Sony A7 IV Best Video Settings

Best video settings for the Sony A6100.
A seven minute quick hands-on tutorial for novice videographers. And then some advanced tips, tricks and hacks.
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[@billluton4164]

I've watched a lot of KZbin videos regarding video and still shooting. Either you learn something new, or you are given reinforcement and reminders regarding important settings based on video or stills. This is the first video I've seen on setting the custom white balance, thank you!

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Thanks, I do my best to be comprehensive, thanks for your kind words.

[@jesuslovesbass3944]

Just happened across your video today. I just purchased the Sony a7 iV, a camera that has capabilities far beyond my current understanding of photography. I'm approaching retirement age and have always appreciated the creativity and artistry of photography. Dabbling in this medium in the past, I thought it a good idea to revisit it, and expand upon it as a hobby in my fast approaching "golden years". So, I purchased this camera and hope to grow with it. I want to thank you for your video, as it was most informative and entertaining; it held my interest and educated me as I had hoped it would. I will certainly subscribe to your channel, and visit often. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.

[@MaartenHeilbron]

That's a great choice - it's a terrific camera with lots of potential to explore and experiment.

[@engp2]

You did it Maarten, a top Video explainer on the A7IV. So if you’re new or searching for the right answers to you’re questions this is your guide. Stop exploring KZbin follow these instructions and handles. (Prof. News eng cameraman )

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Thanks, I appreciate your kind words and support.

[@purple-flowers]

So I discovered your KZbin channel several years ago, when I was first getting into photography. Honestly you've taught me more than some of my photography professors in uni. When I was first getting into photography I couldn't imagine myself becoming an analog photographer, yet over the years I have transitioned slowly from being a 100% digital to almost exclusively shooting on film. I have noticed a lot of my peers transition similarly to film. I was wondering what opinions you had, or how you feel about this sizable shift in the photographic community, for lack of a better term, "regressing" to pre digital cameras and film. Honestly I could never be happier with my transition, the joy of picture making has never been higher than when I shoot film, despite the countless downsides. Also the sheer variety of cameras and films and styles has enthralled me beyond what digital has to offer. For all the variety in cameras these days, the experience of shooting a digital camera is largely the same across the board with minor differences. I know we'll never go back to film as a whole. I am a graphic designer by trade, and digital is the only practical choice for my industry, with a few exceptions. (Early in my freelance career, I designed, photographed, and produced a vinyl record sleeve for a local jazz artist. I used large format black and white sheet film, letterpress, and photogravure printing). But it's undeniable that film has made a massive resurgence, and the secondary aspects to film (devolvoping, bulk rolling, printing, etc) have returned as well. How do you imagine this movement turning out? Do you think it's a fad that will eventually die out for save a few, or do you think it will grow? I am curious, and as someone who was born in the (albeit early) ages of digital photography, I have never known an industry that wasn't purely analog. Personally I would like to see the infrastructure we once had for analog photography to be rebuilt, and companies expanding their film stock lineups rather than shrinking them (I'm looking at you Fuji, also I wish they'd bring back aerochrome). Anyway, this is a long ramble completely unrelated to this video, I was just curious about your thoughts. Love your work!

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Well, everyone has to find the right tools and media to express their creativity. Analog had, and retains, a lot of interesting aspects for those who are prepared to take the time to understand, appreciate and master them. There's no good, no bad, just different - and each of us must find the way to share our feelings and values in images.

[@pmaldinis]

Wow, what a great and well put together video. Enjoyed watching it

[@MaartenHeilbron]

A pleasure to read your kind words, thanks for commenting.

[@GarrettMusic1]

I just bought this camera, thanks for this

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Glad I could help! Thanks for taking the time to comment.

[@Nature4U1]

Just received this camera and your settings exlpanation made my life so much easier. Thanks a lot

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Always nice to know my videos are helpful and appreciated, thanks for commenting.

[@slaidaniel628]

Thanks maestro for sharing your experience with us!

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Always a pleasure to read that viewers enjoy my videos, thanks!

[@HoFanChan]

Thank you for tons of pro-tips!

[@MaartenHeilbron]

It's entirely my pleasure, and I do appreciate reading your kind words.

[@axrn5323]

great video tutorial!

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Thank you! Always nice to read kind words from my viewers.

[@joellinker9899]

Thank you for your well thought out presentations. I always enjoy your channel.

[@MaartenHeilbron]

So nice of you to say, thanks for your kind words.

[@AlexLopez-iy4by]

Thank you for helpful demo!

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks, I appreciate the kind words.

[@lucschoonjans4540]

Thank you, Martin. This was a video well done. In a future video, can you dive deeper into the audio set up. This is one of my weakest area.

[@MaartenHeilbron]

I appreciate the kind words. I've did some videos about audio a few years ago, but in general, they're not of interest to most viewers. Here's a general one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jaKrnIuFnrGGi7c However, if you have more specific interests, I'll see what I can do.

[@johannaranjo1564]

Very helpful Video... thanks a lot 👍🙏

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Always nice to read that viewers appreciate my videos, thanks!!

[@ruff1draft]

Thanks for this

[@MaartenHeilbron]

My pleasure! Always nice to know my videos are appreciated.

You are simply formidable

[@MaartenHeilbron]

A pleasure to read your very kind words, thanks!!

[@DanielTsachev]

Thank you

[@MaartenHeilbron]

My pleasure, thanks for your kind words.

[@cybernetennis]

I searched for best setting and you and you skimmed over that part and said this is the setting that is not the highest recording quality... hehe

[@MaartenHeilbron]

I suppose I should have explained - but mostly for this kind of video I don't waste much time on explanations. Although this camera does have higher quality settings - including H.265, they have issues that require a more knowledgeable operator than the novice video-shooters I'm trying to serve. The settings in this video are the ones that provide the best results with minimal effort. If you would like me to produce one that details the more advanced settings (Iike H.265 and S-Log for instance) I'd be happy to oblige.

[@ClareAlisonHerriot]

Do you have a link for the cable clamp you use please?

[@MaartenHeilbron]

In the video I used a SmallRig cage and the accessory clamp available for that. If you don't want to purchase the cage, I'd recommend the Tethertools Jerk Stopper.

[@knowyouryoga]

You mentioned about power delivery through power bank. Which power bank do you recommend for that.

[@MaartenHeilbron]

As long as they support power delivery, they're fine. If you need a specific brand, Anker is one that is well-reviewed.

[@thefittestyogi]

I had face/eye detect on but the bodybuilders legs look a little out of focus when they are on stage. This show I had to shoot from a low angle so maybe that caused this? I have an a7iv now with f2.8 70-200mm g master ii and before I was using g master 50mm 1.2 but having trouble getting sharp video for bodybuilding competitors on stage I watched your video to see if there’s something I’m missing besides stage lighting that’s out of my control The best in the business have such sharp and beautiful videos and I cannot seem to get the same level of sharpness or detail on the musculature of the athletes Before I shot with Sony 50 mm 1.2 G master and now I have upgraded to the 70-200 in hopes that it will help me get a better shot I followed your settings in this video and I had everything set as you did here with the exception that my WB was turned to auto and I was using PP2 with a little more black and richer skin tones •Does using a picture profile make the musculature less sharp or is it simply a focus issue? •Can I shoot at f2.8 or will the image be much sharper at f4? (When a shot with a 50 mm F1.2 G master I shot at 2.8 not 1.2 and it still doesn’t look sharp) •Any thing else I’m missing? Thank you in advance for reading this book of questions and any advice you can offer. I really want to do a good job at the next event which is only a few days away Sending best wishes and grateful things from the shores of Thailand

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Possibly the lack of sharpness is due to high ISO - are the lighting levels low? Both of those lenses should be fine. The picture profiles (unless you're using one with sharpness turned down) shouldn't affect the sharpness of the image. The difference between those two apertures should not make a difference to the focus as such, but it will reduce the depth of field which means staying in focus will be more challenging. A smaller aperture, with a larger depth of field would be more forgiving of slight changes in distance between camera and subject. Thanks, I appreciate the kind words and wishes.

[@thefittestyogi]

@@MaartenHeilbron ISO started at 1600 because that’s what was recommended to me by another camera crew that was there. But I think we adjusted it down just a little because it didn’t look right Indoor theater stage event where the auditorium is dark but the stage and athletes were lit with normal stage lighting Let’s say ISO was between 1200-1600. Is that too low or too high? When you ask “are the lighting levels low” do you mean the lighting level settings on the camera or do you mean the lighting levels in the venue? Thank you for your time ands invaluable advice 🙏💪📸

[@MaartenHeilbron]

The way to set exposure (as per the video), is to set the shutter to 1/60, and open the iris. Then set the ISO to the appropriate exposure level. In a theatre, you should expose for faces, as the theatrical lighting will make them appear like over-exposed bright spots if it's too high. ISOs like 1600 will be noisy, possibly smudgy and reduce sharpness. I mean the lighting levels in the venue. For video more even lighting than is usual on stage would be preferred - ie, somewhat less light on the performer, somewhat more on the overall scene.

[@DvnielBermudez]

Can you record 4k/24 fps one Auto mode?

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Yes.

[@Dunzocamerarentpune388]

Sony A7iv Best for filmmaking?

[@MaartenHeilbron]

That depends on your needs and your eventual audience. Clearly, there are many (more expensive) cameras from Sony and others that would be better suited to vide0 production. However, with its advanced capabilities - including features like S-log, 10 bit or H.265 recoding, it can do an excellent job.

[@adsfaedaer]

Thanks Maarten. Question, I save my favourite video settings to M3 and when I switch to M3 I get my settings but I can no longer control shutter speed/aperture. Is there any way around this? I've trying to play with 'Exposure Ctrl Type' but I'm even more confused now!

[@MaartenHeilbron]

What is the exposure mode in M3?

[@adsfaedaer]

@@MaartenHeilbron I believe when I saved it it was on M(anual) thats why i'm confused, if you think that the problem I'll try again. Many Thanks.

[@adsfaedaer]

yeah, that was the fix, I must have had some other mode selected when I saved it - many thanks.

[@MaartenHeilbron]

@@adsfaedaer No worries, happy to see you found the answer.

[@adamfaz7077]

is autofocus available in slow mo?

[@MaartenHeilbron]

It is available and works equally well in the S&Q setting

[@adamfaz7077]

@@MaartenHeilbron what about in manual?

[@MaartenHeilbron]

In manual exposure? Of course!!

[@ddacaro]

You look a lot like Richard Avedon ; )

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Not what I was going for, but thanks. You knew him better though.

[@ddacaro]

@@MaartenHeilbron Haha, sorry, I watched the video and really appreciated the content, thanks.

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Thanks for your kind words.

[@jesuslovesbass3944]

Hey Maarten, I wonder if you could help me with an issue I'm having with video shot on my a7 iv. I shot video for the first time today, along with stills, just trying to get the feel of this new camera. I shot stills on one SD card, and video on the other. When I put the SD cards into my computer, my stills were easily found in DICOM, but I can't find the videos on the other SD card. There are files in the appropriate drive letter, it's reading some "things" from the SD card, but none of those "things" seem to contain any video that I shot. I can review what I shot with the SD card in the camera, stills and video, but can't seem to find the videos on the computer with the card reader. Any thoughts?

[@jesuslovesbass3944]

Just a little follow up. I connected my camera directly to the computer and a few more files became available. I managed to find the video that I shot, but I'm still wondering if this is going to be the only way to download the video from my camera to the computer. It seems I should be able to use the SD card in a card reader; after all, that method works for the stills that I took.

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Glad to hear you found the files. They are in the M4ROOT/CLIP folder. However, if you are using any of the mainstream video editors (final cut, premiere, etc) you should not copy just the files that look like video files. I copy the entire card's contents to a folder on an external backup drive. Then, using the editor's import function I point it at that folder. The editor identifies the video files and imports them according to the information stored in the associated XML file in the same folder. Also note that as the camera has two cards and you can store the video files on a different card from stills, the location might be the other card. You are not the first person to ask, so it seems like I should do a video to explain and demonstrate this.

[@jesuslovesbass3944]

@@MaartenHeilbron Thanks for your reply. I love this video and saved it to a file so I can reference it in the future. Keep up the great work.

[@lippylee947]

First!

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Congratulations!