Best settings for wildlife

[Telefan]

Ladies and Gentlemen

I have made the leap from a Pentax to an a7iv I have paired with a 200-600mm.

I’m just waiting on delivery.

I played around with the menu system in a shop and it feels a little overwhelming.

I live in the UK so the majority of the wildlife I’ll shoot is going to be birds.

Any suggestions on settings?

With thanks

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Ladies and Gentlemen

I have made the leap from a Pentax to an a7iv I have paired with a 200-600mm.

I’m just waiting on delivery.

I played around with the menu system in a shop and it feels a little overwhelming.

I live in the UK so the majority of the wildlife I’ll shoot is going to be birds.

Any suggestions on settings?

With thanks

Suggest you go to Mark Galer , Mark Smith and Steve Perry Web sites where you will find comprehensive settings details.....MarknGaler particularly is probably better for your camera the others tend to focus on the A1 and a9 cameras but will still have relevance for you camera.

 

[MrFotoFool]

That's the exact same setup I got one year ago for wildlife. (I still use Nikon D850 for shots with shorter lenses). I don't do a lot of changes or custom settings in my camera, unlike others. For wildlife I shoot almost primarily in Aperture Priority mode, setting the ISO manually for the lowest I can to still get a fast enough shutter speed. The one thing I did change (same on my D850) is to set the focus to spot mode and I move the box with the textured control button to where I want it. If I remember correctly, the A7 IV has options here for small or medium or large focus box in spot mode and I think I have mine set to medium. I do find if I am shooting wildlife and the animal is in this window the eye detect feature works really well.

 

[Brownie]

That's the exact same setup I got one year ago for wildlife. (I still use Nikon D850 for shots with shorter lenses). I don't do a lot of changes or custom settings in my camera, unlike others. For wildlife I shoot almost primarily in Aperture Priority mode, setting the ISO manually for the lowest I can to still get a fast enough shutter speed. The one thing I did change (same on my D850) is to set the focus to spot mode and I move the box with the textured control button to where I want it. If I remember correctly, the A7 IV has options here for small or medium or large focus box in spot mode and I think I have mine set to medium. I do find if I am shooting wildlife and the animal is in this window the eye detect feature works really well.

Try Expand Spot. If it the camera can't find anything to focus on in spot, it will look outside the spot and track. It's helpful with a flitting bird, for instance, especially when using eye focus.

 

[spudhead]

Well this is loaded question, so I will keep my thoughts to myself on this one

 

[Jeff A]

Suggest you go to Mark Galer , Mark Smith and Steve Perry Web sites where you will find comprehensive settings details.....MarknGaler particularly is probably better for your camera the others tend to focus on the A1 and a9 cameras but will still have relevance for you camera.

Mark Galer has a mountain of information about Sony cameras and Adobe software.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Practice. Galers settings are ok, but not the be all and end all.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

To expand on my post and as a new Sony shooter , Galers settings will allow Telefan to quickly set up his camera initially.

In practice and from his initial experience he will modify his settings to his personal shooting style.

None of my suggested three shooters will provide a one time solution ........... as a starting point they represent the most
comprehensive, detailed and most quickly implemented offering on the internet in my view.

 

[Jeff A]

To expand on my post and as a new Sony shooter , Galers settings will allow Telefan to quickly set up his camera initially.

In practice and from his initial experience he will modify his settings to his personal shooting style.

None of my suggested three shooters will provide a one time solution ........... as a starting point they represent the most
comprehensive, detailed and most quickly implemented offering on the internet in my view.

I could not agree more. My A7 IV has Galer's Camset fully installed, including settings for Video and S&Q, even though I have yet to do a video of any substance. On Christmas day just past, we were having dinner with friends and one of the Wait Staff performed a stunt involving pouring water into a glass on a customers head. We saw that happen as we sat for dinner. After we finished dinner and were getting ready to leave, my Wife had grabbed this Waiter and asked that he do this again using a glass on her head as a target. I was totally unaware that this was going to happen until my Wife told me that my chair was in the way. Suddenly, this was staged and I started to watch in amazement, as this was so NOT anything that she would ever do! I was sitting there with my hand on my A7 IV and suddenly I realized my camera was fully programmed for video! I twisted the Drive Mode dial and caught the scene on video! Without Mark Galer's Camset file, I would have missed that shot which will never happen again. I doubt that without the ease of programming, my camera would not have been setup for video. It's safe to say that because my A7 III has yet to be programmed for video and I've had that camera for over two years.

 

[Brownie]

Or you could've just turned it on, and without doing anything else, pressed the red button. I've never set up a single feature for video in any camera I've ever owned, yet I've managed to shoot hundreds of hours of video. Grandkids, whales, races, air shows, Christmas mornings, fireworks, whatever.

Using someone else's presets is a great way to get started. It should not be the end. The hope is that as Kevriano and Deleted Member 5003 say, they graduate to doing their own settings.

 

[Clix Pix]

First thing I do with a new camera is go into the settings and disable that darned red video button. I never shoot video, have no plans to shoot video, and don't want to run the risk of accidentally hitting that button and triggering a video to start filming when I'm trying to shoot something in still photography mode.

I don't use anyone else's settings automatically installed / programmed into my camera; I prefer to figure things out on my own and set up the camera in a way that I know what I'm doing, why and how.... I probably am missing out on some good strategies but what I'm doing seems to work out well for me and that's what counts in the end.

 

[AZHeaven]

I use Mark Smith and Steve Perry's Backcountry Gallery A1 setup for wildlife. And Mark Galer for learning. Also I follow Mark Denny for landscape advice and settings even though he no longer shoots Sony.