p.94 #1 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
Hi all,
I have Nikon lenses, manual as well as autofocus. I am wondering how do we set aperture and judge exposure using an adapter...lets say novaflex.
I wrote to them but got a very cryptic reply.
p.94 #2 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
carstenw wrote:
I guess I will find out when I finally get to the Sony store within operating hours, but I was hoping to understand the EVF/live view settings before getting there, so that I could just walk in, set the camera to MF, and start playing with various settings, but honestly, I think the manual is less useful than just playing with the camera.
make sure that "Live View Display" is set to "Setting Effect ON" (should be somewhere in the gear shaped menu along with peaking level/color, MF assist ON/OFF, and Focus Magnif. Time). change the way image looks in the evf by changing the jpeg settings. Set camera to MF (probably easiest using the function menu, who knows how the camera has been configured before you).
carstenw wrote:
Has anyone figured out yet if it is better to set the camera to Intelligent Auto or Superior Auto?
sorry, never used an auto/program mode on any sony camera.
also, i've never read a camera manual, are others all that much better than sony?
p.94 #3 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
nandadevieast wrote:
Hi all,
I have Nikon lenses, manual as well as autofocus. I am wondering how do we set aperture and judge exposure using an adapter...lets say novaflex.
I wrote to them but got a very cryptic reply.
camera will meter normally at working aperture with any nikon lenses adjust to taste by looking at liveview histogram (also lcd/evf previews the exposure). lenses with aperture ring can be adjusted using the aperture ring, with g lenses the aperture needs to be adjusted by turning a ring on the adapter. the only real way to tell what aperture you're at with a g lens is to look at how much the shutter speed has changed as you stop the lens down.
p.94 #4 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
sebboh wrote:
sorry, never used an auto/program mode on any sony camera.
also, i've never read a camera manual, are others all that much better than sony?
I haven't made it to the part of the manual which explains those terms, I am still working my way through the part of the manual which lists them. It sounds like it is either or, with no other choices.
I don't know about other companies, but the manuals of Nikon and Olympus are very good, and I have no bad memories of Panasonic and Canon manuals either. My Hasselblad 203FE and 2000FC/M manuals were also fine, but those were simpler cameras.
This Sony manual reminds me of a washing machine manual, or similar. They invent their own terms and sort things by function in some odd way. I will continue trying to read it though. Maybe it gets better later on.
etc. I have no idea what they are talking about. None.
And this:
"Focus Settings
Allows you to focus using the front dial, rear dial or control wheel."
Isn't there a focus ring on the lens
"S. Auto Image Extract.
Sets whether to save all the images that were shot continuously in [Superior Auto].
(Auto/Off)"
Why would you want to shoot images but not save them?
"Dial / Wheel Lock
Sets whether to disable the front dial, rear dial or control wheel by pressing and holding down the Fn button. (Lock/Unlock)"
Maybe I can guess what they mean here, but man, could they have phrased it any worse?
"Display Rotation
Sets the playback direction of the recording image. (Auto/Manual/Off)"
Classic Japlish, requiring reading three times.
Perhaps there are logical explanations for things, but I don't know why Sony would list these things the first time, and keep the explanation for (much?) later. It is quite confusing at times. I get the impression that they just grabbed the first English-speaking Japanese person in HQ who wasn't too busy, not a professional.
p.94 #6 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
'sorry, never used an auto/program mode on any sony camera.
also, i've never read a camera manual, are others all that much better than sony?'
lol. me too for the first, but having been a tech doument person, I waded through some twaddle in 'manuals' written by several types back in 2008. User manuals are not designed for photographers, simple as that, and are about as much fun as a SAS manual.
But, there are two main approaches by two very different kinds of users - the first needs to know ewverything in order to know anything, so they scrupulously scour every page and get each item clear in a steady accumulation of fact-building. User doco needs to be top notch for these folks.
Second kind knows they just need a few things set up how they shoot and does that in the menu and button allocation controls, then starts shooting, revisiting the actual menu item they want to know about when they need it. This kind generally 'intuits' the modality of the camera.
Best advice is to do the second, learning by doing, after a while looking at each menu item and its choices.
You see this dichotomy in control 'fussiness' also, as in: 'the EC dial moves too easy / too hard' - I read both of these in one day two weeks ago, haha. Latest one is the shutter is 'too sensitive' or 'too hard to reach' on the top plate. Can't predict next week's moan, but there will be one, sure as the sun rises in the east. Odds are good for 'too much shutter shock'.
p.94 #7 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
Huff is showing a disturbing lack of taste of late, he has these really poor amateur reviewers doing 'impressions' along with posting really bad images - the latest guy put in this as a sub-heading:
'Let me get the positives out of the way first.'
Seriously...you cannot make up this kind of thing. It's a wonder some people ever get around to taking images.
etc. I have no idea what they are talking about. None.
And this:
"Focus Settings
Allows you to focus using the front dial, rear dial or control wheel."
Isn't there a focus ring on the lens
"S. Auto Image Extract.
Sets whether to save all the images that were shot continuously in [Superior Auto].
(Auto/Off)"
Why would you want to shoot images but not save them?
"Dial / Wheel Lock
Sets whether to disable the front dial, rear dial or control wheel by pressing and holding down the Fn button. (Lock/Unlock)"
Maybe I can guess what they mean here, but man, could they have phrased it any worse?
"Display Rotation
Sets the playback direction of the recording image. (Auto/Manual/Off)"
Classic Japlish, requiring reading three times.
Perhaps there are logical explanations for things, but I don't know why Sony would list these things the first time, and keep the explanation for (much?) later. It is quite confusing at times. I get the impression that they just grabbed the first English-speaking Japanese person in HQ who wasn't too busy, not a professional....Show more →
ha, this is why i don't read manuals. luckily my demands for a camera are pretty basic.
when i first pick up a camera i figure out how to turn off AF. after that i figure out how to work in A,S,M modes and take a few pictures. if everything works ok i keep shooting. maybe later i peruse the menus to see if there's any interesting features to try, or maybe not.
p.94 #9 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
I've had the camera in my possesion for about 24h now and already given up on the manual, I think I have gotten the most important settings correct. The rest I hope I learn by experience or on the internet.
Good to hear that I am not the only one being confused by the documentation
p.94 #10 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
Very helpful reading about camera setting from you all even before getting my camera! I usually learn by osmosis anyway. Might be a great time to start a "my settings thread" to help the rest of us who can't read these manuals at all. The images that are being posted now are spectacular!
p.94 #11 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
Quick (possibly dumb) question. I've been using LR4 with my NEX-6… should I expect to have to upgrade to LR5 to get A7R support or will there be an update to LR4 to add RAW compatibility? I don't pay as much attention to adobe so sorry if I'm missing something obvious.
p.94 #12 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
morpheus2891 wrote:
Quick (possibly dumb) question. I've been using LR4 with my NEX-6… should I expect to have to upgrade to LR5 to get A7R support or will there be an update to LR4 to add RAW compatibility? I don't pay as much attention to adobe so sorry if I'm missing something obvious.
To the best of my knowledge, and what I had done was to get the LR5 upgrade. Then update LR5 and now to download and use LR5.3RC. LR should be updated shortly (I believe by end of the year) to the full update.
p.94 #13 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
morpheus2891 wrote:
Quick (possibly dumb) question. I've been using LR4 with my NEX-6… should I expect to have to upgrade to LR5 to get A7R support or will there be an update to LR4 to add RAW compatibility? I don't pay as much attention to adobe so sorry if I'm missing something obvious.
There's beta RAW support now in LR5, as Rich detailed, but you will need LR5 to use it.
p.94 #14 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
I got to play with both cameras tonight for about an hour. I love the finish and feel of the A7r, which kind of sucks because now I'm sold on the performance of the A7. Assuming I used the same lens on both, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between it and the a99, and that's already enough to thrill me. While it was cool to zoom in on the A7r shots at 100% with all that detail (and moire and noise), it made me realize how completely unnecessary it would be for me, so I cancelled the A7r preorder and ordered an A7.
p.94 #16 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
joakim wrote:
I've had the camera in my possesion for about 24h now and already given up on the manual, I think I have gotten the most important settings correct. The rest I hope I learn by experience or on the internet.
Good to hear that I am not the only one being confused by the documentation
Well, I finished the A7 manual, and I feel like I am only half-way through. At some point, it got better, but it was only describing things like "how to make a photo". There was never a proper description of all the complex stuff. The one-liners are all. That is pretty disappointing.
Philip, I don't enjoy manuals, but I make a point of reading them through once, just so I know (in theory) what the camera can do. If you read a Nikon manual, you know pretty much everything there is to know about the camera. Similar with Olympus, maybe slightly less so. There might still be features which you don't quite understand, but they are at least described so that once you understand them, you will pick up on it in the manual for the next camera.
Not so with Sony. There was a couple of giant lists of icons and menu settings, a few very rudimentary explanations for simple workflows, and then the manual ended. There is a huge number of things I saw in the icon and menu lists which I have no idea about.
Unfortunately this includes the features I actually read the manual for, the focus peaking, focus magnification, and so on. There are only the simplest of explanations, hardly anything, really, and to really find out, I will simply have to play with the camera with lots of experimentation, and go online and ask. The worst thing about this is that if I am not aware of the existence of a certain type of feature, then I won't discover it.
This might be okay if this were a simple camera, but this camera is at least as complex as my D800, possibly more complex, yet the manual is a fraction the size, and doesn't describe everything by a long shot. In fact, saying that it doesn't describe anything is a lot closer to the truth.
Really unprofessional.
Flash question: does that funky hotshoe allow normal flashes to push in all the way?
p.94 #17 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
philip_pj wrote:
Huff is showing a disturbing lack of taste of late, he has these really poor amateur reviewers doing 'impressions' along with posting really bad images - the latest guy put in this as a sub-heading:
'Let me get the positives out of the way first.'
Seriously...you cannot make up this kind of thing. It's a wonder some people ever get around to taking images.
Yes, I saw that and wondered. I thought maybe he was overall very negative on the camera, but that wasn't the case either. I mean, nothing says that you have to get the negatives out of the way first, but I did find this odd.
p.94 #18 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
1) Is it possible to have the EVF on (seeing what the lens sees) and the LCD off (black)?
2) Is it possible to have as above, but with the EVF black until one puts the eye to the EVF (then it turns on)? If so, how long time does it take for the EVF to come alive and stabilize the intensity (so it does not look too bright or to dark)
3) Is it possible to have as in 1), and review images on the EVF and or LCD? (I would prefer LCD).
p.94 #19 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
And how easy is it to change from live-view via the EVF to the LCD? Good to be able to change quickly for handheld vs tripod work! Is there any button, or is it 3-8 step thing in the menue?
p.94 #20 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
1) LCD can be turned off via menu option
2) This is the default behavior, don't know about the time but it feels very quick
3) I haven't tried this so I don't know
4) Same answer as 2 or have I misunderstood the question?
