An outstanding collection of Camera Manuals, and much more

[Jeff A]

I'm a pretty new guy to Photography, having received my first Mirrorless camera, a Sony A7 III the 1st of November, 2020. I soon discovered that there were many different individuals on YouTube who had "The absolute best way" to setup my new camera. It got me started but when faced with actually using it, I was pretty much lost. So many settings and so many ideas. At some point, I began to read articles and watch videos by Mark Galer. I became a YouTube Patron of Mr. Galer which cost me $10.00 US for a month. The plan was to do numerous downloads and quit being a Patron, saving me the $10.00 per month. I was very happy with my A7 III but when the A7 IV was announced, I had one pre-ordered within 24 hours. The A7 IV was later released and I received mine on New Years Eve day, 2021.

Because I was a Subscriber of Mark Galer, I had downloaded and studied his incredibly thorough, 530 page eBook for the A7 IV. I had also downloaded his CAMSET file for the M4. Within minutes of opening the package, I had installed his CAMSET file and I had a fully functioning A7 IV, complete with 9 fully programmed memory areas, along with numerous Hot Keys. This happened in about 5 minutes. I have no way to calculate how many hours of work and how much grief this had saved me. This story illustrates just some of the content on Mark's site. I could go on and on, but I hope that you get the idea.

Yesterday, Mark released a video describing his Support Services for the Sony Alpha line of cameras. I hope you all will take a few minutes and take a look at this "Content Rich" body of work. I have been a Patron of Mark's for more than eight months now, and it remains an incredibly valuable resource to me, as is this Forum. The two services don't compete, but actually compliment each other.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Yes Jeff I agree , I also am a Patron of Mark Galer's website and went through the same process to set up my A1
from Marks corresponding Camset files as a starting point before overlaying my own specific shooting settings.

As you will have no doubt picked up he is very "Sonycentric" and you need to take some of what he says with a
veritable "pinch of salt".

Maybe there is a potential theme there somewhere to develop a listing of "credible" internet/youtube photography
buffs/ videographers for passing on to Alpha Shooters new arrivals who may have limited experience and need to
get up the knowledge experience curve as soon as possible......I can certainly bring 4or5 to mind without thinking,
dependant on Genre....maybe it already exists somewhere in AS and I have just not been around long enough
to realise this.....

 

[Jeff A]

Yes Jeff I agree , I also am a Patron of Mark Galer's website and went through the same process to set up my A1
from Marks corresponding Camset files as a starting point before overlaying my own specific shooting settings.

As you will have no doubt picked up he is very "Sonycentric" and you need to take some of what he says with a
veritable "pinch of salt".

Maybe there is a potential theme there somewhere to develop a listing of "credible" internet/youtube photography
buffs/ videographers for passing on to Alpha Shooters new arrivals who may have limited experience and need to
get up the knowledge experience curve as soon as possible......I can certainly bring 4or5 to mind without thinking,
dependant on Genre....maybe it already exists somewhere in AS and I have just not been around long enough
to realise this.....

Well, I would expect him to be somewhat "Sonycentric" as he is one of their Ambassadors and has been for 10 years. Having said that, I have not found any mis-truths in any of his analysis that I have read. I know that he favors Sony lenses, but then, so do I. Having said that, I have seen numerous times he has sung the praises of other manufacturers products besides those made by Sony. I have based a number of purchase decisions based on his reviews and have not regretted any of them. There is a lot to learn from his publications, at least that is true of myself. I'm trying to absorb as much as I can as fast as I can, but I move a bit slower than I'm used to because I'm older than dirt.

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

Mark Galer is amazing! His commitment to photography is extraordinary.

He to me, is the official Sony guy on YouTube and you blokes are absolutely right, although he favours Sony gear he is also genuine in his content.
Jared Polin is the reason I have some Sigma Art glass though, I find him to be very good for gear reviews as he tells it how it is in layman's terms rather than critiquing all the technical things that are irrelevant in reality.

At the beginning I looked at Ken Rockwell's stuff religiously, but I quickly found him to be quite biased in a misleading way.

Another thing I find amusing is how people will tell you how much better photos one brand will take than another. In my opinion, if you buy the equivalent camera and lens of any brand then you won't take better photos either way. I like Sony because their bodies look great, they have a sharp industrial style happening which I think looks better than the other brands, but I definitely don't run around telling Canon users they should switch to Sony because Sony are way better...

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Well, I would expect him to be somewhat "Sonycentric" as he is one of their Ambassadors and has been for 10 years. Having said that, I have not found any mis-truths in any of his analysis that I have read. I know that he favors Sony lenses, but then, so do I. Having said that, I have seen numerous times he has sung the praises of other manufacturers products besides those made by Sony. I have based a number of purchase decisions based on his reviews and have not regretted any of them. There is a lot to learn from his publications, at least that is true of myself. I'm trying to absorb as much as I can as fast as I can, but I move a bit slower than I'm used to because I'm older than dirt.

Yes you would expect him to be supportive of Sony but in contrasting his reviews of Sony equipment with those of others on the web i often see disparities.........not that he is being untruthful necessarily its just a question of skewed emphasis over underlying interests.

Anyways no need to debate the point, each to his own, for whatever it takes to get us to where we need to be.................

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Hi Jeff/MC on another point, do you guys endorse shooting Aperture priority, no back button focussing and wide area focus as a general
shooting style( customised adjustments for particular shooting conditions a given).

As you will have noted Mark Galer favours the above settings for action and wildlife.....I go with manual shooting in the main and have also dropped
back button focussing since switching from Nikon to Sony and now favour wide area and shutter button focussing as my main shooting set up but with my AEL and AF-On buttons set up on zone and expanded spot focus areas combined with AF-On for instances where the subject in the viewfinder is obstructed in some way or static.

Interested to hear your thoughts on this......

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

Good morning/evening guys! I almost always use aperture priority, just set into the memories. 1. Day landscape A. 2. Wildlife/action A. 3. Night Landscape A.

I will flick it over to manual only when I want to play around with motion. I switch between wide and lock on AF Wide with wildlife, and like you SF I use AF-ON where the animal isn't grabbing focus when behind something.

I have minimum shutter set to 1/500, 1/1000 or 1/2000 depending on the animals, and I really don't like going past ISO10000 on my A7RIII. What sort of ISO values do you find acceptable on your camera/cameras?

I am heading out to the National Park today with my new Sigma Sports lens. Have you used lock on AF with animals? How have you found it compared to zone and expanded spot? I will give that a go mate, appreciate your input.

Was it a big difference when you first went from Nikon to Sony?

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Hi MC, it seems you have a similar approach to settings generally, other than Aperture priority where i favour Manual with Auto Iso

I have my Auto Iso set at 5000 max on my A1 except for rare occasions when i will go higher if i really need to, if my choices are limited and i really need to get a critical shot....



Animal AF works ok generally but I find it is animal dependant whether I get the eye or not on IAF .......between birds and animals I am able to lock on the eye more frequently with birds. I will generally use wide or expanded spot dependant upon circumstances for animals and whether it is a single animal or group in a closed cover situation.

On the transition from Nikon it was financially painful, but in terms of the quality of my images there was a big change given the technological lead Sony established with the release of the AR7 iv, A9 II and A1(FPS, focus speed/Area and tracking primarily) which coincided with the time I made the switch.

That past technological differential is gradually balancing out however between Sony , Nikon and Canon but I am finding some of Sony's current GM lenses along with their linear lens motor technology are providing a significant sharpness boost and that is also adding value to my Imagery.

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

Deleted Member 5003, financial pain of your setup, I bet! But once you used it I'm sure much of that pain would have subsided!

For animals which I've basically just started shooting, I set ISO for 12800 but don't really ever see it go past 8000. I have always had my max set at 6400 for normal shooting but in all honesty have only used auto ISO at night handheld. In the day I manual ISO to just generally keep my shutter above 1/8s if nothing other than water is moving. Will only add ISO if there's a bit of wind or what not, maximum 1600 but I'd have it at 100 90% of the time I'd say.

What do you guys make of the GM and G lenses? Are they the best glass overall in your eyes? I definitely think that overall performance wise they are the best, but I do get bugged with how people make out like they're the top tier gold standard in build quality. I think they are a work man's lens, they are robust and built well but Sigma Art build quality is far better, they are pieces of 'art' through and through with machined metal sections, whereas Sony is cast plastic. I think in regards to build quality, Sigma Art are easily the benchmark, but Sony are for AF performance, and both tie for IQ. I have the 14mm GM and 20mm f1.8 G, both are sensational and just really deliver amazing sharpness and character.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

I note your comments on ISO MC, and whilst i used to set ISO manually under Manual mode, found as the majority of my shooting,
as a primary birder/action shooter, Is under well lit/sunny conditions in the middle/far east and I found by going to Auto ISO, and limiting
to 5000 , my ISO very rarely rises to anywhere near 5000 and my biggest challenge is setting my shutter speed high enough to
protect the highlights from blowing out.

On occasion when i am in Europe or the UK it is a very different ballgame of course

On Sony versus Sigma lenses I would definately agree that the Sigma ART lenses are of a superior build over Sony's G/GM lenses as a
general statement. The Art lenses do however sometimes come with a weight penalty but that said I have the Sigma Art 14-24
mm f2.8 ultra wide and the 85mm f1.4 and concur with you the image quality on these lenses are in my opinion much better
than the corresponding Sony lenses.......that said I have yet to come across any lens by any manufacturer with better image quality
than my Sony 35mm f1.8 GM and 135 mm f1.8 GM , the 135mm particularly is phenomenal and acknowledged by many
professionals as being the sharpest lens ever manufactured........

Anyways I have just received my 24-70mm f2.8 GM II in the last hour or so and need to go and play with my newest toy.......

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

Anyways I have just received my 24-70mm f2.8 GM II in the last hour or so and need to go and play with my newest toy.......

I haven't been shooting wildlife for long at all, about two weeks, but looking over my images they don't rise above ISO2000 in good conditions. I did learn yesterday that I need at least 1/2000s to catch wing flutter properly. This picture below would have been much better at that speed as he quickly corrected his foot on that branch, but now I know...

Do you have any other tips? I'm realising patience is key with this type of shooting, but when the moment comes you need to act fast. I lost a lot of shots by wanting to frame it perfectly...View attachment 21313

How'd the new lens go..? Tough times for you indeed!

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

I got this one on Friday.

View attachment 21314

 

[Jeff A]

I'm behind here but I'll try and answer.
1. I have always been an Aperture Priority guy, from the beginning.
2. One or two content providers got me going on Back Button Focus when I got started with Sony on my A7 III. I kept forgetting to focus which of course screws the shot. After I saw the way Mark Galer set up his workflow, BBF was just not that compatible for me. It went Bye Bye and I have never missed it.
3. As you can see from my Signature, I favor Sony lenses. I had a Sigma 100-400 and it was a very nice lens but I was lured to the Sony 100-400 GM so that I could use a Tele Converter and get faster auto focus performance. I happen to believe that for the most part, Sony lenses work best mated to Sony cameras. I'm not saying other lenses are bad, I'm just happy having products from the same manufacturer.

 

[Jeff A]

I got this one on Friday.

View attachment 21314

Beautiful bird and a beautiful shot! Well done.

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

I'm hearing you. Sony lenses are fantastic and obviously the best choice bar nothing. I have only had experience with DG DN Sigma lenses so I can't speak for their HSM versions that were mated to mirrorless, apart from knowing they're gigantic! I've never had any regard for using an adapter for other lenses either, I say just buy stuff that was designed specifically for whatever camera body someone is using, no headaches then...

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Hi MC just a tip as regards wing position and shutter speed......

The evolution of Cameras FPS from 5-7-9-14 - 20 -30 has been a godsend for many Birders and to a perhaps lesser degree for wildlife/animal
shooters. Down at 5-10 FPS, other than for large raptors/herons etc, the wing beat speed for most birds does not leave a high range of wing positions from which to choose your final image(s) due to the high wing speed and greater time between shutter actuations.
Now at 20-30fps this has totally changed the situation and yields a much greater mix of wing position images and many more choices for optimising
your images........In my opinion for flying birds 15Fps is optimum for most birds but as you go up in wing speed to humming birds etc these higher
Fps speeds really come to the fore.

On another point and in noting your comment on shuttter speed selection it is not always the case that aesthetically you would look for totally frozen
wings , often a little blur on the wing motion can bring a sense of movement/dynamicism to the image. The other related point is that the wing tips travel at a greater speed than positions further along the wings toward the birds body and by suitable selection of shutter speed you can achieve a 90% sharp wing but the very tips blurred ...again prenseting a degree of movement/dynamicism in your images.

Hope this helps.......happy shooting

 

[Clix Pix]

Somehow I kept overlooking this thread earlier. I have known about Mark Galer and the other Mark for a while, but haven't signed up for Mark Galer's site. When I bought my A7R IV I got a couple of e-books (Friedmann Archives is one) and used those to get myself started with that camera, and when I bought the A1 around two years later, I again resorted to using e-books and also Thom Hogan's print book for setting up the camera. When I occasionally need to tweak something or if I have forgotten how to do something it's nice to have resources at hand. The idea of downloading and installing an already established setup program is rather appealing, though!

In my Nikon days I shot mostly Aperture priority and for a while did so with the A7R IV as well, but eventually shifted to using manual with Auto ISO, although at times I adjust the ISO settings when the situation requires more control over that on my part.

I love the Sony lenses I've got and I am a firm believer in using lenses made by the same manufacturer who designed and made the camera body. They're meant to work seamlessly together, similar to Apple and its hardware products and software products working together. That said, in addition to my Sony lenses I do also have three Voigtlander lenses (two of them macro), each of which has a special quality.

The one problem I find with the fast fps I can achieve with my A1 and appropriate long lens is that I seem to have a heavy finger on the shutter button and it is all too easy to look at the results in the computer later and see that I have quite a few shots which look pretty much identical. I do use Back-Button Focus, have been using that for years and feel more comfortable with it. I do prefer being able to shoot in manual so that I can control both the aperture and the shutter speed, as some situations require that, and I let the ISO do its own thing. Other situations are fine with Auto ISO.

Digital photography is fun, but indeed it can be challenging because it adds in a whole new element of learning how to best take advantage of the technology we have available today plus there is another learning curve when it comes to dealing with the images afterward in post-processing.

 

[Jeff A]

Somehow I kept overlooking this thread earlier. I have known about Mark Galer and the other Mark for a while, but haven't signed up for Mark Galer's site. When I bought my A7R IV I got a couple of e-books (Friedmann Archives is one) and used those to get myself started with that camera, and when I bought the A1 around two years later, I again resorted to using e-books and also Thom Hogan's print book for setting up the camera. When I occasionally need to tweak something or if I have forgotten how to do something it's nice to have resources at hand. The idea of downloading and installing an already established setup program is rather appealing, though!

In my Nikon days I shot mostly Aperture priority and for a while did so with the A7R IV as well, but eventually shifted to using manual with Auto ISO, although at times I adjust the ISO settings when the situation requires more control over that on my part.

I love the Sony lenses I've got and I am a firm believer in using lenses made by the same manufacturer who designed and made the camera body. They're meant to work seamlessly together, similar to Apple and its hardware products and software products working together. That said, in addition to my Sony lenses I do also have three Voigtlander lenses (two of them macro), each of which has a special quality.

The one problem I find with the fast fps I can achieve with my A1 and appropriate long lens is that I seem to have a heavy finger on the shutter button and it is all too easy to look at the results in the computer later and see that I have quite a few shots which look pretty much identical. I do use Back-Button Focus, have been using that for years and feel more comfortable with it. I do prefer being able to shoot in manual so that I can control both the aperture and the shutter speed, as some situations require that, and I let the ISO do its own thing. Other situations are fine with Auto ISO.

Digital photography is fun, but indeed it can be challenging because it adds in a whole new element of learning how to best take advantage of the technology we have available today plus there is another learning curve when it comes to dealing with the images afterward in post-processing.

That's a very nice glass collection you have there!

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

Thank you SR, and Clix for chiming in as well. One awesome thing about this is you never stop learning, if it isn't out in the field, it's behind the computer. Getting the most out of your equipment, understanding how to tweak it to squeeze every bit of performance out for many different circumstances. Editing tricks and creating your own style of image too.

I really appreciate everyone's input here as it's priceless information for us who haven't been doing it for years and years.

 

[antonioxrosa]

I'm a pretty new guy to Photography, having received my first Mirrorless camera, a Sony A7 III the 1st of November, 2020. I soon discovered that there were many different individuals on YouTube who had "The absolute best way" to setup my new camera. It got me started but when faced with actually using it, I was pretty much lost. So many settings and so many ideas. At some point, I began to read articles and watch videos by Mark Galer. I became a YouTube Patron of Mr. Galer which cost me $10.00 US for a month. The plan was to do numerous downloads and quit being a Patron, saving me the $10.00 per month. I was very happy with my A7 III but when the A7 IV was announced, I had one pre-ordered within 24 hours. The A7 IV was later released and I received mine on New Years Eve day, 2021.

Because I was a Subscriber of Mark Galer, I had downloaded and studied his incredibly thorough, 530 page eBook for the A7 IV. I had also downloaded his CAMSET file for the M4. Within minutes of opening the package, I had installed his CAMSET file and I had a fully functioning A7 IV, complete with 9 fully programmed memory areas, along with numerous Hot Keys. This happened in about 5 minutes. I have no way to calculate how many hours of work and how much grief this had saved me. This story illustrates just some of the content on Mark's site. I could go on and on, but I hope that you get the idea.

Yesterday, Mark released a video describing his Support Services for the Sony Alpha line of cameras. I hope you all will take a few minutes and take a look at this "Content Rich" body of work. I have been a Patron of Mark's for more than eight months now, and it remains an incredibly valuable resource to me, as is this Forum. The two services don't compete, but actually compliment each other.

In my opinion the best manual for a6400 I found is a book from David Busch. I also went through the Market Galer Videos and they are great, very well explained and easy to see. However not so complete as the book I mention. Just an opinion.

 

[TerryL]

Well, I would expect him to be somewhat "Sonycentric" as he is one of their Ambassadors and has been for 10 years. Having said that, I have not found any mis-truths in any of his analysis that I have read. I know that he favors Sony lenses, but then, so do I. Having said that, I have seen numerous times he has sung the praises of other manufacturers products besides those made by Sony. I have based a number of purchase decisions based on his reviews and have not regretted any of them. There is a lot to learn from his publications, at least that is true of myself. I'm trying to absorb as much as I can as fast as I can, but I move a bit slower than I'm used to because I'm older than dirt.

Hi Jeff,
Just curious, do you like the Sony 14mm? I bought it as soon as it came out. I was a little disappointed. I wished it had been a 15mm. I might get tha Irix 15mm. I had the Pentax version and loved it.

 

[Jeff A]

Hi Jeff,
Just curious, do you like the Sony 14mm? I bought it as soon as it came out. I was a little disappointed. I wished it had been a 15mm. I might get tha Irix 15mm. I had the Pentax version and loved it.

I believe that the 14mm GM is an excellent lens. I had hoped to be using it for celestial photography but that has not happened. I just did a landscape shoot with it this week as part of a project to learn to shoot-process-publish HDR photography. There is nothing about this lens that has disappointed me. Sorry to hear you were disappointed.

 

[Landshark99]

Hi Jeff,
Just curious, do you like the Sony 14mm? I bought it as soon as it came out. I was a little disappointed. I wished it had been a 15mm. I might get tha Irix 15mm. I had the Pentax version and loved it.

I am confused as to why you do not like the lens, and how is a 15mm that different from a 14mm

 

[TerryL]

I am confused as to why you do not like the lens, and how is a 15mm that different from a 14mm

I really can’t explain it. I just like the focal length better. My favorite landscape shots hanging on my wall were from an Irix 15mm.