Sony A9 Custom Settings Masterclass for Capturing Action
2019 ж. 22 Мам.
61 769 Рет қаралды
This 50-minute masterclass movie takes an in-depth look at how to set up a Sony Alpha A9 camera to capture fast action images where subjects may be moving rapidly.
Mark Galer is a Sony Alpha Ambassador for Australia.
Join Mark Galer on Patreon for the best Alpha Support and Guidance. A single $10 Membership fee includes access to member-only Q&A Forums + Over twenty 1-hour member-only seminars, 'over 15 downloadable' eBooks + cameras settings files (there is no contract or commitment beyond the first month): / markgaler
If you find Mark's work for the Alpha community helpful please consider making a donation to support the web hosting costs and creation of new content. Go the Donations link paypal.me/alphacreativeskills
Join me on Patreon for the best Alpha Support and Guidance. A single $10 Membership fee includes access to my 500-page camera-specific eBooks, member-only Q&A Forums + Over twenty 1-hour member-only seminars + cameras settings files & access to the Raw files from the lens and camera reviews (there is no contract or commitment beyond the first month). www.patreon.com/markgaler
Hi Mark. Is this single (one off?) $10 membership still available. The link suggests not and it's an ongoing thing to pay??
I just recieved my a9 today, upgraded from an a7ii and this video was absolutely what I needed. I am blown away by its capabilities and this video just made my first outing that much easier. Thank you
I appreciate the pace and level of detail you cover, great radio voice as well
You, are God's special gift to ALL Sony users. Your tutorials are the BE ALL and END ALL, to learn how to use these marvelous hand held feats of gloriously engineered cameras. Upon watching your passionately put together videos, time and time again, I find myself just getting better and better. May your life, and the lives of those closest to you, be blessed beyond measure for all that you so exquisitely do, for the world of Sony! Thank you, Mr. Galer. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. I just can't thank you, enough......
WOW- thanks Tony - that feedback will certainly put some fuel in my tank 👍
Great video as always, Mark. Thank you!
Exactly what I needed to set up my a9. thank you
Very nice tutorial. Thank you Mark
Thank you Mark your videos are some of the very best out there they are so helpful thank you so much
Great video Mark, thanks a lot!
Wonderful. Very informative. I will use these settings for wildlife also.
Thank you, Mark. Excellent resource. I appreciate the time and energy you put in to making this available.
Very, very good video!! Thank you so much!
Thanks for making this video.
Absolutely brilliant.
Very good info. I'm slowing trying these on my camera, and am pleased with the results. It is hard for me to think differently and trust the new technology.
Thank you for your help... Outstanding Video
Thank you Mark
Excellent - Great video as always, Mark. Thank you!
THANKS it was a big help ! ! !
One of the best tutorials!!!Great Job!!!
Glad you think so!
Just got an Used A9 excellent condition/0901/22 and now setting up the way you explaining for action. Thanks Mark
Fantastic!
Top job. Even though I have my A9 set up, it was worth watching your video in it's entirety. I haven't used the EyeAF on my A9, as I just use it for wildlife (looking forward to the Animal EyeAF update). My A7III is the people camera. Just to see how good it is on the A9, though, I trained my 100 - 400mm on your image in the top right hand corner of the video and it locked onto your right eye immediately.
Thank you so much Mark! I recently upgraded from a A7ii to A9. I’m excited to learn all the amazing functions that this camera offers and this video really hit the spot!
I also offer support to Alpha Photographers on my Patreon Support site www.patreon.com/markgaler where you can download an eBook for the A9
@@AlphaCreativeSkills Hi Mark, I sent you some cash for the a9 eBook but I don't see where to download it. All the links take me to a donate page.
Best trainer on KZhead! Question: Why not choose Release priority when using back button focus?
If you are holding down the AF-On button when you hit the shutter release there is a greater chance that the subject is already focussed and there will be no delay I shooting (as is the case with Balance Emphasis) but personally I would also just set it to Release whatever workflow you are using.
Excellent insight and explanation of the settings...I wouldn’t think wide tracking focus area would work for soccer (football) but with focus standard maybe it would. I’ll need to try it as I always use flex spot medium tracking.
Dennis Cairns I learned the same from Mark in his A7iii video - I shot just as you did (I came from Nikon) and it was a terrific suggestion for getting my herding dogs in action. )Of course A9 is even better!)
IMO capturing soccer presents one of the toughest challenges for both the photographer and equipment. Some of the mentioned settings are not that ideal when it comes to covering soccer. Rapid changes in direction keep the shooter continually moving their rig to get the intended target identified and a focal point on them. Obviously knowing the game is a distinct advantage that allows one to anticipate the next target and start the swing to it sooner, but still a rapid swing. At the end of it one needs to land on their intended target in order to acquire focus before tracking can takeover. With one-on-one battles, using the tracking flex point works remarkably well. However, when the target you are swinging into involves multiple players the camera has difficulty if set for tracking. You have to be very good at placing the tracking flex spot in a fraction of a second on the correct target in order for the tracking to have value, otherwise the camera can easily lock onto the wrong player. So if there is a congestion of players I turn tracking off (using recall custom hold1 assigned to a back button) and rely on maintaining the flex spot on target manually.
Thank you!
You're welcome!
Thank God for your existence ! Your input is invaluable ! Thank youuuuuuuuuuu !!!!
This is so amazing! Thank you for your work! I do have a question. Minute 20:50 the priority Set in AF-C. why would you set it to Release and not AF? if you have a fast moving target isn't it better fewer shots but more in focus? I am not sure I am following the logic here.
Setting it to AF can slow the frames per second down to half of the release setting. AF is over pessimistic as they can all be sharp in release (and if they are not you can delete them). When dealing with ball sports this is the difference between missing the decisive moment and nailing it. A reviewer called Tony hasn’t quite worked this out yet and is telling everyone to use AF and then in another movie claims SONY is lying to its customers as the frame rate doesn’t come close to its quoted figure.
@@AlphaCreativeSkills Ah Tony, ..... he loves the controversy for the youtube hits haha.
Hi Mark, your videos are so helpful, thank you!!!! as a wedding photographer i leave my focus setting on AFC as everything happens so quickly and you do not want to miss a moment. Is there a great benefit from switching from AFC to AFS to nail focus on a static subject when time permits? Essentially my question is is AFS better on a static subject than AFC? I hope you see the question and have the time to answer it, thanks again....
If you have stopped down to f16 you will find the focus is less prone to hunting in AF-C. In low ambient light most lenses will momentarily breathe wider to find focus in AF-S. it not in AF-C
Is there a way to change the focus standard, when I press and hold focus standard in its default setting it only reverts to Center focus not Center tracking. How do I change it to Center Tracking for focus standard.
Great video, but I have a question. What is the advantage of shooting Aperture Priority with Auto ISO over Manual with Auto ISO? In manual, you can set both your Aperture to give the depth of field that you desire and the shutter speed to either freeze the action or to give the amount of motion blur that you are looking for. The Auto ISO then becomes the only variable in determining the exposure. Thanks.
Shooting in Manual with ISO Auto can lead to underexposure or overexposure if the shutter speed is too slow or too fast for the ambient lighting conditions. ISO Auto Min SS will sacrifice the shutter speed to the nearest to ensure correct exposure - same reason this is an improvement over using Shutter Priority.
@@AlphaCreativeSkills OK, Thank you.
Just purchased the A9...awaiting arrival. Upgrading from the A6500. Your videos are providing confidence in my ability to utilize this to its fullest potential! What AF mode would you recommend for soccer? If i'm trying to focus only on my son without the camera pulling focus away to other players that should enter frame between he and I, should I establish focus via spot AF and allow the camera to track? Or, should I register his face and allow face priority eye AF via tracking wide setting. I take shots of the rest of the team as well and don't want the camera to compete with me if my son is in frame and I want to focus on his teammate per se. Thanks in advance!
Focus Mode to AF-C and Focus Area to AF Tracking Zone or AF Tracking Expand Flexible spot. Zone may be easier to lock onto a single player if they are front and centre in the focus area at the moment you acquire the subject. Pay attention at the moment of acquisition to make sure the AF has acquired your subject and not a neighbouring one. Release and reacquire if this is the case. Set the Tracking Sensitivity to Locked on. Face registration may help bug you will need to sometimes acquire your subject when the face may not be recognised. Face recognition will hinder the process if you need to track other players. Spot can be very useful but needs practice to be able to place it on a moving target.
The A6500 uses the older lock-on AF so will often fail to track more often when compared to the A9 or A7RlV
@@AlphaCreativeSkills Thanks for your response. Looking forward to practicing with this tool!
I just bought a Sony A9II. I'm coming from a Canon 5DIV, so I'm a bit overwhelmed. Your video is a tremendous help. Will you be updating for the MkII?
I don’t need a lot of the features that the updated A9ll has to offer but may update if my budget permits in a month or two.
I've been watching all your videos on focus area and photographing fast moving subjects. I was photographing dogs running on the beach and as I was tracking and photographing one dog as the animal passed behind a person's leg the focus locked on the person's leg even as I kept tracking the dog as it came out from behind the person's leg a split second later. My settings were: locked on for (1) sensitivity, eye face detection turned off, focus tracking was set to expanded flexible spot, continuous autofocus. I've had this problem with photographing surfers as well. Once I was tracking one surfer and the camera was tracking fine but once he went under the pier the focus locked on to one of the pylons of the pier even as I kept tracking the surfer as he came out. Sometimes when tracking a surfer on a wave and another surfer comes into frame the focus will lock onto the new subject even as I pan with the original subject. Any ideas what I have wrong in my settings?
Tnx for video Mark Is there any way to keep spot AF point visible all the time because at the moment it appears only when u press the focus button or half press the shutter.
It should be visible all the time and this movie shows how to make it orange. It is possible to hide the continuous AF area (in the AF3 page) so you may need to check you have hidden it from yourself.
Got a A9 this week, going to shoot a local boxing event tonight.
Do you have a video explaining best way to set up Sony a9 for a studio shoot?
No sorry - I set up cameras for the subject and not the location
brilliant tops thank you. Could guide me in a reply please on how to set "voice memo" tags up on the A9ii. i cant find the activation of this feature. cheers again.
My review copy of the A9ll has been returned to Sony. Have you tried going to Custom Keys and assigning it to a Custom Key?
@@AlphaCreativeSkills the shop said look under the play menu. if i find it i can then assign but currently cant find the option. thanks for replying. Ill get a vlog out once i find it. no one has put that info out on youtube yet. it maybe a case of "honey where's the milk in the fridge?"
Dear Mark, when do you plan (if you are), to update the settings of this A9 with the newer firmware 6.0? I tried to follow your settings with these earlier firmware, but the menus are not the same. My main goal here is to shoot birds flying and mostly very nervous swift movements of small garden birds; up till now, I have found it impossible to track such birds in any manner, both flying towards me or from side to side. Best regards, Charles
Go to my website and download my free A9 A9II eBook. Sometimes I have to work with individual photographers via my Patreon site to improve their technique as the gear and the correct settings are just part of the bigger picture.
Mark. Can you do a video for shooting sports indoors? Eg. Basketball, volleyball... sony A9. Do you still shoot in A priority?
Mark, I'm a bit confused about 'Focus Standard' setting. So, let's say I have tracking wide area currently set and as I half press the shutter button, the camera would focus randomly based on some criteria: closest moving subject etc. But let's say I want to focus on specific subject. Does that mean that I need to depress multi selector to change my focus settings from tracking wide to focus center and then right before I release multiselector I press shutter button half way to acquire tracking focus in the middle? then recompose and take a shot? or you mean something different?
Do not press the multiselector when shooting action as this switches from AF-C to AF-S. Press the C2 key and reduce the size of the focus area if Wide is not serving your purpose. Focus is never random it just applies it’s front and centre algorithm to the designated focus area. It only struggles if their is no edge inside the chosen focus area.
Question at 31:32 you said to turn off SteadyShot if your lens doesn't have a mode 2 for panning, but then you said turn it off if you are using fast shutter speed. What if you are using it with slow shutter speed to get the blur. Should I turn it off or keep it on since my lens doesnt have steadyshot or mode 2. Thanks!!
Turn of off as the camera is not steady
Awesome video Mark. I'm a photo journalist and I just got enough cash to up grade to one of these. Would you suggest anything different for shooting a "particular" subject in a crowd?
I can often use Zone when in a crowd but if there are a dozen people in the frame I quickly drop to using an AF Tracking: Expand Flexible Spot by pressing the C2 key and rotating the rear dial.
@@AlphaCreativeSkills Awesome, thanks for the advice, I'll try it out and see how that works.
perhaps a video on FTP and uploading while shooting at a location ?
It's on my 'to-do' list :-)
Can you speak to any a new features on the latest version 5.1 vs 5.0?
It’s version 5.01 and there are no new features.
Mark, can you post the file of your settings to put on A9 like you do on the A7R4 ? Thank you very much.
The feature is only available on the A7RlV and A9ll
Hi Mark. Is there a reason you don't like to shoot in Manual + Auto ISO? I used to live in Aperture mode, but now much MUCH prefer this method.
Manual and Auto ISO can lead to under or overexposure if the correct exposure is outside of your ISO range.
@@AlphaCreativeSkills Yes, but if we set the range from 100 to 12,800, how is that a problem?
Hi Mark how do you adjust ISO Auto Min SS and back well for standard or Faster.
I have assigned my C1 button for ISO AUTO Min. SS and I change settings using the front and rear dials.
@@AlphaCreativeSkills I have assign my C3 button for this function front dial works ok but the rear dial docent do anything MY camera A9 with new update.
The rear dial should cycle through the tracking AF options
Mark I hope you read this and can answer my question. I shoot indoor/outdoor sports with a Sony A9. This morning I had to shoot a volleyball game and ran into an issue that I've never seen before. I have my camera set to Tracking:Center, AF-C, 20fps, and when I focus on the subject, the boxes that typically show up around the face do not appear. As a matter of fact, the only box that shows up is when I'm using Eye AF. But, when I press the shutter button the box disappears. I have looked all through the menus and online and cannot find an answer. I know its a setting that I've messed up but this is annoying me to no end. Thanks
There is a Face/ Eye frame Display option in the Face/Eye AF Set. menu
Hi Mark I did not understand: once you save camera settings to sd card how do you copy those settings back to camera so the camera can see and use the settings. I get Errors.
Memory : Register & Recall Settings - Total Recall kzhead.info/sun/qpaegdZlqIN-gJE/bejne.html
Hello. I don't know if it happened, but I have a problem. I hope you can help me fix it. I went out to practice Just to take the same pictures you took in this video. I went to a field of motocross with some friends to make this kind of photos, everything was going well until I put my flash, it takes a long time to shoot when I put the radio flash transmitter. Which does not happen when I use natural light for this reason could not capture any because when the camera was already answering the bike had already crossed. I think q should be some programming, because when I turn off the radio the machine responds very well. I thought I'd fix it by putting the focus on manual, but it's not even long enough to get shot. I have the a7III and the radio xt of godox along with an ad600. Any idea what's going on? Thanking you in advance for your reply, I'm saying good-bye. Thank you for your video. Greetings from Perú.
There is no delay when using a Sony flash - I cannot comment why your non-Sony product has a problem.
Is there a particular card and card reader you recommend for the A9?
Sony SDXC UHS-ll G
thanks!
Use a USB-3 or USB-C card reader.
So would you recommend an A9 for birding (photo AND video) , cheaper than a A7III ?
Certainly for birds in flight but there is a conversation to be had for movies because the A9 has no Picture Profiles, e.g., S-Log2. I have extended conversations on my support channel - Patreon.com/markgaler
Is the ebook still free? More than happy to pay for it if it's not.
I now offer personal technical support and assistance for Sony Alpha users from my Patreon Page for as little as little as $10 per month. A $10.00 one-month membership will give you access to extensive learning support files including 15 eBooks (including the A9 eBook), 24 member-only 1-hour seminars + my Alpha Q&A forums. There is no contract and no commitment beyond the first month. www.patreon.com/markgaler - you can join, download the eBook or all eBooks and then cancel your membership one hour later if you so wish.
Why do you choose ISO 320 to start for Manual Exposures... is that optimal?
It ensures I can hit the 1/2000 second shutter speeds without underexposing.
I noticed on my A7III, I can set exact iso ranges in auto, but the A9 only seems to allow doubling.. Any way to override that?
Go to ISO Setting in the Exposure1 Menu and set the limits in the ISO Range limit sub-menu
@@AlphaCreativeSkills Excellent, thank you so much!
@@AlphaCreativeSkills Hi Mark, I was going to ask the same question.. I have an A7iii and I can't find the ISO Setting option - All I have is ISO and then ISO Auto, Min SS. I use your recommended Auto ISO, Min SS and it works great most of the time - I shoot Motocross. However on darker days (UK weather) I could do with something in between 1000 and 2000 of a sec.
New to Sony. One Week! Will be using only your tutorials to jump from a Canon 5D Mark III. My new a9 will be specific for bird photography. I’m currently having slight buyers remorse. Purchased the a9 NOT the a9 II and read for birds the a9ll is what I should have.😖 Help!
I have tracked birds really really well with the A9. The difference between the A9 and A9II cameras is small. The difference between the A7 and the A9 cameras is huge.
I'm an NFL football photograher and just finished testing the a9 and a9ii for a few weeks. I've noticed that in certain situations the football is getting warped while traveling through the air in an image. I know this is caused from a rolling shutter, but this might just be a deal breaker for me and other American football photographers. Can you guys shed light on this issue? I've been loving the AF performance with Sony, but now I might have to stick with Canon. Ugh!
This is not my experience with the camera - what was your shutter speed?
I havent experienced this either. I shoot sports at typically 1/1000. I get very clear shots. Especially with native sony lenses. The A9 is beast of a camera.
I must be missing something. I've watched this video so many times I've lost count and followed step by step on the camera setup. However it seems when I use Expand Flexible Spot, continuous AF and sensitiving to locked on the camera will not follow the bird I've locked on (a9, 200-600, Manuel, auto ISO, minimum shutter speed 2000). I was photographing finches and sparrows in the backyard at the bird feeders. When I lock on one of the birds and then it jumps from one perch on the feeder to another one the focus stays on the perch it was previous on. What am I missing???????
Manual Exposure Mode is inconsistent with ISO Auto Min SS. The camera and lens combo is good if you are using maximum aperture so I would need to see what was happening to see if it is camera error or user error.
@@AlphaCreativeSkills To be honest I really don't think it's me. I will try using aperture priority tomorrow. If that doesn't work I'll just catch the next flight to Australia to let you see what I'm doing. Thank you for responding.
Anyone have a link to sample images taken @1/32000?
I’m curious why you don’t like center focus area to grab the subject when tracking. I find it is much more reliable than pressing the control wheel center in wide to achieve the same aim. Am I missing something?
I use all focus areas - I simply wanted to point out a quick override from wide that some people may not be aware of. I meet a lot of people who miss targeting there subject because centre or spot was not on their rapidly moving subject when they began tracking. It is Wide and Zone that I am primarily promoting as the first port of call and not centre via the multiselector. Personally I can put a spot on the eye if a moving target but this is not reasonable to expect photographers without a great deal of experience can do this.
why i take photo with sony a9ii in lowlight always noise? i make a sony fe 2.8/24-70 GM. can you help me for this trouble?
I provide personal support via my Patreon support channel- Patreon.com/markgaler
can this be applied to the A9 ii (mark ii) ?
Yes -same settings
@@AlphaCreativeSkills appreciate it thank you! The A9ii will be a brand new camera for me moving up from the A7iii
Why not Manual, choose fast shutter speed, ISO Auto and aperture at or near wide open?
Sorry missed the chart at the end. I have found that my action shots are more likely to suffer from too slow a shutter speed rather than a focus error so I prefer to manually control the shutter speed and aperture (usually wide open or close to it) and let auto ISO adjust for exposure.
Manual can lead to overexposure in sunny conditions when choosing slower shutter speeds to create movement blur and underexposure when choosing fast shutter speeds in low ambient lighting. Aperture Priority and ISO Auto Min SS will always prioritise the exposure over the shutter speed and choose the nearest shutter speed that provides an appropriate exposure.
@@AlphaCreativeSkills Thanks Mark, as an amateur my biggest problem with action photography is not having sharp photos due to either camera or subject movement, particularly at long focal lengths. So having the fastest reasonable shutter speed works best for me.
A7 iii action settings pls .
I have already have a movie that covers this on my KZhead channel in the A7RIII and A7III collection
kzhead.info/sun/jbKln6-Qp4eFink/bejne.html
@@AlphaCreativeSkills Thanks
Mark. You think Sony will give us an option with auto ISO minimum SS. 2500, 3200 shutter speed. Instead of the gap 2000, 4000 with a firmware update
I am not aware of any plans to change this setting. The numbers are, however, only lower limit guidelines - if the light is brighter the full range of 1/3 stop increments can be selected and if the ambient light is too low to achieve an appropriate exposure the full range of shutter speeds in 1/3 stop increments will be used. If you are aware of this any precise shutter speed can be selected by simply adjusting the aperture slightly.
Im thinking of selling all of my Nikon gear and going Sony Alpha for motorsports but still worrying about the switch. I've used DLSR for 20 years but the game has moved on so I bought a Nikon Z7II mirrorless and it was awful! the focus just couldnt handle motorsports. These videos are helping me decide and maybe this dinosaur needs to make the switch :)
I switched from Nikon about 12 years ago. Sony have the AF performance the other try to match. The cameras with the stacked sensors have the best AF Tracking, A9, A9II & A1
Funny...I am an experienced Sony shooter and I love to pop in and re-review your videos. Today I learned about the focus standard setting which I set to the lens button. I used to just switch focus area size with the lens button, from wide to small point when there are birds deep in trees. This helps the camera lock on to the bird and not trees, but I think the focus standard might be a better way to do it and perhaps faster than scrolling through my different size focus areas. Thank you...I will try that soon.
Mark, sorry to waste your time, however as I am sure you have a similar video for the A7R, first iteration, could you kindly send me a link...many thanks.
The first A7R has no Phase Detect Autofocus so is unable to track moving subjects. You would have to go 'old school', e.g. pre-focus at a certain distance and pan a subject that stays at that distance or wait for the subject to hit the distance you have prefocussed on (that used to be a point on the track when vehicles exited a corner).
😂 automatic everything
Was there a question?
what would be best Sony hybrid better then Sony a9? Especially for video though stills are important too- I was thinking a74 but the rolling shutter is not good unless they put out a firmware update to fix this? Also I’ve heard Sony a74 does a bit of over heating unless they fixed this too? Thoughts?
The Sony A7IV is Sony's best hybrid camera and rolling shutter is only an issue if you are panning a camera rapidly or tracking very fast moving subjects (essentially sports videography). If sports is what you intend to cover then the best camera fit for purpose is the A1. Sony cannot improve on the rolling shutter in the A7IV via a firmware upgrade. They would need to switch to using the Stacked sensor of the A1. The Sony A7IV does not overheat quickly if you take the necessary measures, i.e. set the Auto Power Off temp to high, do not leave the camera in STANDBY mode for a long time prior to recording, flip the screen out and ways from the body and shield the camera from the hot midday sun when recording very long clips.