Sony A7s quick start - Concordia University Sony A7s... · Atomos “Ninja”) The camera is...
Transcript of Sony A7s quick start - Concordia University Sony A7s... · Atomos “Ninja”) The camera is...
Contents
• PartOne:AssemblingtheCamera– page3• PartTwo:EssentialMenuSettings- page15• PartThree:CameraControls- page37• PartFour:ExternalRecorderSettings- page45• PartFive:BackingupVideoClips- page52
PartOne:AssemblingtheCamera
• Theα7S(alpha7S)waschosenasaversatiledocumentationcamerathatcouldtakestillsandvideoinlowlight.• Whenusingthecameraforvideodocumentationyouneedtoovercometwoinherentweaknesses:thepoorbuilt-inmicrophoneandtheshortvideorecordingtimestoSDcards.TheapproximatemaximumlengthofavideorecordedtoSDcardis29minutes.• Toaddressthoseissues,thekitincludesaSonyexternalmicrophonewithanaudioinputadapterandanexternalvideorecorder(theAtomos “Ninja”)Thecameraismountedina”cage”thatprovidesmountingpointsforthesedevices.
Youhavetwoinputsgoingtotwoaudiochannels(stereo).
InthisimagetheexternalmicrophoneispluggedintoInput1.Input1isgoingtoChannel1only,theLEFTsideofthestereosignalandtheinputattenuation(ATN)issettoMIC+48Vtosupplypowertothemicrophone.
TheChannel2input attenuationissettoLINE.ALinelevelinputcouldbefromawirelessmicrophone(thatalreadyhaspower)ortheoutputfromamixingboard.
IfyouonlyusedtheexternalmicrophoneonthecameraandwantedadualmonosignalonbothChannel1and2,(leftandright)thentheInput1selectorwouldbeswitcheduptoCH1CH2.
AudioInputControls
Thehotshoeonthecameraisfortheinputfromtheaudioadapter.Thiswillautomaticallyturnoffthecamera’sbuilt-inmicrophone.
HDMItoMicroHDMIconnection:TheRecorderInputisthetopHDMIport.TheMicroHDMIconnectiononthecameracanbesecuredbythepressure screw.
PartTwo:EssentialMenuSettings
• Inorderforexternalvideorecordingtoworkthefollowingthreethingsmustcorrespond:thevideorecordingformatonthecamera,theHDMIvideooutputformatonthecamera,thevideorecordingformatontheexternalrecorder.• TheexternalvideorecorderisHDorSDonly.Itisnota4Krecorder.
• Pleaseset-upthecameraaccordingtothefollowingslides.
Setup(toolbox)MenuPage6– SettingResetResetthecameratoerasetheprevioususer’ssettings.ChooseCameraSettingsReset.
CameraMenuPage2:FileFormatThisistheformatrecordedtotheinternalSDcard(thatyouareprobablynotusing),butbyselectingthehighqualityXAVCSHD youwillhavetheaccesstothecorrectrecordsettings.
CameraMenuPage3:FocusModePickContinuousAForManual asyouwish.Manualfocusisusefulifyouwanttoavoidfocusshifts.
AnoteaboutPictureProfiles
• Sony’sPictureProfilesarethemostinterestingaspectsoftheirvideocameras.• Theα7ShasSLOG2andSLOG3pictureprofilesthatenableyoutoshoothighdynamicrangevideo,exposingvideoinhighcontrastlightingsituations.• SLOGprofilesmustbeexposeddifferentlythanregularHDvideoprofilesandtheyalsorequirenormalizingaftertheshoot.• Don’tuseSLOGprofilesinalowlightsituation.Forthisreason,theyaregenerallynotusefulwhenfilmingconferences.
CameraMenuPage7:Movie/HFR
Thissettingdetermineshowyoucontrolexposure.YouhaveachoiceofManual,ShutterPriority,AperturePriorityorProgram(Auto).DonotchooseProgramorAperturePriorityforvideoshooting.ChooseManualorShutterPriority.SeethenextsectiononCameraOperation/ExposureControlsformoredetail.
HDMISettings:HDMIInfoDisplayOFFThisensuresthatnoneoftheextradisplayinformationissentoverHDMI,justtheimage.
YoucansimplifythedisplayinformationbyclickingonDISPonthewheeltotherightoftheLCD.Themostusefulviewdisplaystheaudiometersandthehistogram.
CameraOperations:Exposure• IntheCameraMenu/Movie/HFRsettingyouhavefourchoicesforhowtodetermineexposure:Program,Manual,AperturePriorityandShutterPriority.Asindicatedbefore, donotchooseProgramorAperturePriority.• Threethingsdetermineexposure:Shutterspeed(lengthoftimetheshutterisopen),aperture(measuredinf-stops—thesizeoftheopeninginthelensthatletsinlight),andISO(thesensitivityofthecameratolight).• Don’tletthecameraautomaticallydeterminetheshutterspeed.Don’tshootvideoinProgrammodeorAperturePriority.
CameraOperations:Exposure• InProgrammode,shutterspeedandaperturearesetautomatically.YouonlyhavecontroloverISO.InAperturePriority,theshutterspeedissetautomaticallyasyouadjustaperture.BothProgramandAperturePriorityareaproblemforvideowhereyougenerallywanttokeeptheshutterspeedatexactlytwicetheframerate.Ifyouareshootingat30fps,thentheshutterspeedshouldbe1/60th ofasecond.Ifyouareshootingat24fpsthentheshutterspeedshouldbe1/50th ofasecond(1/48th onapropervideocamera).• Iftheshutterspeeddropsbelowtwicetheframerate,motionwillbeblurry.Ifitgoestoofarabovethispoint,themotioncanhavea”clockwork”appearance.
CameraOperations:Exposure• InManualmode,thefrontwheeldeterminesaperture,thebackwheeldeterminesshutterspeed.LookattheHistograminthedisplaytojudgeexposure.
• InShutterPriority,boththefrontandbackwheelsdetermineshutterspeed.Adjusttheshutterspeeduntilyouhavereachedtwicetheframerateandthendon’ttouchthesewheelsagain.Aperturewillbeselectedautomaticallybythecamera.YoucanstilladjustISO(seenextpage).
Backwheel
Frontwheel
CameraOperations:ExposureControl• InbothManualandShutterPriority,ISOcanbeadjustedmanually.PresstheISOsideofthebackdialandthenusethebackscrollwheeltochoosetheISO.PressthebuttoninthecenterofthedialtosettheISO.
• Thiscamerahasnoimagenoiseat1600ISOandbelow,andalmostnoimagenoiseat3200ISO.Noisebeginsat6400ISO.
2.UsewheeltoadjustISO
1.PressISOsideofdial
CameraOperations:DepthofField
• Beawareofhowyourdepthoffieldchanges.• Largerf-stopsopenings(thegreaternumbers)haveagreaterdepthoffieldthanthesmallerf-stopopenings(smallernumbers).• F4willhaveamuchshallowerdepthoffieldthanf22.Youmayonlyhaveafewcentimetersinfocuswithf4,but30metersinfocusatf22.
OtherControls- C1,C2,C3buttonsTheCustombuttonsarenotaseasilyreachedwhenthecameraisinthecagebuttheyareuseful.Bydefault,buttonC1 isashortcuttochangingtheWhiteBalancesetting.ButtonC2magnifiestheimageintheOLEDviewfinderformanualfocusing.ButtonC3 changesthefocussetting,frommanualtoauto.
CameraOperations:Focus
• PressingButtonC3changesthefocusmodefromManualtoAutoFocus• Irecommendcontinuousautofocusforshootingvideounlessyouwanttoavoidfocusshifts.• Inmanualfocus,usetheringonthelensclosesttothecameratochangefocus.Thisringisinactiveduringauto-focus.
PartFour:ExternalRecorderSettingsTurnontheexternalrecorderbypressinganholdingthepowerbuttononthesideuntilthescreenpowersup.
Changethesettingsbytouchingthescreen.ForbestqualitychooseProRes 422orProRes 422HQastherecordingcodec.FilessizesareforPR422are1GBperminuteand1.5GBperminuteforPR422HQ.TherecorderhasanSSDinternal1TBdrive.
TherecordingformatintheupperleftshouldmatchtheHDMIoutputfromthecamera.Itshouldbe1080p23.98(thismeans108024pNTSC).IfyoudonotseeanimagewhenyoupresstheyellowMONbutton,theframeratesdonotcorrespond.
OnceMONispressedtheimageshouldlooklikethis.Ifyouseeanyotherdisplayinformationfromthecamera,itwillberecorded!
Therecordbuttonisonthebottomright.Youareonlyrecordingwiththisdevice.Thereisnoneedtopressthevideorecordbuttononthecamera.Thereisnorecordingtimelimitationotherthanthespaceontheharddrive.
Theaudiolevelmeterisnotverydetailedonthemonitorbutyoucandoublechecktheaudiorecordinglevelbygoingintotheaudiomenuandbymonitoringonheadphones.HeadphonesarenotsuppliedinthekitbutIstronglyrecommendusingthem.
Thecamera’sOLEDmonitorissuperiortotheLCDpanelontheexternalrecorder.Itisbesttojudgeyourimagewiththecameramonitorandthehistogram.
PartFive:Backingupthefiles.TaketheSSDdriveoutoftherecorderbypressingonbothsidesandpullingup.PuttheSSDdriveintheUSBdock.
Theharddrivewillappearonthedesktop.ThevideofilesareinQuickTimeformat andreadyforuseinAdobePremiere.PleaseerasethefilesfromtheSSDwhenyouarefinishedbackingup.