a6000 Fn button options.

[Mystery member]

Not all menu items can be assigned to the list of 12 fast-access items available via the Fn button.

Many of the menu items that can sensibly be assigned to the customisable buttons can't be listed in Fn. Button customisations also can't be stored in Memory, so some care has to be used with these "global" assignments. I'm guessing that different Fn listings can't be saved to memory either, not that there would be much point in doing that.

Here is the full Fn list. The first 12 are the defaults, and the rest are either rarely changed or irrelevant to most users. The only item that I'd consider promoting is Smile/Face detect. I've marked the items that I'm most likely to use.

1. Drive mode
2. Flash mode *
3. Flash comp. *
4. Focus mode
5. Focus area
6. EC
7. ISO
8. Metering mode *
9. WB
10. DRO
11. Creative style
12. Shooting mode
13. Picture effect
14. Lock-on AF
15. Smile/Face detect
16. Soft skin effect
17. Auto Obj. Framing
18. Image size
19. Aspect ratio
20. Quality
21. OSS
22. Zebra
23. Grid line
24. Peaking level
25. Peaking colour
26. Not set

#12 (Shooting mode) seems a bit superfluous, but it provides access to MR selection when you are in that mode.

My current button customisations are:

• AEL; AF/MF Toggle (or AF-On) (Used for BBF)
• Centre; Standard
• Up; Display
• Left; Drive mode
• Right; ISO
• Down; Zoom (then Left/Right for control, or Wheel, but this requires "cancel" zoom)
• C1; Focus area
• C2; Focus magnifier (For legacy lens)
• Menu button; - Can be left on current setting of interest, e.g. AF w/ shutter.

I seems that AF w/ shutter can only be set via the main menu, possible to prevent accidental disabling AF.

Since the Down button is used for Zoom, I've re-assigned EC to the wheel, and I'm prepared to do without EC in Manual mode.

This may be of use to new owners of the a6000.

 

[JohnK]

I made this for a friend who bought an a6000, perhaps you will find it useful:







--
JohnK
Off the record.

 

[Mystery member]

Thanks.

I had seen your listing, which was informative. I see that some lists are more extensive than others. I have re-arranged my Fn selections so that there is no duplication of other customisations. I does seem to me that there's a fair number of undocumented features on the camera.

What I was really after was a more complete coverage of the options within the menu items, but after a couple of days of exploration, I'm pretty satisfied with my settings. I wasn't starting from scratch, as I have had a lot of experience with the a5100, which is "a6000" Lite. I have found that the a6000 AF seems more sensitive than on the a5100. Comments?

AF is supposed to be one of the strong points of the a6000, so it's rather odd that very little authoritative information is available on the subject. Some of the acknowledged experts often miss vital points.

For example "Centre Lock-On and Tracking" really requires AF w/ Shutter to be disabled, especially in low light. Another perennial topic is BBF, and some of the suggestions for this are rather clumsy in my opinion. I wonder if the omission of AF w/ Shutter from all custom settings is deliberate or intentional?

It's also strange that button customisations can't be saved to memory registers. On the Nikon D7100, almost everything can be saved to the two user memories, and with a click of the mode button, the character of the camera can be completely altered. I've spent some time exploring the D7100, and there are some very useful button interactions that can be used across memory settings. I still prefer the shooting experience of the D7100, but the tracking ability of the a6000 is impressive. I think it was a Gary Fong video that conviced me that I really needed the a6000.