Archive 2017 · Sony a9 and Wedding Setup/Layout of Functions

bowens
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Sony a9 and Wedding Setup/Layout of Functions

For everyone who has had an opportunity to use the A9 for a few weddings would you be willing to share how you have setup the camera (Custom Buttons, Function Menu etc) that help with your workflow? I noticed Ken said that he is using Eye Focus much more and I have this set to the AF-on Button and Reg AF to the Multi-Toggle switch in the back. I have my first wedding with it in a week or so and any suggestions would be appreciated. (Moving from using A7rII and Canon 5DMIII) Thanks

Jun 26, 2017 at 09:57 AM

MRomine
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Sony a9 and Wedding Setup/Layout of Functions

Do you or any other Sony shooter know if Sony the a9 has finally added the ability to save settings to that they can be imported into another body to have the same settings across multiple bodies? Or so that you can save those setting in case of a factory reset? This has been one of the largest failures of the Sony software to date.

Jun 26, 2017 at 11:50 AM

Ken_Cravillion
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Sony a9 and Wedding Setup/Layout of Functions

I've now shot 7 weddings with my A9's.

AEL Button - AF

AF On Button - Eye-AF - LOVE Eye-AF. so freaking good in continuous AF mode.

C1 - White Balance

C2 - Turning exposure preview on/off - When using lights at receptions.

C3 - Face detect mode - Never use as I use Eye-AF.

C4/trash - Switching between EVF and LCD. I hate the auto switching so I set it up in the menu to manual switching

Back rotary dial - ISO - I like to switch it on the fly without having to hit a button first.

Down arrow on back rotary dial - Electronic/mechanical shutter mode - Again, for using flash/no flash.

And no, there's no way to save modes to be imported/exported.

I've used the electronic shutter for all pictures except for stuff with flashes. I have yet to see any bandning in any lighting conditions. The continuous AF (lock on is what I use) is the best I've shot with and that includes my pre-Sony Canon DSLR days. Even in churches/receptions/dances.

Jun 26, 2017 at 09:41 PM

bowens
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Sony a9 and Wedding Setup/Layout of Functions

Ken_Cravillion wrote:
I've now shot 7 weddings with my A9's.

AEL Button - AF

AF On Button - Eye-AF - LOVE Eye-AF. so freaking good in continuous AF mode.

C1 - White Balance

C2 - Turning exposure preview on/off - When using lights at receptions.

C3 - Face detect mode - Never use as I use Eye-AF.

C4/trash - Switching between EVF and LCD. I hate the auto switching so I set it up in the menu to manual switching

Back rotary dial - ISO - I like to switch it on the fly without having to hit a button first.

Down arrow on back rotary dial - Electronic/mechanical...Show more →

Thanks Ken, I was hoping you would jump in. Do you just leave face recognition off? For AF do you find using center lock on best for isolating the correct person or are there times you use expanded lock on?

Thanks,
Butch

Jun 27, 2017 at 05:34 PM

Ken_Cravillion
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Sony a9 and Wedding Setup/Layout of Functions

I just leave facial recognition off as when using Eye-AF if it can't find an eye it'll find a face.

For lock on AF I use the smallest flexible spot so I know what I'm locking on to. Mostly I leave it in the center but sometimes (when I remember) I use the joystick to move the point around before AFing.

Jun 27, 2017 at 11:36 PM

StevenMI
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Sony a9 and Wedding Setup/Layout of Functions

This may be a silly question but since I've never used an EVF i'm curious. At a reception when using flash and intentionally underexposing the ambient light...how do you even see anything through the viewfinder??

Jun 30, 2017 at 11:00 AM

hardlyboring
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Sony a9 and Wedding Setup/Layout of Functions

StevenMI wrote:
This may be a silly question but since I've never used an EVF i'm curious. At a reception when using flash and intentionally underexposing the ambient light...how do you even see anything through the viewfinder??

The EVF ups the exposure on the screen so that you can see what you are shooting.
The newer EVFs do a decent job of it.
The A7 I had long ago was decent but at high iso and in low light the EVF had a hard time with focus peaking because the display was a grained out shit mess.

Jun 30, 2017 at 01:31 PM

mikethevilla
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Sony a9 and Wedding Setup/Layout of Functions

StevenMI wrote:
This may be a silly question but since I've never used an EVF i'm curious. At a reception when using flash and intentionally underexposing the ambient light...how do you even see anything through the viewfinder??

You can set the EVF in different ways, but the typical way is that it will show exactly the exposure you have your settings currently set to. However, when you turn on a flash, the camera knows this and gains up the EVF exposure so you can see in the dark.

Jun 30, 2017 at 03:26 PM

StevenMI
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Sony a9 and Wedding Setup/Layout of Functions

Thanks for the replies! I tried my a9 out for the first time at a reception last night and it was pretty tough to use. Maybe i don't have it set correctly but the EVF only bumped up the screen exposure while it was trying to focus, but since this camera focuses so fast that was only a split second. The rest of the time it was pretty much impossible to see what was going on. I looked through the manual and menus but haven't seen where that's something I can change.

Also, an unrelated question but has anyone been having issues with photomechanic and the a9 files? They all look slightly out of focus in photo mechanic (even though my 5d3 files look fine) but look great when I bring them into LR.

Thanks in advance!

Jul 02, 2017 at 08:05 PM

deckitout
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Sony a9 and Wedding Setup/Layout of Functions

May be non relevant but on my XT2's you have a setting called exposure preview in manual mode which can be set to off so you don't get WYSIWYG

Jul 07, 2017 at 03:59 PM


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