Best Street Photography Settings for Sony APS-C A6400

[gahenty]

Hi,

New Sony user here. Just want some suggestions on the best settings for street photography. Thanks in advance.

 

[Bradrobb]

I shoot mostly street photography with my Sony cameras.

I work more on the composition of the photo and shoot jpeg.

I use superior auto mode most of the time.

Superior Auto

Brad

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[georgehakim]

I mostly shoot street photography in Manual mode starting with at least 1/250s shutter speed, f/5.6 and auto ISO. The settings is modified depending on lighting, how fast subjects are moving, and what focal length I am using.

 

[gahenty]

I shoot mostly street photography with my Sony cameras.

I work more on the composition of the photo and shoot jpeg.

I use superior auto mode most of the time.

Superior Auto

Brad

Thanks Brad. This is new to me. I will certainly give it a try!

Reuel

 

[gahenty]

I mostly shoot street photography in Manual mode starting with at least 1/250s shutter speed, f/5.6 and auto ISO. The settings is modified depending on lighting, how fast subjects are moving, and what focal length I am using.

Thanks George. What about focus mode? Eye/face detect, Center point, focus area?

Reuel

 

[simpix]

I just sold my a6400 but these were my settings for Street/Travel:

Aperture Priority ( usually set to f5.6 to start with)

Auto ISO up to 6400

Auto Min shutter speeed: 1/500

AF Tracking Sens: 1

C-AF

Tracking Flexible Spot M

Drive Mode: Med or High

Eye AF: Human: ON

AWB

JPEG or RAW depending on your PP skills

I set the back wheel for Exposure compensation rather than use the top Exp Comp dial. For me it's quicker and more intuitive.

Regarding focus, I generally just move the camera around to place the Tracking Spot over my intended subject and let it follow. It's easier that way as moving the focus point without a joystick is quite slow and the Sony touch system is a bit sluggish.

The a6400 real-time tracking focus capability is superb.

Can I suggest you search on YouTube for a photographer called Curtis Padley.

He's a young English guy who has a great eye for street shots and he uses an a6400 a lot of the time, with a variety of different lenses.

As I said, these are my favoured settings. Everyone has a different method. Good Luck and happy shooting.

 

[georgehakim]

I mostly shoot street photography in Manual mode starting with at least 1/250s shutter speed, f/5.6 and auto ISO. The settings is modified depending on lighting, how fast subjects are moving, and what focal length I am using.

Thanks George. What about focus mode? Eye/face detect, Center point, focus area?

Reuel

The focus mode is AF-C with Eye/face detect always on. The focus area is usually Tracking: Expand spot, although sometimes I switch to Zone in very busy scenes.

 

[Fujiuseruk]

There is no best setting, as everyone does things differently.

Me I use P for general capture as the camera can think quicker than me , but if I’ve a certain shot or style in mind I’ll set the camera up to suit that .
Ie that one person who is motionless while others hurry on past I’ll use manual , set a wide aperture, low shutter speed to blur the motion of those in hurry and use auto iso .

If I want to isolate a subject I’ll use aperture priority and a telephoto lens .

I use centre focus point whether or not I’m using AFS or afc but if using afc I’ll use centre with lock on tracking and face/eye detect on and back button af-on

 

[gahenty]

I just sold my a6400 but these were my settings for Street/Travel:

Aperture Priority ( usually set to f5.6 to start with)

Auto ISO up to 6400

Auto Min shutter speeed: 1/500

AF Tracking Sens: 1

C-AF

Tracking Flexible Spot M

Drive Mode: Med or High

Eye AF: Human: ON

AWB

JPEG or RAW depending on your PP skills

I set the back wheel for Exposure compensation rather than use the top Exp Comp dial. For me it's quicker and more intuitive.

Regarding focus, I generally just move the camera around to place the Tracking Spot over my intended subject and let it follow. It's easier that way as moving the focus point without a joystick is quite slow and the Sony touch system is a bit sluggish.

The a6400 real-time tracking focus capability is superb.

Can I suggest you search on YouTube for a photographer called Curtis Padley.

He's a young English guy who has a great eye for street shots and he uses an a6400 a lot of the time, with a variety of different lenses.

As I said, these are my favoured settings. Everyone has a different method. Good Luck and happy shooting.

Thank you!

 

[gahenty]

There is no best setting, as everyone does things differently.

Me I use P for general capture as the camera can think quicker than me , but if I’ve a certain shot or style in mind I’ll set the camera up to suit that .
Ie that one person who is motionless while others hurry on past I’ll use manual , set a wide aperture, low shutter speed to blur the motion of those in hurry and use auto iso .

If I want to isolate a subject I’ll use aperture priority and a telephoto lens .

I use centre focus point whether or not I’m using AFS or afc but if using afc I’ll use centre with lock on tracking and face/eye detect on and back button af-on

Thank you for the options you've given me. Can't wait to go out and try out these settings everyone has suggested. Much appreciated all!