" Not Hawaii "
How to configure your A7r as a Fast Street Shooter
Config will work if you have FE Autofocus lens or Manual lens with Adapters.
I
am sure many might argue my choice of a
36mp 4fps (focus locked), CDAF, A7r. :)
But,
there is a lot of features that could benefit a Street Shooter. and
think I have a A7r Camera set up that works well ... great with the new 35mm f2.8 ZA FE lens , but the set up works with ANY Manual lens
with adapter.
First,
my reasons why I think the 36mp A7r
makes a great Street Shooter.
1) the 36mp.
you can shoot with a loose crop on the
street and then crop latter in
post.
2) LCD that Flips and Tilts, for above and below
compositions. also has grids.
3) Live View , LCD & EVF shows you
WB and Exposure ... shows you how you
will shoot it and saves you having to Chimp. I would say it's a great Natural Light shooter.
4) Exposure Compensation Dial right
on the TOP , RIGHT edge easy to adjust and Fast to adjust Exposure ... even in Manual you can set A and S , go with AUTO ISO and comp. the Exposure off the one Exposure Compensation Dial. * I just feel Sony needs to have a Minimum Shutter Speed Setting. Small things matter.
5) Focus Peaking
at FULL View and Zoomed View
6) Zoom View
... both in DMF (where you can Manual Focus After you Auto
Focus) , when you turn MF ASST = ON
. and
you can also ZOOM even on Manual
Focus Lens with Adapters. and have that
feature on a number of locations
(button/wheel) on the body.
*
Both Focus Peaking and Zoom are
great MANUAL FOCUS helper
Tools. That you can configure to
make Manual Focus (MF) Faster and more Accurate. But, note these are just Aids to help you Manual Focus.
7) You can configure Back Button AF in
Manual Focus mode.
8) Full Frame
in a SMALL camera body Size.
Huge Street Shooting benifit.
9) a small Fast , Fast Focusing , all metal Zeiss
FE 35mm f2.8 ZA FE lens ... that is very sharp. Along with being able to shoot with ANY lens ever made with an adapter.
10) The A7r has METAL wheels.
Some might never notice the difference between the Metal A7r wheels and
the A7 plastic wheels. I might not even be able to tell. But, I want METAL wheels.
Mainly the one I will use the most , the Exposure Compensation Wheel.
11) WIFI/NFC
to your smartphone (any smartphone) and the ability to Upload Directly
to Facebook and Flicker
... you just might want to share something Quickly.
12) Weather Sealed ... on
the street ... it will rain
As
I have been shooting with both the A7r
and the A7 with the 55mm f1.8 ZA FE and the LAEA4 and the 50mm f1.4 ZA SSM. also a bit with the 16-35mm f2.8 ZA.
Here
is what I found works really well with
both FE lens ... and lens on Adapters , even Manual Focus lens. What I have found is the A7r makes Manual
Focusing VERY Easy and FAST. and Accurate.
1)
Set up the AF/MF button to "AF/MF
Control Hold" ... this will
be your Back button AF
2) Set C1 button ... Custom Key Settings > Custom Button 1 = Focus Magnifier ... this is your Zoom button
2/24/14 Rev. this is my current Back Button AF and Zoom on C1 Settings :
Benifits of "Back Button AF" is on this YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzqQskGoURE&feature=youtu.be
2) Set C1 button ... Custom Key Settings > Custom Button 1 = Focus Magnifier ... this is your Zoom button
2/24/14 Rev. this is my current Back Button AF and Zoom on C1 Settings :
*
Also set MF Asst. to ON ... this lets you Zoom in when you move the Focus ring on FE lens in DMF mode.
3)
put the camera to MF mode and use AF/MF button to autofocus. You can move the AF point
as well. When the AF locks release the AF/MF button and you immediately see peaking.
A t
this point you have a tremendous amount of control and flexability
* Benefit at this point is you have Focus Peaking , and the equivalent of DMF, because you have MF.
And you can still move the AF point with a OK center push (if you Center button is config to Standard)
And the Half Press is DEAD , this prevents any Half Press from messing up what you have already done.
* Benefit at this point is you have Focus Peaking , and the equivalent of DMF, because you have MF.
And you can still move the AF point with a OK center push (if you Center button is config to Standard)
And the Half Press is DEAD , this prevents any Half Press from messing up what you have already done.
*
you can SEE the Focus Peaking on your
Plane of Focus ... so when you
move the camera back and forth you can see the Focus Peaking CHANGE.
*
When you use FE lens , there is something COOL that happens when you turn
"MF ASST" - ON. When
you turn the Focus Ring it zooms in automatically
*AND shows you Focus DISTANCE ! (this is useful) ... I have "Focus Magnif. Time to - NO LIMIT. That lets me take my time
AND I go back to Full View with a simple half shutter "tap" of the shutter button. (and it does NOT re-AF, *this is important)
(fyi: your focus peaking is still there when you ZOOM IN, but might not be strong enough ... imho it is a bit of a bug , if you saw a Bunch of peaking "at full screen" it should not disappear "Zoomed in". (or require you to have peaking set a High)
*AND shows you Focus DISTANCE ! (this is useful) ... I have "Focus Magnif. Time to - NO LIMIT. That lets me take my time
AND I go back to Full View with a simple half shutter "tap" of the shutter button. (and it does NOT re-AF, *this is important)
(fyi: your focus peaking is still there when you ZOOM IN, but might not be strong enough ... imho it is a bit of a bug , if you saw a Bunch of peaking "at full screen" it should not disappear "Zoomed in". (or require you to have peaking set a High)
Not
just for Street shooters ... just think
about MACRO Shooters on a Slider.
You
will find that when you get used to this set up
... you can go thru the steps
VERY FAST. and it gives you a lot of flexibility.
* All that is missing for me is a CAF option that would require an additional FW change of a " AF-ON ONLY" option , which would Turn OFF the AF on Half Shutter and allow you to configure CAF and trigger on the back button , for AF and Re-compose, AND give you CAF on demand. (but I would like to see CAF with PDAF on the primary AF point but CDAF on Helper points around it. A Dynamic AF CAF point. Not sure why a SAF point could not also do that and have Helper AF points. (menu choice for how much, small area or larger)
'
Now for those with Manual Focus Lens or non FE lens ... How do you ZOOM Quickly:
4) Double click the c1 this is the ZOOM IN ...
* All that is missing for me is a CAF option that would require an additional FW change of a " AF-ON ONLY" option , which would Turn OFF the AF on Half Shutter and allow you to configure CAF and trigger on the back button , for AF and Re-compose, AND give you CAF on demand. (but I would like to see CAF with PDAF on the primary AF point but CDAF on Helper points around it. A Dynamic AF CAF point. Not sure why a SAF point could not also do that and have Helper AF points. (menu choice for how much, small area or larger)
'
Now for those with Manual Focus Lens or non FE lens ... How do you ZOOM Quickly:
4) Double click the c1 this is the ZOOM IN ...
BUT,
here you have OPTIONS:
* If you "only" Click c1 "once" you get the Focus BOX that you can move anywhere.
* Click another time ... you Zoom in
* Click another time ... you Zoom in MORE
5) Check the focus, fine tune Focus using the Focus ring if needed, and fire away.
* I normally have Focus Magnif. Time to NO LIMIT.
This is great for Tripod / Product stuff
The Flexible Benefit of this SET UP is ... it will work on basically ANY LENS. on FE or A-Mount SSM lens mounted on the LAEA4 , or even lens that do not support DMF.
Key Benefit also is it kills the Half press AF that could mess up what you are doing.
SO, Now you want the A7r to Shutter FASTER:* If you "only" Click c1 "once" you get the Focus BOX that you can move anywhere.
* Click another time ... you Zoom in
* Click another time ... you Zoom in MORE
5) Check the focus, fine tune Focus using the Focus ring if needed, and fire away.
* I normally have Focus Magnif. Time to NO LIMIT.
This is great for Tripod / Product stuff
The Flexible Benefit of this SET UP is ... it will work on basically ANY LENS. on FE or A-Mount SSM lens mounted on the LAEA4 , or even lens that do not support DMF.
Key Benefit also is it kills the Half press AF that could mess up what you are doing.
*** DO WHAT MANY "STREET SHOOTERS DO" ... Manual Mode , EXPOSURE AND FOCUS
* go with f8 (with a 35mm f2.8 ZA FE I might choose f4)
* and a fast shutter setting ...
* float the ISO ( w/ Exposure Comp. wheel to adjust exposure) with AUTO ISO
(this is where a Minimum Shutter speed setting would help , because during the day your shutter speeds could float higher) ...
*** AND, set a MANUAL focus at a DISTANCE that works for you.
* Let Depth of Field (DOF) be your Friend and Hyperfocal Distance give you a Distance Range where it will be IN FOCUS , and you can Fire away " QUICKLY "
Bacically ZONE Focus , "with" EVF/LIVE VIEW "Focus PEAKING" confirmation. The Focus Peaking confirmation is a important AID to the Zone Focus style.
Having said that, in time you will depend on it less and less.
*** THIS Manual Focus set up also allows you to get Faster FPS (Frames Per Second) via a "Speed Priority" Set up.
Zone Focus:
http://digital-photography-school.com/ultimate-guide-to-zone-focusing-for-candid-street-photography
My BLOG on EXPOSURE COMPENSATION PRIORITY
And how to use it in different Exposure Modes
Hyperfocal Distance Focus.
Depth of Field is your friend, and Manual Focus at a Hyperfocal Distance can help
On-Line DOF (Depth of Field) Calculator:
Then you use the PEAKING to show you when your Focus is Locked.
But after a while you will know ... "just" by Distance.
I also might hold the shutter at a Half Shutter , when I know a shot is coming up.
TIPS OF THE DAY LINKS:
TIP 88 A7r & A7 Back Button Auto Focus + ZOOM IN on any LENS
TIP 71-87
TIP 50-70
TIP 32-49
TIP 31 Exposure Compansation Dial "PRIORITY"
TIP 20-30
TIP 1-19
Hope this helps,
Ross Hamamura
The Tourist of Light
www.RDHphoto.net
SONY ALPHA Camera Ambassador
Please follow me on Instagram: @RDHphoto
Facebook Sony ALPHA - TALK Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SonyAlphaTalk/
SONY Community ID: Hawaii-Geek
http://community.sony.com/t5/Alpha-SLT-DSLR-Cameras/bd-p/alpha-slt-dslr-cameras
Ross Hamamura
The Tourist of Light
www.RDHphoto.net
SONY ALPHA Camera Ambassador
Please follow me on Instagram: @RDHphoto
Facebook Sony ALPHA - TALK Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SonyAlphaTalk/
SONY Community ID: Hawaii-Geek
http://community.sony.com/t5/Alpha-SLT-DSLR-Cameras/bd-p/alpha-slt-dslr-cameras
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