Lessons learned. Shooting tips

[Guy Mancuso]

Thought this maybe a good topic for discussion since one annoying thing got me yesterday and I'm a little unhappy about it but the files are fine. Anyway I shot about 70 models yesterday just 3/4 length just some quick shots for a casting. So I used the 55 this time instead of the 24-70 zoom which was disappointing as last week those images are just not nearly as sharp as the 55. So I decided to send it owns its way back and for the 4th time buy my Zeiss 35mm F2 again which I really do like the lens and either get a Tammy 28-75 used or get the Sony Kit lens. I just need this zoom for PR work on the A7 and it don't have to be killer good and more important I don't have to fight the distortion issues of the 24-70 which using C1 I can't control that. Anyway back to my issue was the dang Dial and ISO adjustment. I started with ISO 100 with my strobes and twice at some point after chimping images I went to ISO 160 than again to ISO 320 and working as fast as I did I never picked up on it since my review was off. So today I will disable the dial for ISO. Between the time you shoot and quickly try to see playback sometimes the dial setting don't engage fast enough and your actually changing the ISO instead of in playback looking at a series of images. So folks I think the best solution is turning the ISO dial off and just use the FN put ISO as one of your first settings and go that route since it is very fast to hit the FN button go to ISO and make any change. I never missed a shot in the past making those quick adjustments with other cams and as nice as it is on the dial it's obviously also dangerous and one can easily make a mistake.

So I thought I would bring this up and it be a nice thread if anyone else has some shooting tips for others to avoid or even use to there advantage. As experienced as I am you can still get burned easily. So I wanted to pass that on and going in my office here and making that change to both cameras and turn that ISO dial setting off. As much as this technology and functions advance there is always something to be said about turning things off. IMHO this is one of them.

 

[Bob]

One great reason to find a camera with ergonomics that suit you.
The new camera makers could study what the old traditional brands have been doing and learn a thing to two IMHO.
-bob

 

[Godfrey]

I guess my hands are the right size or something because I haven't bumped the ISO on the dial by accident yet. Then again, I'm rarely in a furious snapping hurry as for a paid shoot either.

• The thing I think is important to remember for my kind of shooting is to be sensitive to the focal length with respect to the camera setup. I use Aperture priority mode coupled with AutoISO a good deal of the time, but when you go to a 90, 135, or 180 mm lens on this body, Av is less optimal due to the unmodifiable 1/60 sec ISO floor. 1/60 second is too long an exposure for consistently crisp shots with focal lengths longer than 50mm in my experience, so that's when to shift to Manual exposure + AutoISO, and set a sensible exposure time floor, rely upon the clean sensitivity to bring back good files.

•*When I do that, I also have to keep in mind that my customization for the EV Compensation is gone (have to use the rear-right dial rather than the front dial), and to be aware that EV compensation will not change the exposure when your manual settings have hit the over-exposure point. That is, say you set 1/200 second for the 135mm and f/4, and the scene brightness is more than that can handle at ISO 100. Setting EV Compensation to a negative does not change the manual settings, you have to close down the aperture or reduce the exposure time to get it back into range for the AutoISO system and EV compensation to work.

•*And once you switch back to Av with a shorter focal length lens, I have to remember to re-set the right-rear EV comp dial to 0 for my front dial customization to work again, otherwise the rear dial overrides it.

•*Lastly, I find the A7's EFCS (not available on the A7r) is very useful with shorter focal length lenses up to the 90mm. It improves sharpness by reducing vibration. However, with longer lenses (135mm and 180mm for me) at very short exposure times (1/3200 second and shorter), there is a substantial gradient darkening at the top of the frame that gets worse as you shorten time to the shutter's operating limit of 1/8000 sec. It's best to turn EFCS off if you're working wide open with a long lens in bright sun.

The Sony A7/A7r are somewhat clunky and crude buggers. But their excellent viewfinder and sensor, along with the compatibility used with most adapted SLR lenses, make them worth the small annoyances for me. Nothing's perfect ...

G
"It takes a little time to see beyond the camera."

 

[ken_vs_ryu]

I've set ISO to the down on the dial.

Leave Menu to the viewfinder options so it's easily accessible.

That Fn quick menu is really handy but it's new to me so I don't have tips yet.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Yeah one of the first things I changed, I have iso on C2.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

One great reason to find a camera with ergonomics that suit you.
The new camera makers could study what the old traditional brands have been doing and learn a thing to two IMHO.
-bob

Its not so much the ergos but more a added feature we did not have on Nikon and Canon so in a way I am used too the old style and I think Im better at staying there with a few feature. I enjoy the features and functions these cameras come out with as you can customize to your liking but as we say Bob and i know you feel the same way just give us a way to turn some of these things off. Fortunately I can do that easily here. When i am taking my time its not really a issue but I think its a good idea if you foolproof yourself going at speed and i admit i was working very fast model in model out and such. So for me I think its smart to do the change for the speed times and just keep it like that regardless.

Now Canon and I think Nikon had that lock switch to keep the dials from doing anything. Be nice to have that here and maybe there is a way to lock things up when shooting. Have to look into that

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Yeah one of the first things I changed, I have iso on C2.

Im going to look at whats open on my custom buttons as well. I do think i will just turn the dial off for everything in shooting mode. I can't think of anything that would be safe on the dial without a change. So I will set it to nothing.

The function or FN is really my fail safe I use it a lot.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

I've set ISO to the down on the dial.

Leave Menu to the viewfinder options so it's easily accessible.

That Fn quick menu is really handy but it's new to me so I don't have tips yet.

My down is set for focus peaking low med, high setting which I do change often. Ill see what maybe left over. I do love the custom buttons

 

[Guy Mancuso]

The Sony A7/A7r are somewhat clunky and crude buggers. But their excellent viewfinder and sensor, along with the compatibility used with most adapted SLR lenses, make them worth the small annoyances for me. Nothing's perfect ...


Agree Godfrey and I feel the same way. My issue is I shoot such a huge variety of styles or jobs lets say and just need to find a comfort zone for all of them if you know what I mean.

 

[iiiNelson]

Thought this maybe a good topic for discussion since one annoying thing got me yesterday and I'm a little unhappy about it but the files are fine. Anyway I shot about 70 models yesterday just 3/4 length just some quick shots for a casting. So I used the 55 this time instead of the 24-70 zoom which was disappointing as last week those images are just not nearly as sharp as the 55. So I decided to send it owns its way back and for the 4th time buy my Zeiss 35mm F2 again which I really do like the lens and either get a Tammy 28-75 used or get the Sony Kit lens. I just need this zoom for PR work on the A7 and it don't have to be killer good and more important I don't have to fight the distortion issues of the 24-70 which using C1 I can't control that. Anyway back to my issue was the dang Dial and ISO adjustment. I started with ISO 100 with my strobes and twice at some point after chimping images I went to ISO 160 than again to ISO 320 and working as fast as I did I never picked up on it since my review was off. So today I will disable the dial for ISO. Between the time you shoot and quickly try to see playback sometimes the dial setting don't engage fast enough and your actually changing the ISO instead of in playback looking at a series of images. So folks I think the best solution is turning the ISO dial off and just use the FN put ISO as one of your first settings and go that route since it is very fast to hit the FN button go to ISO and make any change. I never missed a shot in the past making those quick adjustments with other cams and as nice as it is on the dial it's obviously also dangerous and one can easily make a mistake.

So I thought I would bring this up and it be a nice thread if anyone else has some shooting tips for others to avoid or even use to there advantage. As experienced as I am you can still get burned easily. So I wanted to pass that on and going in my office here and making that change to both cameras and turn that ISO dial setting off. As much as this technology and functions advance there is always something to be said about turning things off. IMHO this is one of them.

Thanks and at the very least this make me conscious that I may need to rethink and"idiot" proof my custom buttons. I think they are mostlyfine and only a few of them are mapped to constantly used feature (focus zoom for one) as I mostly use adapted lenses.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Thanks and at the very least this make me conscious that I may need to rethink and"idiot" proof my custom buttons. I think they are mostlyfine and only a few of them are mapped to constantly used feature (focus zoom for one) as I mostly use adapted lenses.

Its why i brought it up so we can think about fool proofing ourselves a little better. I got away with it this time but there maybe a time i won't.

 

[ken_vs_ryu]

I've changed the front dial for EV compensation. I'm not used to the stiff dedicated dial.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Here is the great news even though I was set for ISO 100 and it eventually went to ISO 320 a quick fix in exposure adjustments in C1 on the ISO 160 and ISO 320 given the mailability of these Sony files the images look perfect.

 

[Bob]

LOL, The only way to idiot proof my cameras is to change the idiot holding it.
-bob

 

[Guy Mancuso]

LOL, The only way to idiot proof my cameras is to change the idiot holding it.
-bob

LOL well thats part of my problem too. Sometimes the brain is on another planet I think.

 

[MikalWGrass]

Is it my imagination or are these new fangled cameras more difficult to operate than the older cameras of a few years ago? Reading all of this stuff and the review of the a6000 makes my head spin.

15 rolls of Scala arrived before lunch. Think I will go retro and load a roll in an M6 and ignore, for a bit, the picture taking computers that Sony is spitting out weekly.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Was discussing this with a friend today, we're thinking of opening a course for wedding photography. The most important thing needed for successful pro photography is not something you can really teach, only experience can really train you. It's the ability to use your gear without thinking, when everything is going wrong around you, when nothing is running to time, when your flashgun stops working as the bride walks up the aisle and when you have a horrible cold, only slept two hours last night and your meds are numbing what little brain you have left - and still get the job done and get portfolio shots.

Cartier Bresson said that using your camera should be as automatic as driving a car. When the dog runs out into the road you don't think 'left foot press brake'. You do it. Your body is reacting before you can even think. Same thing with a camera. It has to be that automatic or that thinking time is going to cost you shots.

I find the Sony difficult in that sense, my fingers haven't as yet learnt to 'play' the camera completely without thought for more complicated stuff.
However for the shooting I do the most of, my personal work, it's heaven. Camera on manual with auto iso. Left hand does focus and aperture, right thumb rides exposure comp dial. End. Full stop. Yes I could shoot that way with my 5D3, but it was big and bulky and does somewhat get in the way for super simple shooting while being far better than the Sony for more complicated or complex work such as event shooting. I do find a small body less of a faff when I only want to change a single control. It's only a pain when I'm trying to remember where the heck I put the controls for changing metering or drive or whatever, can never remember so I just put them all on the Q menu where I can see what I need to find.

 

[Godfrey]

Is it my imagination or are these new fangled cameras more difficult to operate than the older cameras of a few years ago? Reading all of this stuff and the review of the a6000 makes my head spin.

That's the Luddite in me speaking. Too.

Such it is.

G

 

[jlm]

on my A7R, on several occasions, i have hit the on/off switch trying to set aperture with the front dial!

 

[philip_pj]

We are different in many ways, palms and fingers; then throw in shooting pressure or temperature and all the other controls being set differently. As a travel guy shooting in A, the instant ISO dial is the best thing sinced sliced bread, as I trade off s/speed and ISO all the time for a chosen aperture.

But in the cold when hands stop working, it is a little too easy to shift the ISO dial, but hard to get the right setting. I have to be careful what is on the up/down/l/r too, wearing gloves. I moved EC onto the back control dial, so I have two of them since this is so important to fine tune the metering.

Mikal, I love shooting the a7r, it can all be done with index finger and thumb of the right hand with FE lenses...what a sellout to the 'good old days' I am, lol. I have this theory that the brain works better with one side only in use. Good to hear the files came back Guy, always a relief.