doesn't matter if you shoot RAW). I would have loved to learn more about the custom function buttons and the custom function menu. I hope you don't mind that I am being direct.
+Christian Blum Sorry you did not find what you are looking for and I greatly appreciate the feedback! If you pay some money to Gary Fong for example, he has some really detailed video tutorials that span hours from what I understand. For myself, trying to make the video's in a reasonable amount of time is mostly the issue, but I also don't know everything in all the menus. The video features in particular are my least knowledgable. The amount of time required to learn every single menu item in detail I just don't have unfortunately. I know what Adobe RGB does and I use that in my editing applications as an active colorspace. If you don't do that, then sRGB is a better option for you is what I was trying to get at. Otherwise you will have files in the wrong profile, for your particular work flow. Obviously if shooting raw this makes no difference, but raw+jpeg it will make a difference and is why I mentioned it. It's hard for me to find a balance in sharing info and also being concise and not confusing... The menus are brutal on the newer Sony cameras! I have the A7r Mark II now and the menus are even deeper and more confusing! Thanks again, and I will go over the function menu on the New A7r II in more detail, so stay tuned for that review as it may help you out ;) Jay
jay im having bad time figuring out how to set audio recording levels .... i need to drop down the db ... but i cant seem to find how to ? help me out here
Colour space doesn't matter if you shoot in RAW. Your advice about "don't use AdobeRGB if you're using JPEG" is actually incorrect since the Colour Space only matters if you're taking jpgs. And, you are correct that Adobe RGB is better but only if you're taking jpgs. Again - just a correction.
rahdisas Thanks for the comments! I said that because if people shoot jepg and upload directly to the web, Adobe 1998 is no good for most browsers. Therefore the direct upload shooters would want to use the sRGB colorspace to avoid color issues in web browsers...
thsn Q .for the great video ...i havi going to A 7s in towe days...! give me ur sugetion wich lenses for wedding video...!
pushpa reddy 70-200mm f/4 OSS G lens, 55mm f/1.8 lens, 24-70mm f,4 oss lens are great options!
Can we set the Sharpness, contrast etc (like in Canon cameras) in this to obtain desired flatness in the picture?
Any way to turn off the audio when starting and stopping video recording? It beeps when I start and stop recording.
Yes, it's in the menu under the suitcase on the far right side, #1 - Audio Signals On/Off. That will disable the beeps when focusing and recording. I hope that helps,Jay
Still helping peoples after 7 years
9 years * rocking!
so by default in full manual mode, back dial is aperture, front dial is shutterspeed and backwheel is for ISO?
+Juan “CriticalThinker” Dela Cruz Yeah, pretty much!
How do you control audio levels while you are recording video on the a7?
Theo Kieu jjjb
I need help with manual the iOS won’t brighten up the way it needs to it’s to dark i don’t know what I’m doing wrong
strange how my a5100 is better in low light (video wise) than my a7. There's more noise with my a7 which i found disappointing. Maybe I need to change some settings
Hi Jay, the a7r doesn't have back button focus, right? I was just reading about that What do you recomend for focus settings. Thanks
back button focus? Not sure what that is exactly ron greco I used the camera on the default setting as far as buttons go and the focus buttons worked as I would have set them up personally. basically you just press the button with your thumb and it's in manual mode. like a toggle.
Yes you can toggle between AEL and auto focus for the button. You just flip the switch to use either one. When you press the button it auto focuses instead of using the wobbly shutter on the A7's. And yes this feature is on the A7 and A7R.
Thanks Ben Kleschinsky for the clarification on this ;) You the man!
Jay
no have XAVC S 50mbps?
I just bought the camera today. I only have 50i, 50p and 25p not 60 on record settings
Jay - if I use an E ( not FE ) lens with the A7 - like the E 50mm F1.8 I know the image will be cropped to APS-C size and what I understand it will be around 15MP - the question is - will the Bokhe or shallow DOF be like that of a FF sensor or as the image was cropped just be as the Bokeh of an A6000 ?
It would act exactly like if it was on a crop factor camera like the Nex-6 for example. Same Depth of field as a crop factor camera, not full frame.
hello , i seee in menu eye-start AF .. does work eye focus on A7mark 1 ? thx a lot
No, what that sets whether or not to use autofocus when you look through the Electronic Viewfinder. It's not focusing on the eye of the subject like on the newer cameras if that is what you were thinking..
Do you lose any light when using adapters to mount lenses? I know that when using macro adaptors on DSLRs you would. Thanks in advance!
No you don't because these cameras have no mirror and are much thinner. Therefore the adapter is filling in the gap to the normal distance the lens is designed for ;)
Jay
***** Jay, thank you for your quick reply! I am really considering getting one of those as I shoot mostly landscape. Having live histogram on both rear display and view finder is very appealing.
Anytime :)
I take alot of night club photo's of Bands without a flash my I can set my iso but how do I set the spead?
I would try Shutter Priority mode first (S) Then you can dial in the shutter speed and put the ISO at what you need also. If it's blinking, that means you don't have enough light for the given shutter speed.