Sony A7s quick start - Concordia University Sony A7s... · Atomos “Ninja”) The camera is...

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Sony α7S II Quick Start Guide for Video Documentation

Transcript of Sony A7s quick start - Concordia University Sony A7s... · Atomos “Ninja”) The camera is...

Sonyα7SIIQuickStartGuideforVideoDocumentation

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.

Before After

TheExternalMicrophoneshouldbepluggedintoInput1oftheAudioAdapter.

LookattheaudioinputcontrolsbeforeattachingtheAudioAdapter.

Youhavetwoinputsgoingtotwoaudiochannels(stereo).

InthisimagetheexternalmicrophoneispluggedintoInput1.Input1isgoingtoChannel1only,theLEFTsideofthestereosignalandtheinputattenuation(ATN)issettoMIC+48Vtosupplypowertothemicrophone.

TheChannel2input attenuationissettoLINE.ALinelevelinputcouldbefromawirelessmicrophone(thatalreadyhaspower)ortheoutputfromamixingboard.

IfyouonlyusedtheexternalmicrophoneonthecameraandwantedadualmonosignalonbothChannel1and2,(leftandright)thentheInput1selectorwouldbeswitcheduptoCH1CH2.

AudioInputControls

Mounttheaudioinputadaptertothecoldshoeonthehandle.

Thehotshoeonthecameraisfortheinputfromtheaudioadapter.Thiswillautomaticallyturnoffthecamera’sbuilt-inmicrophone.

Attachthelittlearmfortheexternalrecorder.Irecommendthefollowinglocation.

HDMItoMicroHDMIconnection:TheRecorderInputisthetopHDMIport.TheMicroHDMIconnectiononthecameracanbesecuredbythepressure screw.

IfpossibleusetheexternalACadaptertopowertherecorder.

It’sconvenienttoattachACcablestothetripodlegsusingtheties.

Theα7SalsohasanACadapter.

PartTwo:EssentialMenuSettings

• Inorderforexternalvideorecordingtoworkthefollowingthreethingsmustcorrespond:thevideorecordingformatonthecamera,theHDMIvideooutputformatonthecamera,thevideorecordingformatontheexternalrecorder.• TheexternalvideorecorderisHDorSDonly.Itisnota4Krecorder.

• Pleaseset-upthecameraaccordingtothefollowingslides.

ToaccessthecorrectmenusmakesurethecameraisinMOVIEmode.(Pressthebuttoninthecenterofthedialtoturnit).

Setup(toolbox)MenuPage6– SettingResetResetthecameratoerasetheprevioususer’ssettings.ChooseCameraSettingsReset.

CameraMenuPage2:FileFormatThisistheformatrecordedtotheinternalSDcard(thatyouareprobablynotusing),butbyselectingthehighqualityXAVCSHD youwillhavetheaccesstothecorrectrecordsettings.

CameraMenuPage2:RecordSettingChoose24p50M:themostcommonframerate.50Misthedatarate:50Megabits.

CameraMenuPage3:FocusModePickContinuousAForManual asyouwish.Manualfocusisusefulifyouwanttoavoidfocusshifts.

CameraMenuPage5:WhiteBalanceAutogenerallyworkswell.

CameraMenuPage5:PictureEffectandPictureProfileOFF– thiswillensureaneutral image.

AnoteaboutPictureProfiles

• Sony’sPictureProfilesarethemostinterestingaspectsoftheirvideocameras.• Theα7ShasSLOG2andSLOG3pictureprofilesthatenableyoutoshoothighdynamicrangevideo,exposingvideoinhighcontrastlightingsituations.• SLOGprofilesmustbeexposeddifferentlythanregularHDvideoprofilesandtheyalsorequirenormalizingaftertheshoot.• Don’tuseSLOGprofilesinalowlightsituation.Forthisreason,theyaregenerallynotusefulwhenfilmingconferences.

CameraMenuPage7:Movie/HFR

Thissettingdetermineshowyoucontrolexposure.YouhaveachoiceofManual,ShutterPriority,AperturePriorityorProgram(Auto).DonotchooseProgramorAperturePriorityforvideoshooting.ChooseManualorShutterPriority.SeethenextsectiononCameraOperation/ExposureControlsformoredetail.

CameraMenuPage8:SteadyShotStabilization(SteadyShot)isOFFwhenthecameraisonatripod.

CameraMenuPage8:AudioRecordingON

CustomMenuPage1:ZebraPick100+toverifyoverexposure.

CustomMenuPage1:MFAssistON displaysamagnifiedimagewhenfocusingmanually(whenbuttonC2ispressed).

CustomMenuPage2:AudioLevelDisplayON

SetupMenuPage1:GammaDisp.AssistThisshouldbeOFF bydefault.

SetupMenuPage3:HDMISettingsThisleadstoanimportantsubmenu.

HDMISettings:HDMIResolution1080p

HDMISettings:24p/60pOutputChoose24ptomatchthecamerasvideorecordingformatof108024p.

HDMISettings:HDMIInfoDisplayOFFThisensuresthatnoneoftheextradisplayinformationissentoverHDMI,justtheimage.

Whenyouarefinished,exitthemenu,andthedisplaywilllooklikethis.

YoucansimplifythedisplayinformationbyclickingonDISPonthewheeltotherightoftheLCD.Themostusefulviewdisplaystheaudiometersandthehistogram.

PartThree:CameraControls

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.

That’sall.Goodluck!