Recall Custom Hold - Sony Alpha Custom Camera Setting
Quickly Override your current group of camera settings with another group of registered settings, simply by holding down a Custom Key. This is an invaluable feature that allows you to instantly optimise your shooting workflow without the need to deep-dive into the menus.
Mark Galer is a Sony Alpha Ambassador for Australia.
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I'm still waiting for a million subscribers to your channel. Best camera advice on the web! Thanks for taking the time to make these videos.
Thanks Steve - your positive feedback helps to keep me going. No million yet but a 50% increase this year so far 😀
Yep . Always top notch instruction . Your shots are absolutely fantastic too. Thanks for your expertise and generosity Mark.
Excellent addition to the Memory Mastermind video. I needed this information, thank you!
The best instructions for Sony alpha cameras there is. Fantastic work!
Great video on applications and how to use recall custom hold! You are the best ambassador!
This was just what I needed to switch from perched birds to BIF quickly. Many thanks, Mark!
Really useful, thank you. That is going to revolutionise the way I use my A7iii.
A must know if you're one who needs to change back and forth between settings quickly and often. Excellent video explaining how to use this feature. Saved me loads of experimenting to figure it out.
Terrific, thanks Mark.
Thanks Mark. I had been holding out for a new Sony APS-C with Exposure comp and thumb stick controls like my A7RIII. Since it is not coming, this has helped me configure my old a6000 better. The AEL button makes a nice Exposure Comp button with the dial above it, since I still need the dial for aperture on some of my lenses.
Great video I've just subscribed 🙂 I get my A9 ii tomorrow moving up from my A7 ii and I can't wait to use your valuable information. Thank you 👌📷
Great video and features described and presented in a perfect manner. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Excellent clear and concise !
Glad you think so!
Very clear explanation, precise, usefulness, professionalism and friendly 👍
Glad it was helpful!
very helpful to a relative new shooting eagles - thank you!
Thank you guru mark 🔥 beginner photographer here from Philippines :) praying for your good health 🙏
Indeed very helpful.. Thank you
Excellent video
Dear Mr. Galer: I rarely write fan letters, but your KZhead videos and ancillary resources and your lucid, succinct method of teaching are near miraculous and a world-class resource for the Sony camera and lens owner. If I have but one complaint, it's simply that your photographs reduce me to blubbering envy-- and I've been an amateur photographer for 40 years. Still, they inspire me to be better--even at my advanced age-- and that is a blessing unto itself. Profound thanks for your work. Dennis Jan Wolterding--Myrtle Beach, SC.
Thanks Dennis - Taking good photos and Education are my primary focus and product reviews are secondary. If you ever need additional support beyond these video tutorials you can find me online at Patreon.com/markgaler
Thank you for the instruction. This is a great channel that never wastes people's time. It is a good feature. Just one hassle that's the custom key is shared amongst shooting modes. So let's say I have M1 and RCH1 for Portrait, M2 with RCH2 for Landscape. Then, when I switch from M1 to M2, I have to use a different custom key for RCH2, or look for the current custom key on the menu and set it to RCH2.
I have started using the AF-on as a second RCH - the Focus Hold on the lens is another option
Thank you, thank you, thank you. A HUGE help! This camera is fantastic but requires study and practice to master - but you will be rewarded, grasshopper - with tack sharp images.
You're very welcome!
Beauty! I have the a7III which has M1 & M2 which is a great feature (learned from another of Mark Galer's tutorials) and of course, human nature, I want more than 2. For the short duration mode switches, this Recall Custom Hold feature will do quite nicely and it's much simpler than fumbling with the clanky Mode dial back and forth just for a few shots. Thank you Mark.
Great to hear!
Did nott know this, smart function
Thanks
Excellent instructional series Mark! Question on the A6500 with firmware 1.06. I cannot find any "Recall Custom Hold" features at all. Yes the A6400 does have them except A6500. Do you have any recommendation to get around the Continuous shooting switch to Single shooting with a hold button. Thanks
Without Recall Custom Hold I would be leaning on creating more memories for the Shoot Mode dial.
What a great video! Am I doing something wrong, though? I set up the AEL button as directed but then I have to hold the button to shoot those settings for stills. I thought I should be able to press the AEL button, release, shoot still, then repress to go back to birds in flight? thanks for the help.
Hi Mark, thanks for your explanations! They are greatly appreciated. Maybe you know the answer to one question I have. Is there a way to make these recall customs a toggle? I have Backbutton focus with two different buttons. Main Button is AF with high Shutter and Area Wide for birds in flight. The other one is custom hold 1 with low shutter and switching AF area and Whitebalance to spot (for perched/sitting birds). And its not comfortable having to hold it down all the time and having it refocus again if little birds are hiding in the bushes :) Is there another fast way than making the settings for flying birds the custom hold 1 option? Best regards, Sebastian
Unfortunately they are hold functions only - you could move between Memories on the shoot mode dial if you don’t want to hold.
hi mark, thanks for this valuable tip. i have tried on a7siii with the new menu system and can't find this anywhere. have you managed to work it out with new menus?
Oldie but goodie! Great graphics, Mark! Did you make them all?
Again great video. Professional advice. Best tutorial worldwide. Please keep on going. Maybe you can explain not to burn the rain forest to this stupid people.
Thanks Mark, great videos as always. Is it possible in Sony A7iii to have a shortcut button for S&Q movie? I can do normal movie using the record button but was trying to have a shortcut key for Slow Mo without rotating the dial.
Not that I know of
@@AlphaCreativeSkills Ok thanks
Thanks for your great video! When choosing Drive mode: continuous shooting, the camera seems limited to continuous low (3fps) which rather denies its BIF use for me. Am I doing something wrong?
When registering a Recall Custom Hold setting on most Alpha cameras you must have the Drive Mode set to the drive mode that the Recall Custom Hold will then use, e.g., Continuous Hi. Adjust the Drive mode setting and then re-register your Custom Hold Setting. I am always available to answer the Sony questions that other struggle with on my Patreon.com/markgaler support channel. I only have time to answer a small percentage of questions here on KZhead because I have several hundred video tutorial available. I had to disable KZhead notifications when my Smart Phone began to sound like Santa's sleigh was on its way.
@@AlphaCreativeSkills Oh god you are right. That is so NOT intuitive to me. Thanks a LOT !
Hi Mark, thanks for your extremely informative video. There's one problem that I run into when using the Recall Custom Hold feature: I sometimes assign a custom key to AWB Lock for temporarily locking my white balance, but when AWB is locked and I activate a Recall Custom Hold, the AWB Lock gets automatically cancelled. I've searched the web and no one seems to be reporting this issue, so I'm not sure if it's intended or a bug...
I suspect its an oversight as WB is not one of the 10 options so it shouldn’t override an option that is not listed - I have requested that the Register Custom Shoot Settings be expanded to cover more than 10 options.
Mark Galer's Alpha Creative Skills Thanks for the response, Mark! I also have to mention another strange problem: If my default AF Area is Tracking:Expand Flexible Spot and I set a Recall Custom Hold to override AF Area to the non-tracking Zone, and I press then release the assigned button, the AF Area will change to Wide instead of returning to my default.... I hope Sony can fix these issues soon because the Recall feature really is super useful.
I wonder if there is a way to add to custom hold button ability to engage and disengage IS? That would be so extremely useful, especially when you assign custom hold for a perched bird (slower shutter speed and lower ISO) in this case the IS is engaged and override what is on the lens. When when the bird is in flight the custom hold released and the camera goes on high Sutter speed shooting with IS off.
The camera cannot override the SteadyShot settings switch on the lens
Hi Mark. I have my 3 custom holds setup (P, A & L). When I try to register say Custom Hold 1 to Memory 1 under the AEL button and Custom Hold 2 to Memory 2 under the AEL button it is not possible. It seems to be the Custom Memory is not able to recall a different Custom hold under the AEL button for different Memory Slots. It always defaults to the last Custom Hold I saved. Thank you for the amazing work. Sony needs to hire you full time to give online courses on their cameras.
I would prefer if the Memories also controlled which custom hold Recall is being used but this is not the case. You either have to use additional custom buttons or change the Recall Custom Hold in the Custom Key Menu.
Yes this is pretty annoying. I have my C1 AF-ON button setup for custom hold 1/2500 and f8 for BIF’s and I’m just going to have remember to switch it back when I switch out another memory position.
Love the recall custom hold feature to override AF Focus Areas instantly but I have noticed a slight delay when using the custom hold button on the a9. Any reason for this delay? Does this still occur on the more recent bodies like a9ii or a1?
I don’t experience a delay on my A9 cameras.
On my a7riii i dont get a image of the camera to assign which buttons?
Great tutorial. However, I have scoured the internet looking for an answer to my question. What is the point of the "Shoot Mode" check box? If it didn't exist, what would I not be able to do? The aperture and shutter speed are either what you previously had them set to(before pressing the button assigned to recall custom hold) or what they are overwritten to be(once you hold the button down). When holding the button down, the dials do nothing, and you cannot change the aperture or shutter speed.
I change from Aperture Priority (which I use in conjunction with ISO Auto Min SS set to 1/2000 second) to Shutter Priority with 1/500 second. The Shoot Mode is essential until they add ISO Auto Min SS to the options.
How do you manage a custom hold button when you are using back button focus?
Use the custom hold button on the lens, incorporate back-button AF as well as the custom recall setting or ditch using back-button AF
I didnt realised this feature until now! Need some help here.. I was trying the "recall custom hold" setup for my A7m4, once i have set it up (to just change to wide aperture), i realized that i once i hold down the custom hold, not only the aperture was changed... a creative look profile was applied and the D.R.O was on, both settings which are not possible to set in the recall custom hold setup.. Possible to give me some advice on what did i miss out? Thanks in advance.
The Recall Custom hold can only override the 10 or 11 settings that are included in the Memory. It cannot override some settings that have already been set, e.g., Creative Look and DRO. The exception to this is Import Current Settings - which can have some unexpected results. I could explore the issue in further detail, but this would require a conversation rather than a sentence. This is the sort of service I provide on my Patreon.com/markgaler support channel.
Are you doing these video with your custom settings?
The Recall Custom Hold settings are used for stills capture
@@AlphaCreativeSkills when you’re shooting fast, say for birds in flight. You’re not holding any custom key are you? I’m struggling to get focus to hold tracking if I miss the first hit
Hi Mark, I am not successful in overriding aperture value set on the aperture ring. Does it mean I can successfully use your definition of RCH3 (manual mode with predefined S and A values) only when I already am in manual mode? That would be a bit suboptimal. Thx
The memories can only override an aperture on a lens with an aperture ring if the lens aperture ring is set to A
@@AlphaCreativeSkills Thank you. That's what I was afraid of. That's a pity. Who would do that? 😖
Hi Mark. I just got a Sony a1 and 200-600 zoom. I am thinking about becoming a patreon member. I am new to photography and want to do wildlife (birds mainly) and landscape. Will your Sports setting 2 be usefull in photgraphing birds in flight? Thank you.
I shoot birds in flight with my registered settings with great success. The eBook and CAMSET (Camera Setup file) will offer good support.
@@AlphaCreativeSkills Great! Thanks Mark!
So IBIS is not among the possible overrides? That really is a pity. I'd like to shot BIF with IS mode 2 (or off) and then (for perched birds) toggle to slow settings with IS mode 1.
You could do this with the Memories instead of Recall Custom Hold as IBIS is recorded into those memories.
@@AlphaCreativeSkills Even with the tele lenses that have mechanic IS switches? Will check when my R4 arrives...
Hi Mark, I use back button focus which I guess makes it hard/impossible to focus while simultaneously pressing the recall custom hold button and shutter - any work around for this ?
never mind, just answered my own questions :)
Yes - you can Add AF-On to the list of 10 Recall settings
tutorial for sony alfa 68
That dates back before I became an Ambassador in 2012 and Sony Australia would not be able to supply me with a unit that has been discontinued for many years.
I usually don't like to sail into the negative but Sony engineers must be autistic savants. I shoot 100 photos every day, a million over50 years, and on the Sony A6500 in hand you will never, never, ever get used to the monstrosity that is the Sony menu. It's obscene. By the time the average sony has looked up his guide to custom hold 3 no 24, what was I was looking for again, the Samsung cell phone user with 120 degrees wide and 48 M pixels is on his way to the next shoot. I bought the Sony because it had Continuous bracket system but it is a nightmare and will not work with lots of other functions >> like silent mode, Auto , Profiles. flash , any one of lots of things. It's a photographers nightmare. And can you imagine having Picture profile which only work at 800 ASA plus At 800 ISO plus the photos from APS_C are doubtful at best.. The 18 to 135mm lens which Sony forced on retailers [ Bangkok, Australia, New Zealand ] with the A6500 is so slow you need a tripod everywhere you go I am not the slightest tempted by the full frame. Sony cameras as said they are for engineers.
Even with your tutorial its confusing and unintuative. Not your fault . Sony make great cameras but communication and the naming of things is not their strong point. I'll watch it 10 more times. If only Sony made harpoons with menus. Whales would be a lot safer.
mark rigg “even with your tutorial its confusing and unintuitive.” I don’t think so at all. I found this tutorial easy to understand and extremely helpful. I’ve been shooting MLS games recently and wish I had thought of this before. I’m glad I watched this, and have already set up my camera for the next time I shoot a game.
@@DavidStella Yeah fair enough. If I step by step it with the camera in front of me I should be right. It just frustrates me the way they name things. Mark's very good so if anyone can explain it he can. I'll blame the 2 glasses of red wine I had with dinner.....
mark rigg lol
Absolutely , I usually don't like to sail into the negative but Sony engineers must be autistic savants. I shoot 100 photos every day on the Sony APS-C and you will never, never, ever get used to the monstrosity that is the Sony menu. It's obscene. By the time the average sony has looked up his guide to custom hold 3 no 24, the Samsung cell phone user with 120 degrees wide and 48 M pixels is on his way to the next shoot. I will never buy another Sony Camera. I bought the Sony because it had Continuous bracket system Its a nightmare and will not work with lots of other functions >> like silent mode, auto any one of lots of things. It's a photographers nightmare. The 18 to 135mm lens which Sony forces with the A6500 is so slow you need a tripod everywhere you go I am not the slightest tempted by the full frame Sony cameras as said they are for engineers and Mr. Galer.