Sunday, May 18, 2014

Sony a6000 - Recommended Settings; Autofocus Settings






Here are the current settings I'm using for the a6000, and my rationale.  (For options I've omitted it means I don't have a particular preference, or it's situational.)  Also discussed are:
- 3 ways to implement AF-On in the a6000
- Autofocus settings for different scenarios

Shooting Menu (camera tab):
Image Size: Small.  This makes it easier to send images to your phone.  For serious editing, that's what raw is for.
Quality: Raw + JPEG.  However, when shooting bursts, I might switch to JPEG only.
File Format: AVCHD.  This allows more options for video quality (60i, 60p, 24p, with choice of bitrate).  With MP4, you only have 2 options: 1440x1080 or VGA.
AF Illuminator: off.  It's very distracting and doesn't improve focusing speed much.
Long exposure NR: On.
High ISO NR: off.  The default noise reduction is too strong.  Besides, when you shrink the image to small size, it reduces the visible noise.
Soft skin effect: Mid.  This is to make sure that if I send images to my smartphone directly from the camera, that my subjects' skin will look ok.  After all, social media people are more likely to criticize skin problems than they are to notice overly-processed images.
Color Space: Adobe RGB for maximum color gamut.  I now use sRGB, simply because most of my images are shown only on the web, where most browsers cannot display Adobe RGB correctly (it looks washed out).  In practical terms, the washed out effect from viewing Adobe RGB on most browsers has a greater impact on me than losing some of the extra colors that Adobe RGB has over sRGB.

Settings Menu (gear tab):
Zebra: 100+.  This alerts me to blown highlights.  I specified 100+ because the zebra is too conservative (it's based on the JPEG preview rather than the raw image, which has more highlight headroom).
MF Assist: off.  I rely on focus peaking.
Grid line: Rule of 3rds.
Auto Review: off.
Disp Button - Monitor. Activate: display all, histogram, for viewfinder
Disp Button - Finder.  Activate: No Disp. Info. and Histogram.
Peaking Level: Mid.  If it's low, then the standard for being in-focus is too strict.  If it's high, it's not strict enough.
Peaking Color: Yellow.
Exposure Set. Guide: Off.  This turns off the graphic display of aperture, shutter speed, and exposure compensation when you adjust them.  That graphic display covers the histogram.
Live View Display: Setting Effect ON unless you're deleting the ambient and using flash, in which case you set it to OFF.
Disp. cont. AF area: ON.
Pre-AF: off.
Finder/Monitor: Auto
Release w/o Lens: enable if you plan to use manual lenses or adapters.
AF w/ Shutter: on unless you plan to use AF-On (but there are other options for that).
AEL w/ Shutter: off. I want the camera to set the exposure based on the final composition.  I control exposure using exposure comp and the zebra highlights.
e-Front Curtain Shutter: on.  Improves image sharpness.
Exp. comp. set.: ambient only.  When balancing flash with ambient, it's easier for me to think of ambient and flash exposure separately.

Function Menu Set.
Upper 1: Image Size.  Drive mode is useful but I leave it on the key pad.
Upper 2: flash mode
Upper 3: flash comp.
Upper 4: focus mode
Upper 5: Lock-on AF.  I usually leave this on (Start with Shutter).  I turn off Lock-on AF for fast-moving subjects.  I moved Focus Area to the custom keys.
Upper 6: Smile/Face Detect. Switching to smile detection is a way of activating the shutter remotely as in this shot.  Otherwise, I leave it on face detection.  Note: registering the faces of your family members can help the camera focus on your family members' faces (as opposed to faces of strangers).
Lower 1: ISO
Lower 2: metering mode
Lower 3: Steady Shot is useful for turning it off when shooting with a tripod.  I move DRO to Lower 3 instead of Lower 4.
Lower 4: DRO/Auto HDR.  I don't need white balance because I shoot in raw.  Auto White Balance is good enough for images that I send to my smartphone.  .
Lower 5: Creative Style.  Useful to visualize black and white.
Lower 6: Quality. So I can switch to JPEG only if needed.

Custom Key Settings
AEL button: Eye AF.  To control my exposure, instead of AEL, I can rely on the zebra highlights and exposure compensation.
C1: AF/MF Ctrl Toggle.  If I need to change AF mode, I can use the Fn menu.  Besides using C1 to switch between AF and MF, using the C1 for this function also serves two other purposes: 1) switching to MF has the effect of an AF-Lock; and 2) if focus peaking is enabled and Live View Display is set to ON, then switching to MF is a way of getting a DOF preview.  The focus peaking highlights will show the areas that are within the DOF for your current aperture.
C2: Monitor brightness.  So I can quickly switch to Sunny Weather mode if I'm outside.
Center: standard.
Left: drive mode.
Right: Focus Area.  I usually use Auto ISO, so I don't change ISO much.
Down: exposure comp.  Even though I use the wheel for exposure compensation as well, having this button assigned to exposure compensation allows me to use exposure comp in Manual exposure mode (with Auto ISO also activated, it becomes an Aperture + Shutter Priority).

Dial/Wheel Setup: Wheel is SS, Dial is F/no.
Dial/Wheel Ev Comp: Wheel
Dial/Wheel lock: Lock.  This does not mean they're always locked.  Rather if this option is enabled, you can toggle between having the dials locked or unlocked by holding down the Fn button.

Audio signals: off.  To be more discreet.
Mode dial guide: off.

AF-ON
There are several ways to implement AF-On in the A6000.
1. Traditional way.
AF-On can be assigned to a customizable button, and AF can be separated from the shutter (Settings - p.3)
2. AF/MF Toggle or Hold
One of the options for customizable options is AF/MF Toggle, or the similar AF/MF Hold.  When pressed, this will deactivate autofocus and switch to manual focus.  If you have focus peaking activated, the focus peaking will show what is in focus.  With this option, you can autofocus on your desired target, press this button to switch to manual (thus locking the focus unless you adjust it further), and you can recompose without changing the focus.
3. Center button in Wide or Center AF mode.
One of the options for AF Areas is a single AF point in the middle of the screen (Center AF).  This is for people who like to use the focus and recompose method. In the Center AF mode, half-pressing the shutter works just the same way as regular AF-C.  However, in Center AF or in Wide AF mode (where the camera selects the AF point anywhere), you can press the middle button of the directional pad, which will cause the camera to focus on the target under the AF point and lock.  As long as you hold the center AF point, the camera will not change focus even though you are in AF-C.  Therefore it is like being able to instantly use either AF-C or AF-S any time.

RECOMMENDED AUTOFOCUS SETTINGS

Continuous AF (AF-C) means the camera will keep autofocusing on whatever is under the AF point. So if you have the AF point over a runner who is running toward you, AF-C is supposed to allow the camera to maintain focus.

AF tracking (Lock-on AF) means the camera's AF point(s) will try to identify your target (based on color and other characteristics) and will try to follow it as the target moves not just to and fro but also left, right, up or down around the frame.

For slow to moderate subjects, I prefer using Flexible Spot (S) for maximum precision, then I use AF-C and Lock-on AF.  With these settings, I move the AF point to one of the intersections of the Rule of 3rds, where I usually have the subject.  Then I half-press the shutter to lock on the subject.  The AF will start following the subject.

If the subject is stationary, I will do as above except that after focusing on the subject, I will press the C1 button (AF/MF toggle) then recompose.  Because focus is locked, it won't matter if other things suddenly cross in front of the camera.

After focusing on the flower, I pressed the C1 button to lock the focus.  The waiters and customers walking in front of the camera did not change the focus.  Then when there was a moment where no one was blocking the scene, I pressed the shutter.
For fast subjects, what has worked best for me so far is to turn off lock-on AF, and depending on how unpredictable your subject is, use Wide AF or Zone AF. The question is, without lock-on AF, how will the camera follow the subject? The answer is that it will focus on the closest object. If there's nothing closer to the camera than the subject, then it should work. That's the setting I used in these test shots:


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32 comments:

  1. Thank you very much sir. I just bought an a6000 and am new to photography. Will let u know the results soon :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Congratulations on getting the a6000! The more I use it, the more I am pleased with it, particularly because of the autofocus. If I may say so, I think you made a fine purchase. If you have any questions, just post here or send me an email at info AT betterfamilyphotos DOT com.

      Best regards,
      Mic

      Delete
  2. Thank you for such informative explanation.I also just bought a6000.Still new with world of photography.Till now still try to find how to take a good color balance picture.So many times with overexposed or underexposed.Hopefully with your explanation i can get the better result than before.;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi onirexd! Congratulations on getting the a6000! Exposure with digital cameras is different from exposure with a film camera. Check this out: http://betterfamilyphotos.blogspot.com/2013/10/exposure-for-digital-cameras.html As far as I can tell, the a6000 selects an exposure that avoids blowing relevant highlights. If there is a highlight anywhere, even in the background, and the highlight has some detail, it appears that the a6000 will try its best to avoid blowing that highlight. The result can make it seem that the image is underexposed, even though in technical terms it is actually correctly exposed from the point of view of preserving highlights. Regardless, you can override this by judicious use of exposure compensation and/or through spot metering.

      If you prefer, you can email me specific examples so I can analyze in more detail. My email is info AT betterfamilyphotos DOT com.

      Best regards,
      Mic

      Delete
  3. Bought this camera and like most things about it except for one really infuriating thing: how the hell do I get rid of those "helpful" tips that block my view every time I switch modes????

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  4. Nevermind the previous submitted comment - figured that one out. Now.... why does my a6000 shoot twice every time I press the shutter once??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi. Sorry for the delayed reply. The a6000 has a very cool feature called electronic first curtain shutter. If EFCS is disabled, you'll hear two shutters. In any case, normally you should keep this enabled. If this is enabled, you will get sharper shots (you will avoid shutter shock). In very rare circumstances, EFCS can lead to banding. In my experiments there is slight banding when using EFCS and using an external flash, and a shutter speed of 1/2000 or higher. If that bothers you, you can disable EFCS. I hope that helps!

      Best regards,
      Mic

      Delete
  5. how do I take a photo of the night stars and keep the shutter open for, say about 1 hour??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi. Go to Manual mode. Change the shutter speed to the slowest shutter speed (30 seconds) and set it slower than that. You'll see "BULB". If you want to use a remote, you'll need a remote shutter device (the Smart Remote via smartphone cannot access the Bulb setting). I hope that helps.

      Best regards,
      Mic

      Delete
  6. Hello, I really enjoyed your rose pic. I think it's so cool how a pic can portray such serenity within a bustling restaurant. I hope I can take awesome pics like that one day.
    I too just bought an a6000 and was hoping you could give me some tips. I hope to travel to Paris soon and want to take some nice sharp pics of the Eiffel Tower. Any suggestions on what settings to use are greatly appreciated. Also, I enjoy using Lightroom, any suggestions on settings to take advantage of Lightroom are greatly appreciated too.
    Thank you!!!
    Sincerely Big J

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Big J. Thanks for the feedback! I haven't been to Paris, so my suggestions are only general. I would suggest imagining what your final shot would look like. After you visualize the shot, think about how to take it and if needed, get the lenses to execute the shot. For example, if you want a shot of the Eiffel from below, emphasizing the swooping lines of its legs, you'll need an ultrawide. If you want a shot where it is part of a skyline, you'll need a telephoto lens, etc.

      Bon voyage! I hope you have an awesome vacation!

      Best regards,
      Mic

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    2. Hello ,
      I had been to paris last summer , To shoot Eiffel tower you will require a wide angle lens , you can try to use 'Panorama function in a6000... where in options you can choose the direction,,, so for Eiffel tower,, I think direction of sweeping could be from top to bottom ,, or bottom to top.. see that you are well equipped with lenses , filters like CPL , you might require zoom lens 50 to 105 as its easy to sit in hop on hop off bus and shoot.. as there are lots of museums you will require wide angle lenses along with basic kit lenses,,, extra set of batteries with charger is a must..

      hope this helps,

      Hemant

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    3. Thanks Hemant! That is very helpful! I forgot about the panorama function, which indeed is great for tall subjects.

      Best regards,
      Mic

      Delete
  7. Beautiful pictures. I'm planning on purchasing an a6000 in the very near future. May I ask, which lens did you use for these 2 photos?

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    Replies
    1. Hi! Thanks for your feedback. For the bench, I used the Sony 50 1.8 OSS. It has nice bokeh though among the Sony lenses I've tried, it's a little slower to focus. For the flower, I used the Sony 35 1.8 OSS. The lens focuses quickly and this is my most used lens. The other lens you might want to check out is the Sony 18-105 f4 OSS. It focuses quickly, is reasonably sharp, and has a very useful range. It has terrible pincushion distortion but the distortion can be automatically corrected in Lightroom or in-camera (if you shoot JPEG).

      Best regards,
      Mic

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    2. Just ordered the A6000 and Sony 50 1.8 OSS lens. Still shopping around for a good price on the 30 1.8 OSS lens.

      During my research on this camera I found out that there is a free version of Capture One Express specifically for Sony cameras here.

      Thanks for the useful information provided on this site and keep up the good work.

      Delete
    3. Awesome!

      Thanks for the suggestion re Capture One Express. More power to you!

      Best regards,
      Mic

      Delete
  8. Hi! I have a Sony a6000 and just tried taking fireworks at night on a tripod. I can only seem to take it on timer mode. Can you help me figure out if i) I can take it without the timer mode; and ii) how to adjust the timer to less than 10 secs?

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    Replies
    1. Hi there! I'm not sure why you're only able to take it on a timer. As you know the a6000 doesn't have a fireworks mode (unlike many other cameras). Here are Sony's instructions on taking shots of fireworks:

      https://us.en.kb.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/44473/p/40096,40680,40758,92431,92432/c/65,66/kw/fireworks

      You can take it without the timer mode. To enable or disable the timer, it's the same menu as the drive mode (single or burst, etc.). To disable the timer, select single shooting. If you want to change the timer duration, you select the timer icon, then you can move the cursor left or right to change it from 2 secs or 10 secs.

      I hope this helps! If you have other questions, please feel free to email me at info AT betterfamilyphotos DOT com.

      Best regards,
      Mic

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    2. Mic,

      Thanks very much! The instructions that you provided were extremely helpful.

      Delete
    3. Mic,

      I have a 16-70mm f4 and a 50mm f1.8 for my a6000. What other lenses would you recommend? Also should I get a flash?

      Delete
    4. You're welcome my friend.

      As for lens suggestions, I don't have a lot of experience with Sony lenses. I only have the Sony 35 1.8 (faster AF than the 50 1.8, reasonably sharp), 50 1.8, and 18-105 (reasonably sharp, though the distortion is wild but can be corrected automatically), and the Sigma 19 2.8 (nice but has phase detection only in the middle AF point).

      My general suggestion would be to choose the lens based on the kinds of photos you like to take. Once you've decided, I would look for photos in that genre that interest me, and I'd look at what focal lengths they used. That will narrow down your choices. Then look at the Flickr pool for that lens to see if you like it.

      As for a flash, generally I would recommend it, although again it depends on your photography. For example, flash is not that necessary for traditional landscape photography. For product and food photography, it's a necessity, as it is for event photography. For family photos, I would just get one flash that is capable of bouncing (F43M or F60M), and maybe a TTL cord if you want. If you want to take formal portraits or want to do multiple off-camera flash, I would forgo the Sony wireless system. It's very limited. I think you would be better off with manual flash. If I were to build a flash system now, I would probably use either Paul Buff strobes, or for something more portable, a Cactus V6 (paired with old Nikon D-TTL flashes, which are powerful but cheap, and do work with the Cactus v6).

      Best regards,
      Mic

      Delete
  9. Mic, just bought the a6000 and found your blog by accident. Awesome words for us newbies. Thanks for taking the time to help out the masses.

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    1. Thanks buddy! I appreciate the feedback. Glad to help - we all have to start somewhere. Check out the index on the top right corner of the webpage. It is out of date but at least it has some organization of older posts. And feel free to email me or Mohammad at info AT betterfamilyphotos.com.

      Best regards,
      Mic

      Delete
  10. Hi Mic, does the Cactus v6 work simply in plug&play on the sony a6000 hotshoe or does it require some adapter/modification ? I can't find a proper answer to that isue...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi there! I haven't tried the Cactus v6 on the a6000 so I can't be sure but the answer should be yes. I've tried a Nikon SB-800, and Olympus FL-36R, and they work in manual flash mode (as opposed to TTL) on the a6000. I've also tried a Yongnuo YN-560EX manual flash, and it works as long as I don't use the locking pin of the 560EX (otherwise, its center pin doesn't make contact). So the a6000 appears to be compatible with any flash with a standard ISO hotshoe. Cactus also says that the v6 is compatible with the Sony multi-interface hot shoe http://www.cactus-image.com/community/discussion/75/are-the-new-cactus-v6-and-cactus-rf60-compatible-with-the-sony-s-multi-interface-shoe Therefore all available info suggests that the v6 should work, but I have no personal experience to back it up. FWIW I hope that helps.

      Best regards,
      Mic

      Delete
    2. Thanks a lot for your reply ! I will try and give a feedback here for anyone also concerned. I was wondering this because also of the black painting Sony has put on the a6000 black version (which doesn't appear on the silver one it seems).

      Delete
    3. Thanks! It would be great if you could post your experience with the v6.

      As for the black paint, do you mean on the hotshoe? My a6000 is black and has a black hotshoe, but the important thing is that the middle part of the hotshoe is conductive. It is the one that makes contact with the main pin of the flash (or the v6). The middle part of the a6000 hotshoe is not painted.

      Best regards,
      Mic

      Delete
  11. Mic,

    Thanks for the write up! It is much appreciated!

    I just got an a6000 during black Friday and am just now getting to play around with it. I am very very new to photography but am looking forward to learning!

    With the holiday's right around the corner I was wondering if you had any suggestions/tips/settings for taking family photos. Kids openings presents, candid shots, etc. Or do you recommend any one auto mode over the other for these kinds of shots?

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi there! Congratulations on getting the a6000 at an awesome price!

      That's a great question, and a timely one. The tricky part is that there's no simple answer. It depends on what you're shooting. Maybe I'll do a post on that topic... For now, here are some very general tips:

      - Check the top right corner of this page for an index of articles, including a quick guide to learning exposure (aperture, shutter speed, ISO). The index hasn't been updated in a while, but you'll at least have an organized index for a couple years' worth of articles.
      - To improve the sharpness of your shots, use a higher shutter speed. The default shutter speed of the a6000 is a little slow. I would use 1/125 or faster. To do this, switch to S (shutter priority) and choose a shutter speed of 1/125 or faster. You can also use M (manual) and choose the shutter speed as well as the aperture. Just turn on Auto ISO.
      - An external flash will help immensely for low light shots - both in terms of sharpness and less noise. I recommend getting an external flash that can swivel and bounce. Then read the TTL Flash Tutorial (the link is on the upper right corner of the page). If you don't want to get an external flash, you can use the a6000's built-in flash and tilt it upward to bounce off the ceiling (as long as your ceiling is not too high).
      - If you can get a lens with a wider aperture, that would be better (you'll be able to use lower ISOs which means less noise, or you can use higher shutter speeds, which can improve sharpness). Check out the a6000 lens guide for some suggested lenses.
      - For exposure mode, if you are very new to photography, there's nothing wrong with using 'auto' or "P" (program). If you know about exposure, then you can try A (aperture priority) with Auto ISO. Or even M (manual) with Auto ISO. At this stage, the quality of your shots will be more influenced by your composition and timing more than your exposure.

      Feel free to email me or Mohammad specific questions at info AT betterfamilyphotos.com.

      Best regards,
      Mic

      Delete

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