Sony a9II Settings for Sports by Patrick Murphy-Racey

This video is all about the brand new Sony a9II camera body that is designed specifically for sports and photojournalism. PM-R will go through all the settings he uses to show how to set the camera up to get the best results for sports photography and PJ.

[@sh8736]

Thanks for taking the time to make this video Patrick. And happy the Sony sent the model to the target users and not just random KZbin influencers in the first instance :)

[@gregzarkodimos9711]

Amen to that.

[@a.dretti2917]

Circulation of focus points means that you can move the focus point with the joystick from right to left , wereby the focus point will leave the display on the right side and then comes back on the left. This goes faster then moving it from right to left.

[@71Enno]

Hi Patrick, great content as always, keep up your fantastic work! 👍 I got my A9II yesterday and I am very excited to do my unpack today...😀🙋‍♂️Greetings from Germany and have a nice Sunday!

[@rolandrickphotography]

14:04, Highlight is excellent choice for raw shooters if you use it in combination with auto iso (sometimes this makes sense) and set exposure compensation to +0.7. Avoids blown highlights. Without +0.7 images to my taste turn out too much underexposed. With +0.7 it’s perfect to raise the shadows.

[@dballeri9387]

Had mine almost a month but finally set it up and tested it yesterday! Thank you for this! There's some settings here that I did not have on my A9, that I incorporated into my A9II.

[@cecilhudgins6569]

Great info, I have A7 iii and considering adding a used A9 ii specifically for sports.

[@PMRTV]

Good choice! You won't regret that move!

[@bens9599]

Patrick, Im a hobbiest photographer who just entered the Sony full frame world. So far I’m loving my a7R IV. I just subbed to your channel for the great tips you provide. One tip from a comparative amateur: turn off Hand/Finger Pointing AF in the Camera 3 Menu so focus stays locked on your face. ;)

[@ianleecastilla5448]

Thank u so much for your time and effort. Finally was able to set my unit up. Very casual and honest guide. 5hanku for you future videos

[@PMRTV]

great!!!!

[@youuuuuuuuuuutube]

I love the part at 0:20 "when you get these white boxes it's kind of special" ... so true and funny that a white box is more exciting than the final one.

[@PMRTV]

absolutely

[@amdenis]

Great video, with a lot of info based on real world conditions and experience . BTW, S&Q also drops quality significantly, compared to doing it in post.

[@irbis82]

You can also send/recieve the settings file to smartphone via Imaging Edge Mobile app, like in A7RM4. No need to worry about memory card.

[@TW-iu9zy]

... thx for the informations, Patrick. 👍🏻 Now I’am waiting for my a9 II. 😎

[@PMRTV]

me too!!!!

[@joennick1]

Great video. Is there a way to reduce e shutter from 20fps to 10fps? 20fps is over kill for me and don't want the unnecessary buffering. Thanks.

[@PMRTV]

sure, just turn down the frame advance speed- I think it's 20fps, 10 fps, 5fps, and single

[@joennick1]

@@PMRTV thanks man. Really appreciate what you do. 👍

[@marksummers5504]

I’m loving the new menu features as well as the actual additions to the body. Maybe Sony will add a few of the menus options in a firmware upgrade

[@shaunpugh3287]

Great video, thanks. I shoot gigs not sport, but there is a lot in there for every Sony shooter. Thanks for putting this together.

[@dr.nilampatel4543]

Thank you very much for your complete sports settings..

[@DustyCR]

Sorry to let you down after that excitement (though great to see!) but I think you will find your A9ii anti flicker will only work in mech shutter mode. Also it auto-detects flickering light so it is fine to leave it switched on as it won't activate in sunlight.

[@PMRTV]

yes, only in mechanical--correct. I was literally pulling it out of the box with no manual--thanks for the clarification :)

[@taylorrobbins842]

"Voice memos" is greyed out on my a9II. Patrick have you figured out what enables this? Shooting IndyCar soon and would like to see how this feature works at the track. Always enjoy your videos

[@valeriucampan3627]

I cannot find a way to assign the voice memo function to any of the Custom buttons. I have FW v3.20

[@markosler8378]

Thanks for the detailed video Pat. I'm probably going to jump on board the Sony ship with this A9II release. Went to a demo days and shot the A9 w/ a variety of Sony glass and was really impressed. Anyhoo ... hope life is good. If you're ever out in Denver, give me a holler. I'd love to see you. Cheers!

[@smx.686]

Be awesome if you could do a settings walk through for the Sony A7RIV which you mentioned you also have. Nice vid!

[@PMRTV]

it's on my list, which is long....

[@MLPics]

Nice vid. Thanks for responding to my post on FB. I think i have made up my mind. A9ii here i come!

[@PMRTV]

you won't regret that move Mark!

[@paulgero]

Great stuff Pat!

[@oriomenoni7651]

Thank you! What "AF Tracking Sens." setting do you recommend for wedding photographers (eg. to keep good track of bride in a crowded room)?

[@PMRTV]

you could use even 2 and it should be great--most brides don't move that fast... at least till the reception! Also, it it's really crowded, you can choose tracking: flexible spot small to pick her out of a crowd ;)

[@nvaudio]

And, of course, use Face Registration and take a picture of the bride’s face to prioritize the bride whenever her face is in the frame, to keep track of the bride in a crowded room

[@mjfotografiedeNeuried]

Hi Patrick, Godox is stating in their manuals to turn Wirelees flash OFF with Sony cameras, please have a look Best, Michael

[@ngosh08]

yes, 'wireless flash on' makes the flash to malfunction

[@terryanderson7036]

Morning Patrick! First I wanted to thank you for all the information you have provided on the Sony A9. I have gotten a lot out of the a9 and plan on using it even more after I find more long glass for it. I also hope that Sony won't drop the a9 series even though they now have the impressive Alpha 1. Currently I have the a9 and the Sony 200mm-600mm FE 5.6/6.3 for wildlife. But I am looking for some faster glass like the Canon 300mm f2.8 is or the Sigma 120mm-300mm f2.8. I have the Sigma MC11 and have been impressed with it when I was using my Canon 16mm-35mm f4 L lens. But have not tried it on the longer glass. I have watched your video on the Sigma 120mm-300mm f2.8 and it really sounds like a good possibility. Have you used the Canon 300 f2.8 IS on the a9? Your thoughts and results? Thanks again for all the work, time and information you put into your excellent videos!

[@PMRTV]

The Canon IS lenses are not nearly as good or fast or accurate as the IS II and III lenses but they will work. Any adapted lens will force you to get on action EARLY because of the first frame lag caused by the adapter. Remember too that IS lenses are not nano-coated--they are old! they do purple fringing and have other negative characteristics because of their age and that they were designed for very small sensors in terms of MP. The Sigma 120-300 Sport and their 500mm f/4 lenses do not suffer from these issues. My favorite of the two is the 500mm. but they are both extremely sharp lenses. The only downfall of the 120-300 is its weight. The Sigmas will outperform even the IS II glass from Canon and also allow you 15 fps rather than the measeley 10 fps you will get out of Canon. My vote is for you to buy the SONY FE300mm f/2.8GM, the Tamron 300mm f/2.8 in E-Mount, or the Sigma 300mm f/2.8 in E-mount, but of course, no one makes these yet. Someone should get a clue and fill-in this much needed lens!!!!

[@David141071]

Thank you for a great and easy to follow tutorial, I have one doubt about White Balance, how do you suggest to set it up?

[@Canon1DMkII]

Not using Auto ISO AE... wow . The single best feature besides the c-af in my opinion.

[@DonEvans1]

Well, I've looked for Greg Gibson's video from the Facebook link (38:13) that you put up for syncing times with Imaging Edge and can't find it it on his page. Can you post a link to where the video is?

[@PMRTV]

we are all still waiting for Greg to do this!!!!!!

[@joaomiguelbarros8935]

I have a question: what makes this A9II so different, in sports photography, that it cannot be done by the AR7IV? Thanks

[@PMRTV]

it's all in the sensor. the a9/a9II are the ONLY bodies ANYONE has made so far that do not distort motion through rolling shutter when using silent/electronic shutter. The readout speed of only these two cameras are so far entirely unique. a7RIV is about the worst trying to shoot anything moving (even slowly) and stopping the action correctly.

[@Donatorap]

Hey Patrick! I found a thread in a forum where (i guess) you mentioned that you haven't used Back button focus with the A9 due to some Problems in combination with the Real time tracking... Are these problems solved for you? All the best, thanks for your video!

[@PMRTV]

yes, I am back to BBF with a vengeance. They did some things in 6.0 that made it work. Also, the a9II is stellar with BBF.

[@Donatorap]

@@PMRTV Thank you very much! Used it for the first time tonight (soccer) and i'm strugglin' a bit because i don't know what the best af-settings are, when 15 Players are fighting for the ball (while a corner), but in general i'm quite happy.

[@ngosh08]

Hi Patrick, not so sure what you meant by saying that most sony cameras can't do 1/250th sync speed while using strobes. Isn't that achieved by activating a high speed sync button on the strobes?

[@PMRTV]

no. High speed sync is any shutter speed higher than the camera's normal sync speed, which on the Sony's has been 1/200th. Canon cameras like all the 1D series, the 7DII, and all of the full-frame Nikon's that are digital can all get to 1/250th with a normal non, HSS strobe. For those of us that shoot sports at the highest levels, we use strobes in the catwalks of arenas for basketball and hockey. Most every frame you see on a poster of any NBA player was shot on "strobes" with cameras that sync at 1/250th.

[@ngosh08]

@@PMRTV okay, i get it now, you meant the maximum sync speed of the camera

[@PMRTV]

@@ngosh08 exactly :)

[@Certifiedrailfan]

@@PMRTV you shoot in J-peg can you tell Me why? I mean I'm less then a year in with a full-frame and everyone's shoot raw not j-peg and dogging Me for shooting in j-peg? To be honest My pic's look better in j-peg most of the time!

[@josesamora3353]

@@PMRTV Thanks so much for taking the time to make and share this video. Is there a reason you don't use strobes that can do HSS?

[@albertc4016]

You mention that you are again using BBF for Real Time Tracking C-AF on your A9 and suggest doing the same with the A9ii. A few months ago (in a video introducing the tracking in firmware 5.0) you had said you felt that the tracking worked noticeably better using the shutter release button than using BBF. As a result, you advocated switching to using the shutter release button. Are you now finding tracking works just as well with BBF? That'd be great! Have you tried the new firmware 6.0?

[@PMRTV]

yes, FW updates seemed to make the BBF option the same speed as the shutter release--I still find it useful because when tracking fails (this does happen), it's too difficult to re-acquire a new player or the one you lost. BBF is back for me, at least. I appreciate Sony constantly changing things for the better!!!!

[@albertc4016]

@@PMRTV Great! I much prefer BBF. In part, I find it useful for enabling a quick MF override on certain types of set plays in soccer when I can often anticipate where the focus will need to be better than I can track it. Maybe that'd be different with more experience or with faster focusing lenses, but I'm still learning how the Sigma 120-300 AF behaves with A9.

[@Rogneves1]

I have a Sony Hvl flash f60rm2 with external charger. To receive sony a9II soon. Can I get it at 1/400 speed on the mechanical shutter or is that only possible on the A1 ? Thank You

[@PMRTV]

1/400th non-HSS sync is only possible on a1.

[@colorist_tommy4247]

12:08 whats Phase Detect Area Option? is it to activate phase Detection then shouldn't it be ON all the time,..what situation would anyone want it to be OFF? I can't find any info on this at all.

[@lawaynekimbro8179]

My A9ii should arrive tomorrow... woohoo

[@harrymultimedia]

with a native sony flash it can go even higher

[@dr.nilampatel4543]

Kindly update settings for wildlife photography too..if u can..thanks

[@ronesposito3818]

Thanks Patrick for the video info.. Did Sony mention the price of the new Sony a9 II.

[@DustyCR]

It is on the Sony website and some stores already

[@PMRTV]

same price as the original a9 $4500

[@nolaPIC]

The focus frame color is the actual AF point color isn't it?

[@PMRTV]

it's jut the focus point, not the frame--sony calls the colored focus point a "frame"

[@tuwandap]

Thank you for sharing

[@raredreamfootage]

Does the rear LCD screen blank out when recording when using hdmi-out + recording 4K internally?

[@PMRTV]

yes, sadly it does... I keep asking Sony to do something about this!!!!

[@PMRTV]

I'm reading now that if you choose 4K 24P that it will allow the HDMI out to have a cord in it and still allow for EVF. I must test this as it would be huge!!!

[@veerbhadraarya8918]

Sir it's huge investment . Does it show banding in electronics shutter

[@royottaway9434]

Well covered thank you

[@insighteins1317]

The A9II should be given some SLOG profiles!

[@JOSHROBBS1]

Hey, man thanks for the content! I'm an amateur photographer/ video. I basically live at a soccer field. I was looking for a new camera, and research leads me to the mirrorless Sony. I was looking at the A7 IV which seems like more camera than I would need for a long time. I started looking at A9 II. But I really don't see too much of a reason for me to spend the extra money on the A9II as the A7 IV seems better for video & not much difference rather than the 20 FPS digital shutter. Any recommendations or feedback would be appreciated.

[@sagarpatel8263]

If your selling a7riv what price?

[@curt8806]

No offense but why do you shoot with an A9II if you're using mechanical a lot? you're better off with a7riv with better resolutions and crop possibilities.

[@PMRTV]

because the a7RIV and every other a7 body will distort images while in silent mode. On the mechanical side when I am strobing something, the AF never misses with a9II. I find the entire shooting experience of the a9II to be far superior to any other camera.

[@olemwold]

But can we now crop photos in camera?

[@DustyCR]

Always could. Use apsc mode

[@PMRTV]

you can't do it after you shoot, but you can crop in two different ways-- either by "punching-in" to APS-C as Dusty says below, or by using "clear image zoom."

[@DustyCR]

Yes clear image zoom is great, though jpg only obviously

[@rolandrickphotography]

43:37, missing is: touch screen like on Nikon D850, Z6, Z7. Buffer clearing speed of Nikons. Swipe throughout images, menu operation and so. Display brightness like on Nikons. On the other hand, pls let me address @Nikon: AF-S and specially AF-C accuracy like on a7RIV and a9II 😇. I want Z mount and glass in combination with AF like Sony. Z mount native lenses best glass ever I’ve used yet. Even the cheapest ones wide open edge2edge sharpness, jaw dropping brilliant images with affordable lenses. If someone does not need Sonys best ever AF system, the one of the Z’s is very good also. Nikons yet available Z glass is light years ahead everything else. Hint to night sky shooters: coma free Z 1.8 lenses also wide open at 1.8. For that, Sony’s AF is light years ahead everything else. My humble opinion only of course.

[@rolandrickphotography]

@michael p The worst nightmare I face (doing a lot of photo journalism and because of wysiwyg on EVF changing to ML) is the bad low light... better medium light AF. I kinda come closer to the problem: it's focusing FACES, specially in combination with a SB-5000 or Profoto A1X on the Zs the AF has a major problem *to focus faces* (this made me nightmares). Lens Z24-70F2.8S. 1/160 @ f/8 and ISO800. If I use the same settings at similar light conditions and shoot for testing this on non human subjects like my car in the garage, it is tack sharp from focus point, a little bit towards me and one and a half meter behind (about 5 feet). Focusing faces ends up in a mess at 80% of shots even if green square locks in (AF-S, drive mode single, eye and face detection on, latest firmware 2.1), camera beeps and suggest "good to go". 🙈

[@rolandrickphotography]

@michael p First of all pls. let's clarify to all other possible readers of this: concerning the AF problem, we are talking exclusively of the Z system, not the DSLRs. - My heart also beats for Nikon and even if the alpha 7R4 and for sure also the a9II as well as the Sony/Zeiss lenses deliver more than sufficient quality, the output of the Zs and the Z lenses is unbelievable good, better, best. But if the Z cameras does not know how to focus faces, that's a problem. Maybe you heard already of the "focus locked to background" problem when in stills mode, AF-S and or AF-C and being in Auto-area mode. Independent if Face/Eye detection is on or off, once locked to background, the Z do no longer focus a person with the Z 50 1.8 or Z 85 1.8 as well not with the Z24-70 2.8 right in front of the lens at best distance. Activating F/E detection does also not help. Surprise surprise, as soon you switch from stills to movie, the AF unlocks the fixed background and is focusing the subject and face properly. This behaviour must be connected to the face focussing problem in stills mode, because is face focusing fails, the back ground is normally share. This "does not focus faces" thing is a problem even being in Single-point AF. Problem detected, but I have no clue how to forward this to persons really in charge of this. Nikon support is nice and friendly, but you never talk to experts (this is totally independent of brand, except for Apple probably, they always return to me if I address a problem and I have a true expert in the line), only to dispatchers. And you never know to whom your super detailed problem analysis is forwarded. It is always a combination of software and handware. Don't know if they can solve it by firmware only. I hope so, they already said future updates will enable access to the successor of XQD, CFexpress. - OMG, this reply has once more become longer as expected 🙈 - Call me nerd or Sheldon or whatever 😂😂

[@rolandrickphotography]

8:28, set to animal, tracking af becomes disabled for imho no logical reason

[@wiesawsomski541]

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