Live View Display: Setting Effect

The Live View or WYSIWYG - What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get view, is one of the great advantages of capturing images with a mirrorless camera.
When capturing images with a DSLR the 'optical view' is not what the camera records. There are instances when the WYSIWYG view of a mirrorless camera is NOT what you want to see, e.g. when you are shooting in a dark studio and using off-camera flash.
In this situation if you do not adjust your Setting Effect option in the menu, then all you will see is darkness, which will make it difficult or impossible to frame or focus on your subject.
This is when you want your mirrorless camera to behave more like a DSLR and just show you a bright image in your viewfinder. This is when you want to go to Live View Dis Setting Effect to OFF
⬇️more info below⬇️
I now offer personal technical support and assistance for Sony Alpha users from my Patreon site. A single $10.00 one-month membership will give you access to extensive learning support files including 15 eBooks, 26 member-only 1-hour seminars + my Alpha Q&A forums. There is no contract and no commitment beyond the first month. @er
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Mark Galer is a Sony Ambassador for Australia
Mark's learning support centre is: www.markgaler.com

[@raykhalikov8930]

I couldn't focus in the studio two photo sessions in a row. I didn't know this feature existed. I found the solution on the forum. Thanks for your effort to make a video about it!

[@bkvstudio]

Me too. just remember setting effect off when shooting studio

[@johnpaulvillafania9187]

Still a great help in 2021. Switched from Nikon to Sony. Thank you.

[@snapshot8d570]

I needed this video. Trying to shoot in studio, with flash, was challenging. Thank You!

[@UncompressedWAVmusic]

Hi Mark thanks for this hint about turning 'Live View' display off when using flash in a studio.

[@ellenluong6798]

Thank you! Only video I could find that shows how to turn off Live View on my older Sony A7 model. It’s like I’ve been shooting in the dark for years. Thank you so much!

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Glad you found it helpful.

[@colorcrushmedia680]

Oh wow. This was a big help, especially because I shoot with manual glass and it's difficult to focus with a dark EVF/Live View. Just tested this and it worked as shown. Thanks so much.

[@photoboyjet]

I was driving myself crazy trying to figure how to turn off "setting effect". I was half convinced that I would not be able to use my studio flash and radio controller with the A7R4 and have to replace it with Sony compatible lights! Thank you very much!

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Glad I could help!

[@edfox6921]

THANK you for this! I wish I would have watched this video before my last studio strobe shoot where I couldn't see anything while framing and focusing.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Glad to be of help

[@nick_c_DE]

Very helpful video! I was already wondering how everybody was coping with this "trait" of mirrorless cameras in the studio.

[@davidwolfe8826]

Thanks, Mark for the great, well thought out video. Both educational and easy to follow. Keep up the great work.

[@ant0n1os]

My GOD, thank you! Can't imagine how many times I needed that in studio!

[@CraigBoehman]

I set the setting effect to a custom button so in those rare instances when you might need the effect on in the studio, the option is quickly accessible.

[@InaiahLujanMusic]

Thanks a ton, I'm new to flash photography and didn't even know how to begin to solve this mystery... this explained the issue and the solution perfectly! thanks again

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Glad it helped!

[@ProfessioneVideomaker]

you have saved a man. I switched on "auto" to focus, turning back to "manual" to shoot with flash, having a lot of problems with composition.

[@maringavideoprodutora168]

Obrigado meu amigo! Foi de grande ajuda com uma a6300 e um flash manual. Gratidão. Att. Roberto. (Thank you my friend! It was of great help with an a6300 and a manual flash. Gratitude. Att. Roberto. )

[@jpdigitalstudio]

Very helpful video thank you so much sir ❤

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Most welcome

[@bluelightningtrackclub3318]

Thank you Mark.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

You are very welcome

[@thomasploner9424]

Thanks! Watched the video and straight created a shortcut for it! I assume it should help me also very much for setting focus for astro and Aurora photography.

[@somasekhar1172]

Super

[@UncompressedWAVmusic]

Turning 'Live View' display off will also help when shooting photos outside at night like I do pointing my camera from an overpass into a ditch/creek area so dark I can barely see anything, however I want to set my F stop up for more in focus when I'm taking my long time exposure i.e. 3 to 10 seconds so turning Live View off will help me 'see in the dark' to adjust things so it all turns out ok.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

You can also assign Bright Monitoring to a custom key. Very useful for night photography.

[@charlidino309]

Thanks for the information, a couple months ago I was asking about this in a very popular forum and I have had any answer yet, and you just answered me. I was having trouble to frame in a dark situation if I was planing to use a flash. Thanks a lot. (I own a Sony a77M2)

[@vishweshwarkandalgaonkar3446]

Informative tips, thanks for sharing

[@scottabergermd]

Really useful. Thanks very much.

[@jnprpulsetest1316]

Nice video. I want to add that you may also turn the camera shutter to bulb mode. Then the live view effect setting will be off too. This is a faster way to me without messing with the menu.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Bulb mode would work for some and not for others. Sometimes we need a higher shutter speed to ensure the ambient light in the studio does not contribute to the overall exposure.

[@AndyMc1952]

excellent as always

[@GilbertTV]

great video I wished i'd seen it before my first studio session .... my first studio session with my sony a6500 was so frustrating as I could not focus or see anything in my EVF or back of screen .... then I discovered by accident the "live view display" on / off mode.... then Bingo...

[@TimsElectric]

Just completed a five hour look book shoot....so wish I had seen this first lol....but thank you so much for posting this....will subscribe :) :) Cheers from Victoria BC :)

[@beachbum4691]

I needed this video too, I've got two A77-1s, Re this Vid', the 30-seconds from 60 to 90 secs; spells out what to expect of histograms, trying to learn everything from strobes doesn't always work and you don't always know it ? :) For me, the rest was a bonus :) Thank you

[@bhaskarpatel7233]

Nice

[@Tichanh]

Very helpful. Thx sir

[@TheChoofamily]

Thank you for sharing this tip. I just encountered this issue a few weeks ago where I was trying to compose a shot indoors with flash and could not see well enough on the display to focus. Is there a way to make one display live and the other not, so I can compose and focus in one and see my exposure in the other? Or is there a way set a custom button to do this quicker?

[@jean-michelargentin208]

Man I been looking for this settings for a month and you showed me how to disable it for my studio shoots.. Thank You Sir.. You the best:) Ps. To get that same settings for the a7iii and aR7iii Go to camera Page 2: 6/9 (LIVE VIEW DISPLAY) and disable it from there.

[@cemilerkoc4956]

thanks for this helpful Video :)

[@elaineross9365]

Thanks Mark, one question. When woking with ambient light but using external TTL flash fill, the external flash (in camera hot shoe) automatically switches the Live View effect off. I would like to leave the live view effect on, correctly expose for the ambient light and let the TTL flash take care of the foreground subject fill flash. Is there any way of stopping the hot shoe flash connection from overriding my choice of setting? TIA.

[@videocakeproductions]

THANK YOU!!!

[@S3l3ct1ve]

I noticed that using Sony A7 II with this setting switched on taking a picture of a Christmas lights in a very dim light with shorter exposure times such as 1/250 and shorter, will introduce some problems like half of the frame completely black, or black stripe in the middle of the frame seen through the evf and lcd. Turning this setting off will remove these issues. Interesting thing.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

This can occur for a number of different reasons including use of a non-Sony lens, use of a flask that exceeds the maximum sync speed, silent shooting in lights that are striving etc etc.

[@ibrahimtahir7799]

Hi Mark , a fan of your channel. Same problem using Sony A7Iv with godox strobe . How does live view work , what factors change to make the scene brighter in dark room Thanks

[@beachbum4691]

(Already subscribed and I hit that little bell so I get emails when you add other educational vids') Thanks :)

[@jaimel2037]

this is crazy timing ! - I was literally 20mins ago searching KZbin for this very feature for a studio shoot tonight! awesome ! thanks Mark. 1 question : when wysiwyg is switched off, will face/eye focus still work?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Everything works as normal including face and Eye-AF.

[@terjeber]

This is only true if you are using Single-shot AF. If you use Continuous AF, the "wysiwyg" feature can not be turned off, and you're toast. This is a serious problem with the A7 and A6xxx series of cameras. In fact, if you did what you are doing in the video above in AF-C mode, the camera would not be able to focus at all. This kinda cancels out the value of eye-focus in a studio setting, since the eye-focus is sorta, kinda, a little bit useless in AF-S mode unless your model can stand perfectly still. Most people are not able to do that unless rigor mortis has set in. Then again, if you are shooting at F/11, there is not as much need for eye-focus anyway, it is most needed when you shoot wide open with fast lenses.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

The WYSIWYG view can be disabled on all my Alpha cameras in both AF-C and AF-S modes. I was demonstrating this to an audience of 130 at a trade event in Sydney just 2 weeks ago.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

This is lightly off-topic (Setting Effect is to show a preview of the image with the appropriate aperture and shutter speed selected - it does not relate to AF performance). The A7S and A7SII have no PDAF (Phase Detect Auto Focus) The industry mostly focusses these cameras manually. If you are using AF-C then you need to open the aperture to f/8 and wider on any of the mirrorless cameras. Any camera will find it difficult to focus in dark ambient conditions with the aperture stopped down. The A7SII and A7S cameras have some of the best low light focussing capability in the business - just don't expect miracles in AF-C mode.

[@DazLane123]

Mark does shot result preview do the same thing thanks ?

[@Juz4m]

I have the feeling that even when Setting Effect is activated, the picture can look quite different afterwards. I assume this is somehow related to RAW/JPG differences. Does anyone know what this mode actually displays? My feeling is, that the preview shows what the jpg will look like, but the Revie will show the RAW, is that possible?

[@nhancao4790]

Its probably too late for answer but yes, you are correct

[@McDuglas13]

What I really don't like about the E-mount version of the setting effect, is that it stops down the lens, before focusing. (Unlike A-Mount which only stops it down when I'm exposing the picture) This can hinder AF performance drastically, and E mount's not the strongest in that either...

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

That is only true for some of the E-Mount lenses. Others open up briefly to focus before stopping down to preview and shoot.

[@AllenFreemanMediaGuru]

I have Mode 1 setup for studio off camera shooting and Mode 2 for ambient light shooting. This is great but the Live View Display setting isn't staying saved with those modes. Wouldn't it make sense to have that feature savable as well for quick Mode changing? Seems like a bit of a glitch to me.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Yes I agree - hopefully the menu structure and options will improve as the system matures.

[@PieterBreda]

It seems like a glitch to me too. It is very annoying.

[@AllenFreemanMediaGuru]

Yes, even if it could be set to a quick button or FN group, would help.

[@alexpopov]

On A7III, the camera automatically switches Setting Effect to Off when the attached flash or trigger is turned on. So just toggle the flash on/off to toggle your Setting Effect on and off. No need to dive into the menus or use a custom button in this case. Nice feature!

[@GMLSX]

Only if it's a sony trigger/flash.

[@bhargavexpress9114]

Crystal clear explanation.Thanks

[@wolframschmidt702]

Can I put the "setting effect" to a function key? Is it possible all studio settings, including the setting effects save and quickly recall them? Thank you for your help and your fist class tutorial videos

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

No - Not yet

[@DiviPhotos]

very nice

[@ImagineFrameStories]

Thanks man 🎉

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

No problem 👍

[@rsilvers129]

I mapped this to my down wheel press.

[@Seriouslyjoeking]

I’m new to this and have a Sony a6000. On my camera when I’m adjusting fstop, iso, shutter speed my histogram goes away while I’m adjusting. Is there away. I noticed on yours it doesn’t do that. Is there a setting for that?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

I don't believe I remember my A6000 ever doing that (I have not owned one for several years now).

[@diegovenegas4519]

Hi mark, how did you record you cameras LCD screen. I use a gopro 7 & the videos looks blurry. Thank you

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

I use another Alpha camera with a black background behind me to cut reflections. Distance to the LCD may need to be adjusted to avoid Moirés Alternatively I now use an Atomos Njnja

[@chrissyfuller2713]

Hi Mark, I have a tiny screen on the viewfinder and all the menu around it. How to I get rid of the menu so that the photo is huge on the viewfinder

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Press the Display button on the back of the camera (DISP)

[@bayomi1994]

Any idea how to do that on Fuji X-T1😬!!!

[@rajaderrick]

Hi Mark, I’m doing mostly macro photography. On my a6600 with Laowa manual macro lens if I closing the aperture the refresh rate of the screen becomes pretty low. Is that because the camera needs to compute the brighter preview? On my A7S3 there is a low refresh rate limiter which solves the problem(but not as bright). Any way to improve it on a6600? Thank you~

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Increase the level of illumination. If you were able to lower the refresh rate then it will just look underexposed.

[@chopflip]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what is that red and black tag on the camera? I've seen it on several cameras and I've never known if it has a purpose

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

It's an attachment lug for my Peak Design camera strap.

[@pjhaebe]

Sir, do you have a solution that will stop setting effect from turning off when using a trigger? Whenever I need HSS and turn the trigger on, my A7Rii switches itself back into setting effect off. I want to be able to see how much ambient light I'm taking out without having to turn trigger on and off. As you know, without trigger on, camera will only go up to 250 on SS.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Shot result preview and aperture preview can be assigned to custom keys - not sure if this is an option on the A7Rll

[@George-iy8dd]

Excellent and useful video Mark, thank you. I have a question though regarding creative style. When shooting a studio portrait, I necessarily need to turn off the live view setting display. If I do this, then my camera won't let me see the image on screen in black and white. Any way around this?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

There is no way around this. When Live View Display is turned off the camera is behaving more like a DSLR with none of the nice things we love about mirrorless being able to preview exposure, depth of field and creative Style and DRO settings.

[@George-iy8dd]

@@AlphaCreativeSkills That's fair enough. Really appreciate your reply Mark. Cheers.

[@thierrylerinckx1340]

Thank you!! I set this function to my custom 'my-menu' . I wonder, would this be useful with ND filters?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

If things get very dark when using ND filters in low ambient light look to assign a button to 'Bright Monitoring'.

[@thierrylerinckx1340]

Thank you Mark, I can't find it specifically on my A6400 , so I added monitor and EVF brightness to 'my menu'

[@francescoricci7546]

One thing i noticed is that when using flash with live view effect display off, in some and only extreme cases of low light the evf/display stutters noticeably if moving camera around. The issue doesn't appear if i switch that setting back on. Would like to understand better about that, thanks.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

It doesn’t do that when using my Sony Flashes. If you are using a non-Sony flash you will have to direct that question to the manufacturers forums

[@francescoricci7546]

@@AlphaCreativeSkillsIt does that with or without flash off camera.. i suppose it's something about screen refresh rate going down when the illumination is very poor according to display setting effect setting turned off. When it is on, no problems at all. Searching around it is a pretty popular thing about mirrorless cameras, like the eos r5 for example.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

It’s the refresh rate that is dropping if you are in low ambient light with a zoom lens. I tend to work with wide aperture primes and full frame sensors and avoid using flash as my primary light source so I don’t tend to encounter what you are experiencing.

[@jvmusicph]

i encounter this, after the shot suddenly the color on screen is changing, do you experience the same issue as well? should i change some of the setting?thank you

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Not sure exactly what you are experiencing here.

[@nancybarnhart2670]

The last few times I've used my Sony a7r, I haven't been able to see anything on the monitor screen. I only see images in the view finder. How can I change this?????? I've been hunting for a solution for a long long time. I would appreciate some help. Thanks.

[@nancybarnhart2670]

It's a Sony a7rlll that I have.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

There is menu item where you can switch between Monitor, Finder and Auto Switch. The Auto Switch won't work if the Eye Sensor is dirty. I recommend removing the eye-cup and cleaning the eye sensor so the camera does not think your eye is permanently at the Finder.

[@movieman2009]

To clarify, I just got into Sony, If I use on camera flash or a flash on a flash bracket etc should I treat this like I am using studio lighting by turning off live view and WYSIWYG so to say. Or is this just for studio use/ with mono lights etc.

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

It depends on the flash gear being used. Sony flash commanders turn off the setting effect when they are switched on. Non-Sony gear is a mixed bag. You will notice when setting effect is not switched off as you won’t be able to see anything if you have stopped your aperture down and you are not using Auto ISO.

[@amitkrupal1234]

Is this "setting effect" means "What you see is what you get" approach turns off only when using TTL flash or even on Manual flash. Also if good quality LED lightning is used instead of flash will this setting effect remain "on".

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

With LED lighting you don't need to turn the Setting Effect Off because the camera can see the continuous light so will preview the room the same as it is captured. When using Sony flashes the Setting Effect is automatically turned off. When you do not use Sony triggers or flashes you may have to turn the setting effect off manually.

[@stefanjohnsson5661]

This works to a point but with mixed flash and bright ambient light the viewfinder overcompensates and everything is so bright you can't see anything. Is there anything to do about that?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

I am not seeing what you are experiencing. If you are seeing this when reviewing the image you have just captured the flash power is too high or you are too close to your subject.

[@stefanjohnsson5661]

Alpha Creative Skills My issue is only with the evf brightness. It does of course not effect the photo other than it's hard to compose the image when part of it is way too bright.

[@brettharris626]

When shooting in studio with live view off, use a light meter, instead of hit or miss for getting the right exposure, before you even take a shot... !

[@chesadjanelle778]

Can you please help me, for some reason I can't click the Live View Display and Creative style on my camera. How should the settings be so I can disable those buttons?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Live View Display will be non-selectable 'greyed out' if the camera is set to Auto, Panorama Sweep, SCN or Movie shooting modes. Creative Style is non-selectable when shooting Raw files.

[@JangLilBitofErrthang]

how did you make those adjustments to exposure in camera

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

I was turning the Exposure Compensation dial that is featured on the top of all Full-Frame cameras. This feature is usually accessed via the Control wheel on Sony’s APS-C cameras.

[@davva360]

The only thing I wish I could do with my A6000 is put the viewfinder / monitor onto manual so I can control when it switches. Anyone know of any way you can achieve this?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Maybe not on the A6000 but later Alpha’s allow you to assign live View Display on/off to the Fn menu, a custom key. There is also a feature called bright monitoring.

[@ekphotography]

I just got back from a shoot and my settings were perfect but the display shows my image way overexposed and really really red skin tones and basically horrible. I knew everything was right and when I looked at the jpegs and raws on my computer they were just fine!! Does anybody know why that is and if I had something wrong on my camera? Never noticed this before... Thanks!!!

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Three things can change the way the image appears on the Monitor. 1. Creative Style settings. 2. DRO settings and 3. Monitor Brightness.

[@ekphotography]

Mark Galer's Alpha Creative Skills I am pretty sure I have all of those off!! I never use creative styles, DO is off for sure. Maybe monitor brightness but not sure it could be that. I tried 4 different styles like vivid, standard and neutral and they did not seem to change anything. First time I have had this happen. The images on the lcd were nothing like the jpegs even, so not sure what happened. I am going to try again today but been using SONY for several years and never had this happen.

[@davidanna23]

This is valid only in LCD screen or in evf even?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Both the EVF and monitor are taking a live feed from the sea sir so both are effected by the Setting Effect.

[@jedteng2650]

What if you are using TTL flash?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Shouldn’t be an issue if it is a Sony Flash

[@poikatiikeri]

Can you set this change to a custom button?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

On the latest Alpha cameras (A6500 and A99II) you can set ti to the Function (Fn) menu.

[@jordy65056]

is he changing the aperture after the picture is taken? so you can just shoot and choose your aperture later, is that how it works?

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

You can't choose the aperture after you shoot.

[@steven2809]

🤣🤣🤣

[@jeremiahdagcutan7759]

sony should make this function available on custom buttons.

[@wolfgangvogt3482]

Ist's possible now.

[@merlinalfonso6374]

Is it possible or not?

[@Jesusisthewayandtruth]

They do

[@remusmoise8836]

I don´t understand!On my 5DMkII on liveview mode I can see if the image looks bright or dark, the histogram, the apperture and everything.Why it´s an advantage from a mirrorless camera to a reflex. Please explain it!!! best all, Remus

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

You can't see live view in the viewfinder of a DSLR. There are usually several disadvantages to shooting in live view on a DSLR as the mirror has to be held out of the way of the sensor and this is not how a DSLR was designed to operate. A Mirrorless camera was designed to work without the use of the mirror so there are none of the disadvantages. On a camera such as the A9 the unique advantages of mirrorless are most apparent, e.g. the camera can capture 20 frames per second without the need to move a mirror out of the way for each and every shot. The list goes on and on.

[@nobbystyles4807]

the a7 lcd is shocking in daytime though... barely usable in bright light

[@AlphaCreativeSkills]

Have you noticed the Brightness settings for the LCD can be changed? There is a Sunny Weather setting.