The Friedman Archives Guide to Sony's A7R IV

The Friedman Archives Guide to Sony’s A7R IV

Professional insights for the experienced photographer

by Gary L. Friedman

Version 1.01

ISBN 978-1-79474-520-9

On The Cover

The main reason to own a high-megapixel camera (other than for making giant enlargements) is to allow a lot of cropping, and still end up with enough pixels for printing.  70-200 f/4 G, 1/4000th of a second.  (And this is a mild example!)

For Those of You Who Bought the Printed or E-Reader Edition

There are a LOT of demonstrative illustrations in this book that kind of lose their effectiveness when converted to black-and-white.  And some are difficult to see on e-book reader screens like the original Kindle.

And so to offset these problems I’m offering a free, full-color, instantly-downloadable .pdf file of this ebook to all customers who bought printed books (be they color or black-and-white), or who purchased this work through the Amazon Kindle, Apple, Barnes and Noble, or any other e-reader store.  (The original .pdf file really does offer a superior user experience.  Think of it as the director’s cut regarding how the author intended the work to be seen.) 

To get your free .pdf file, just email me (Gary@FriedmanArchives.com) with a copy of your receipt and I’ll send you a download link.  Such a deal!

About the Photos

The photo pages preceding each chapter are images from the www.FriedmanArchives.com stock photo website, and were taken with a wide variety of different cameras over the past 30 years.

About the Author

Gary L. Friedman is a professional photographer who has traveled the world with both film and digital cameras.  He runs the stock image website www.FriedmanArchives.com, is associate editor of CameraCraft magazine (a thoughtful photography periodical which provides tremendous insights as well as showcasing inspirational images), and gives highly-acclaimed digital photography seminars worldwide for those who wish to improve their creative photography and learn the essentials in an intuitive manner.  Because he teaches seminars worldwide, Mr. Friedman stays in touch with the concerns and frustrations of serious shooters – the kinds of people who buy cameras like the A7R IV.

Before graduating to photography he was a rocket scientist for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (you know, those guys who landed probes on Mars and sent robots like Pioneer, Voyager, Galileo, Pathfinder, Spirit, and Discovery to explore the outer solar system), where he patented the image authentication system used in high-end Canon and Nikon cameras. He has been published in books, newspapers and magazines worldwide, and was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records while in college (go ahead and search the FriedmanArchives.com website if you want to find out what he did to get included). 

Despite his mastery of the technical background, Mr. Friedman has an approachable and easy-going teaching style that makes his books a pleasure to read. You can read more about his background at http://friedmanarchives.com/bio.htm.

Table of Contents

Items marked with a C:\Users\garyf\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\P0CV2TEW\600px-URSS_aviation_yellow_bordered_red_star.svg[1].png represent new or updated content compared to the book on the Sony A7R III.

Chapter 1      Don’t Panic!

1.1

Major Features

1.1.1      Oh, Those Megapixels!

1.1.2      Pixel-Shiftiness

1.1.3      Improved Eye AF

1.1.4      Animal Eye AF

1.1.5      Time-Lapse Interval Function

1.1.6      Tethered Shooting in Multiple Ways

1.1.7      Download Images While Your Camera’s Still In your Bag

1.1.8      Locking Exposure Compensation Dial

1.1.9      Infinitely customizable

1.1.10       My Menu and My Dial

1.1.11      No more 29 Minute Videos!

1.1.12      Gamma Curves for Video

1.1.13      Better TouchScreen Operation

1.1.14      Matching memory card slots

1.1.15      Rate your Images, then Jump Around

1.1.16      USB 3.0

1.1.17      Expanded Metering Modes

1.1.18      Higher Energy Density Battery

1.1.19      RAW + XFINE JPEGS

1.1.20      S&Q (Slow and Quick) movie modes

1.1.21      Bluetooth-based GPS Alternative

1.1.22      Can shoot 2 Kinds of videos simultaneously

1.1.23      Better Tactile Feedback on buttons

1.1.24      New Multi-Interface Shoe that supports Digital Audio Interface.

1.1.25      14-bit Uncompressed RAW

1.2

Software for your Camera

Chapter 2      Essential Configuration

2.1

My Personal Camera Settings

2.2

Variations on a Theme

2.2.1      Suggested Configuration for shooting portraits

2.2.2      Suggested Configuration for Landscapes

2.2.3      Suggested Configuration for shooting Sports

2.2.4      Suggested Configuration for Shooting Kids and Pets

2.2.5      Suggested Configuration for Video

2.2.6      Suggested Configuration for Legacy Glass

2.3

Just Pick Two

2.4

My Button Assignments

2.5

Back Button Focus Suggestions

2.6

What's Incompatible with RAW?

Chapter 3      A Quick Introduction

3.1

Names of Parts

3.2

Ways to Navigate

3.3

If You’re Used to Shooting Nikon

3.4

If You’re Used to Shooting Canon

3.5

Exposure Mode Dial

3.6

The Fn Button

3.7

Focusing Essentials C:\Users\garyf\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\P0CV2TEW\600px-URSS_aviation_yellow_bordered_red_star.svg[1].png

3.7.1      Contrast AF vs. Phase Detect AF

3.7.2      Face Detection

3.7.3      Eye AF

3.7.4      The Easiest Method of All

3.7.5      Touch Screen Operation

3.7.6      Touch Focus with LCD

3.7.7      Touch Focusing using the EVF

3.7.8      Focusing Modes

3.7.9      Focus Area (including Tracking)

3.7.10        Quickly Switching between Wide Area AF and Spot AF

3.7.11      Focus Confirmation

3.8

Drive Modes

3.8.1      Single-Shot Advance

3.8.2      Continuous Advance (4 Speeds)

3.8.3      Self-Timers

3.8.4      Bracketing

3.8.5      What exactly changes when you bracket?

3.8.6      White Balance Bracketing

3.8.7      DRO Bracketing

3.8.8      Self-Timer During Bracket

3.9

Metering Modes

3.10

Methods of Customizing

3.11

Configuring the DISPlay

3.12

Intelligent Auto

3.13

Flash

3.14

Things You Probably Didn’t Know about Playback Mode

3.15

Playing Back a burst

3.16

Quick Guide for Video

3.17

Shooting Tethered(ly) C:\Users\garyf\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\P0CV2TEW\600px-URSS_aviation_yellow_bordered_red_star.svg[1].png

3.18

Remote Triggering Methods

3.19

Sony Lens Nomenclature

3.20

Viewfinder Eyepiece Diopter Correction

3.21

Screen Icon Glossary C:\Users\garyf\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\P0CV2TEW\600px-URSS_aviation_yellow_bordered_red_star.svg[1].png

Chapter 4      Wi-Fi, NFC, and FTP

4.1

What is NFC?

4.2

Setting Things Up – Smartphone Functions

4.2.1      Install Imaging Edge Mobile

4.2.2       Transferring an Image To your Smartphone

4.2.3      Configuring NFC on your Smartphone

4.3

Now What?

4.3.1      Send (resized) images to your smartphone for social Media

4.3.2      Control With Smartphone

4.4

Connecting to an Access Point

4.5

Uploading Files Using PlayMemories Home

4.5.1      Configuring PlayMemories Home

4.5.2      Initiate your Download

4.6

Uploading Files via FTP C:\Users\garyf\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\P0CV2TEW\600px-URSS_aviation_yellow_bordered_red_star.svg[1].png

4.6.1      FTP Data Throughput

4.6.2      Encrypting Your Uploads C:\Users\garyf\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\P0CV2TEW\600px-URSS_aviation_yellow_bordered_red_star.svg[1].png

4.7

Geotagging your images via your smartphone

4.8

Uploading to News Agencies C:\Users\garyf\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\P0CV2TEW\600px-URSS_aviation_yellow_bordered_red_star.svg[1].png

4.8.1      Transfer and Tagging Add-On

4.8.2      If you chose FTP Transfer Func. of the Camera

4.8.3      If you chose Import using a USB Cable

4.8.4      If you Chose Import using Imaging Edge Mobile

4.8.5      Next: Keyword / Caption, Crop and Upload your images

Chapter 5      The Camera Settings 1 Menus

5.1

File Format

5.2

RAW File Type

5.3

JPEG Quality

5.4

JPEG Image Size

5.5

Aspect Ratio

5.6

APS-C / Super 35mm

5.7

Long Exposure NR

5.8

Hi ISO NR

5.9

Color Space

5.10

Lens Comp.

5.10.1      Shading

5.10.2      Chromatic Aberration

5.10.3      Distortion

5.11

Drive Mode

5.12

Bracket Settings

5.13

Interval Shooting Function C:\Users\garyf\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\P0CV2TEW\600px-URSS_aviation_yellow_bordered_red_star.svg[1].png

5.13.1      Suggested Intervals for Various Subjects

5.13.2      How to Turn Your Interval Sequence into a Movie

5.14

Pixel Shift Multi Shooting C:\Users\garyf\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\P0CV2TEW\600px-URSS_aviation_yellow_bordered_red_star.svg[1].png

5.15

Camera1 / Camera2 Recall

5.16

Camera1 / Camera2 Memory

5.17

(Memory Recall) Select Media

5.18

Reg Cust Shoot Set C:\Users\garyf\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\P0CV2TEW\600px-URSS_aviation_yellow_bordered_red_star.svg[1].png

5.19

Focus Mode

5.20

Priority Set in AF-S / AF-C

5.21

Focus Area

5.21.1      Wide

5.21.2      Zone

5.21.3      Center

5.21.4      Flexible Spot (S, M, or L)

5.21.5      Expand Flexible Spot

5.21.6      Tracking C:\Users\garyf\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\P0CV2TEW\600px-URSS_aviation_yellow_bordered_red_star.svg[1].png

5.22

Focus Settings

5.23

Focus Area Limit C:\Users\garyf\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\P0CV2TEW\600px-URSS_aviation_yellow_bordered_red_star.svg[1].png

5.24

Switch V/H AF Area

5.25

AF Illuminator

5.26

Face / Eye AF Setting C:\Users\garyf\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\P0CV2TEW\600px-URSS_aviation_yellow_bordered_red_star.svg[1].png

5.27

AF Track sens (for Stills)

5.28

Aperture Drive in AF C:\Users\garyf\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\P0CV2TEW\600px-URSS_aviation_yellow_bordered_red_star.svg[1].png

5.29

AF w/ shutter

5.30

Pre-AF

5.31

Eye-start AF (A-mount only)

5.32

AF Area Registration

5.33

Delete Registered AF Area

5.34

Focus Frame Color C:\Users\garyf\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\P0CV2TEW\600px-URSS_aviation_yellow_bordered_red_star.svg[1].png

5.35

AF Area Auto Clear

5.36

Disp. Cont. AF area

5.37

Phase Detect. Area

5.38

Circ. Of Focus Point

5.39

AF Micro Adj. (A-mount Lenses Only)

5.40

Exposure Compensation C:\Users\garyf\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\P0CV2TEW\600px-URSS_aviation_yellow_bordered_red_star.svg[1].png

5.41

Reset EV Comp.

5.42

ISO Setting C:\Users\garyf\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\P0CV2TEW\600px-URSS_aviation_yellow_bordered_red_star.svg[1].png

5.43

Metering Mode

5.43.1      Average, Center-weighted and Multi-Segment Metering

5.43.2      Spot Metering And AEL

5.43.3      Highlight