Run&Gun Setup (Frustrations with WB, Exposure and Focusing)

Hello. I'm a newbie working with the A7RV and have been frustrated with my results so far because I'm not clear on a good setup for run and gun situations when the lighting changes or there are fast moving people or dogs for instance.

In terms of exposure, there are too many variables for me to do manually on the fly, so I guess I'm looking for a set it and (more or less) forget it option. So far, I haven't been using shutter priority because I sometimes want the aperture to stay wide open and not be variable. But if the exposure isn't automatic, I'm left with having to change the aperture manually, or the nd filter, or the exposure compensation dial (unless I'm using variable ISO and then it doesn't seem to have an effect). In short, I never know which options to go for and wind up losing lots of shots. Not to mention white balance for changing lighting situations. Is AWB fine if I can't actually get a white balance reading or if the subject then moves to another room or outside?

What's the best way for me to be able to quickly turn the camera on and film in a snap? If aperture priority is the answer, then is there a way to control it such that the ISO changes before the aperture does? If variable ISO is the answer, then can I get the exposure compensation to work if the camera is giving me zebras and I want to turn it down a notch? Or any other way?

As far as focusing, I've run into problems as well. When shooting dogs running, for example, I found most of my footage out of focus even with the setting to animal. There are sometimes more than one dog and it's really hard to use the touch screen to lock on to a specific dog when they are far away because the dog is too small. By the time they get close enough, they are going to fast for me to touch the screen. If I let the camera try to focus, it's been too slow and usually the shot is missed. Or when the dog runs into frame while the camera is focused in the distance, why doesn't it lock on the dog when coming in frame? (Also, can I switch sometimes to a human or specific object and then back to dogs?)

I also prefer sometimes looking though the viewfinder when it's bright out but then I cant use the LCD tracking on touch screen unless it can be done somehow in the viewfinder? I was hoping that the camera would be good enough to lock on to a dog, any dog, but sometimes it's focusing on random objects or even people. (On a tangential note, can one use the facial memory for dogs?)

In general what's the best strategy with dogs and people to lock focus and then change quickly if needed to switch to another person, with the LCD and/or viewfinder?

Thanks for any help with the above!

R

p.s. I shot with slowmo 120p which I think has to be HD and it looked terrible. Is that normal? I read somewhere with the A7RIV that it didn't look good, but hard to believe it would look so bad. Also, maybe this was partly the issue, my ND filter was over a clear filter filter for part of it.

You can try tweak the autofocus settings, and see if that improves things, but one inherent problem with AF is that it doesn't know what you want to focus on, and for what duration, and how quickly to transition between objects. It will take some trial and error to get the AF settings optimized for your scenario.

If you still get unusable results with AF, you could try manually focusing, although it would be best to manual focus with a true manual focus lens, rather than a focus-by-wire lens.

Some Sony cameras have an auto white balance lock, check your manual to see whether yours has that feature.

Leaving your camera up and running on with the menu screen will minimize battery drain, and allow you to quickly switch to recording.

Have you tried a variable ND filter? I really like the SLR Magic Mark II VND.

When using auto exposure, it's imperative that you dial in the metering mode and exposure compensation. You'll probably be best off with "Evaluative" metering mode, but you might need to change it, or at least tweak the exposure compensation, depending on the position of the sun.

Many Sony cameras are really soft in 120 FPS, but make sure that you are recording in the highest bitrate mode that you can.

Low quality filters will soften images/video, but there won't be a perceptible sharpness reduction with high quality filters, and you generally get what you pay for.

thanks! I am using an ND filter, but never know when to use that to adjust vs. the ISO vs the aperture vs exposure compensation dial. I wind up messing up the shot, but I guess I just need to practice more unless there's a best practices that I can follow.

thanks for the thorough response.

Off The Mark wrote:

rdbot wrote:

So far, I haven't been using shutter priority because I sometimes want the aperture to stay wide open and not be variable.

In that case, wouldn't it make more sense to either use aperture priority and auto ISO or let the shutter speed fluctuate to adjust exposure? Note that with a variable shutter speed you WON'T be getting consistent 180-degree shutter speed, which some people veel is very important. (180-degree shutter speed is when the shutter speed is TWICE the frame rate, so if you shoot at 30fps, the shutter speed is set to 1/60th, if you shoot at 69fps, the shutter speed would be 1/120th.)

Or, if possible, use Andrew's suggestion for a variable ND filter.

I do use an ND filter and I was always told not to change the shutter unless you change the frame rate or have a specific look one is going for. I would like to prioritize e.g. tell the camera to change the ISO first and only after it reaches the max allowable to change the aperture, but I'm not sure that's possible.

But if the exposure isn't automatic, I'm left with having to change the aperture manually, or the nd filter, or the exposure compensation dial (unless I'm using variable ISO and then it doesn't seem to have an effect).

If it is very BRIGHT outside, then you might be at the LOWEST ISO your camera can go, so Auto ISO might not make a difference.

In short, I never know which options to go for and wind up losing lots of shots. Not to mention white balance for changing lighting situations. Is AWB fine if I can't actually get a white balance reading or if the subject then moves to another room or outside?

White balance is tricky. Really, you might have to rely on auto white balance just because you might not have other options in a changing environment. Shooting in 10-bit gives you a lot more flexibility to change white balance in post, but I am not 100% sure the a7R V shoots in 10-bit.

What's the best way for me to be able to quickly turn the camera on and film in a snap? If aperture priority is the answer, then is there a way to control it such that the ISO changes before the aperture does? If variable ISO is the answer, then can I get the exposure compensation to work if the camera is giving me zebras and I want to turn it down a notch? Or any other way?

If you are in aperture priority, then the aperture SHOULDN'T change (unless I am losing my mind, which is really a 50/50 possibility on a Monday morning). If the zebras are showing up, and the ISO is NOT already at it's lowest, then using exposure compensation should either lower the ISO or raise the shutter speed.

As far as focusing, I've run into problems as well. When shooting dogs running, for example, I found most of my footage out of focus even with the setting to animal. There are sometimes more than one dog and it's really hard to use the touch screen to lock on to a specific dog when they are far away because the dog is too small. By the time they get close enough, they are going to fast for me to touch the screen. If I let the camera try to focus, it's been too slow and usually the shot is missed. Or when the dog runs into frame while the camera is focused in the distance, why doesn't it lock on the dog when coming in frame? (Also, can I switch sometimes to a human or specific object and then back to dogs?)

I don't know how the new AF system in the a7R V works, but aside from animal detect, isn't there a specific tracking af setting? Can tracking and animal detect be used together? Or are they mutually exclusive? Or is tracking now "built in" to all the other continuous AF modes?

You can track animals or humans but not together... and you can adjust some settings to make it more sticky, but I haven't had a lot of luck lately.

I also prefer sometimes looking though the viewfinder when it's bright out but then I cant use the LCD tracking on touch screen unless it can be done somehow in the viewfinder? I was hoping that the camera would be good enough to lock on to a dog, any dog, but sometimes it's focusing on random objects or even people. (On a tangential note, can one use the facial memory for dogs?)

When looking through the viewfinder, can you use the joystick to move the AF spot over the dog that you want to track?

I think you can put the spot over the dog and it will focus there, but soon as the dog moves you'd have to try to follow it manually w/ the joystick unless it locks on; but to get it to track you'd have to use LCD touch tracking (I'd have to see if it can be initiated in the viewfinder)

I don't know if the face priority works for dogs or not. That would be awesome!!!

p.s. I shot with slowmo 120p which I think has to be HD and it looked terrible. Is that normal? I read somewhere with the A7RIV that it didn't look good, but hard to believe it would look so bad. Also, maybe this was partly the issue, my ND filter was over a clear filter filter for part of it.

In my opintion, Sony HD quality (no matter what the frame rate) has always looked pretty bad (with the exception of the NON-4K cameras like the a6000 and a5100, etc.,) So it might be a combination of Sony's HD quality and the quality of your ND and clear filters.

I don't know if the a7R V has 120fps in the REGULAR video mode, but I believe that in past cameras, using the S&Q mode where footage is automatically slowed down in camera would be worse than shooting in the "normal" video mode and then slowing down in post.

The camera I use most frequently for video is the Canon 5D Mark IV and I'm not familiar with Sony but the principles should be similar.

If you get frequent unpredictable changes in extreme ambient light and you have to adapt quickly as I do, then going on full manual but with auto-ISO and with ISO-compensation if appropriate is the lifesaver.

Typically I'll be on a default of f5.6 so that shallow depth of field is less of a risk and at 1/50th (I'm in PAL land), with ISO on auto. The auto-ISO prevents aperture jumps. Dim interiors may otherwise be on 3200 or even 4000 or above. Direct sunlight may be on ISO as low as 100. But if the light is so high that even the lowest auto-ISO is not low enough then don't hesitate to bump up the shutter speed. Moving your manual shutter speed from 1/50th to 1/100th 1/200th or even 1/400th is quick and easy and unlikely to look bad in many situations; much more practical than fa%*ing around with a neutral density filter whilst under time pressure.

Auto-focus is quick reliable and fast on the 5D-IV, I don't know how the Sony compares. If you have focus triggered by another button other than the shutter release this will make life much easier. Probably you can also touch the screen to stop and re-start auto focus and to slide the subject of focus to positions within the composition other than dead centre.