Help with A7rIII Video

[cerett]

I own an A7rlll and have rarely shot video. The camera is terrific for landscape photography, but my videos could really use improvement. I am leaving on a family vacation next week and would really appreciate some simple advice on the best settings for this type of video (kids, activities), including mode and autofocus settings. I find the instructions quite confusing in this regard. Thank you.

 

[bdp]

I have the A7rIII too and I have found the best way to have all the correct settings you need for video quickly is to use one of the memory numbers on the top dial. You may have totally different settings for stills that wouldn't be suitable for video, but if you want to quickly do some video of family etc you can just switch to your memory setting and press record. Then go back to A or P or whatever you use for stills and your settings you last used for stills will still be there.

The settings I like for quick handheld video are 4K 25P, shoot mode P, continuous autofocus in wide mode, steadyshot on, face detection on, auto ISO, sound level 20. I also use a custom picture profile that uses Cine 4 gamma and Color Mode Pro, with the black level at -5, saturation at +5 and detail turned down to -4. I keep zebras on to check exposure while filming. I store all these settings in memory 2.

These settings are totally different to video I might use for professional jobs in the studio, where I typically have the camera in a cage with a follow focus rig on it, recording in manual exposure with a shutter speed twice the frame rate, manual ISO, manual focus, daylight WB.

Hope this helps.