- Yo, yo Josh Yeo.
So, for the last month I've been secretly shooting
primetime television with this camera.
And, the video quality is amazing.
In some cases it's actually better than
the industry standard, the Cannon C300 Mark II.
Today we're doing a detour from my normal
creative projects and we're taking a crash course
on the Sony A7 III the menu, the hidden features
and assigning custom buttons to the most helpful tools
that I use on set.
I feel like I'm forgetting something. Oh yeah.
(funky music)
If I go a little fast or you get lost
I left step-by-step instructions in the description below
along with a timestamp.
Okay, so fresh out of the box switch the dial
into movie mode.
Most of the changes that we make are only going to
be in effect when the dial is in movie mode.
We hit menu, scroll over to Exposure Mode.
Change this to manual exposure.
This is gonna give you full control over your aperture,
iso, and shutter speed.
Then, we're going to initiate XAVC 4K, 24P
at 100 megabits per second.
This is going to be the highest quality 4K you can get.
Next, we're gonna go down to SQ settings.
This is your slow-mo.
This can shoot 120 frames per second slow-mo
and stretch it out and conform it into your 24p timeline.
We're gonna change this to 24p.
Next, we're gonna go to auto focus drive.
We're gonna change this to fast.
The auto focus is blazing fast on this thing.
And, we're gonna do the auto focus track sensor
we're gonna put that to responsive.
Next, we're going to go to audio recording levels.
Set this down around seven.
I shoot on one of these.
This is a Rode Video Mic Pro.
Use the power of the mic to do the lifting for you.
That's generally how you get the cleanest sound.
We're gonna set it to zero.
Our audio levels will be at seven.
Movie with shutter we're going to turn that on.
Enables recording with your trigger finger.
That will also enable it to be triggered by remote
or shutter release.
All right, next we're going to go over to
Finder, Monitor Display.
Right now it's set on auto and this is a very annoying
thing that, stop it, stop whatever you're doing, stop it.
Pick a spot, good boy.
Almost as annoying as my dog.
When you put your finger up it shuts off the monitor.
So, we're gonna change this to monitor manual.
That way it doesn't do it.
Custom keys, this camera does not come alive
without all these custom keys.
You've got c1, c2, c3, c4.
Then, these can be programmed, the side buttons
can be programmed.
There's a lot of stuff that you can do.
We're only customizing this for video mode.
So, we're gonna go ahead and go here.
Control wheel, we're gonna put that not set.
The control wheel is this dial right here.
You'll bump it all the time.
Custom button one, which is up here is gonna be
our Picture Profile.
Here we go.
So, if you wanna maximize this camera's dynamic range
you're gonna go to Picture Profile seven and this
is gonna give you 15 stops of dynamic range
if you expose it correctly.
Next, we're gonna go Custom button two.
We're gonna change this to white balance.
Very important to nail your white balance.
Custom button three, we're gonna change this to
APC Super 35 crop mode.
This is a great little hack, keep it as a toggle switch.
If I need to zoom in on something I can just
do that real quick.
Custom button four, this little trash can down here
we're gonna set this to Focus Mode.
I shoot a lot of different types of lenses.
Some of them have switches here to turn
the focus mode on and off.
Some of 'em don't.
So, this is a very helpful tool for me to quickly
change it from auto focus continuous to manual focus.
Next, multi select center button this is gonna be
our audio levels that we set.
Feel this button right here, it's kind of prickly
so it kind of reminds me of like the spikes
in audio levels.
That's how I always remember.
If I'm not shooting with the mic I can just kind of
crank that back up to 26 and boom we're done.
One of the benefits of keeping it in movie mode
is you got the levels all the time.
So, that actually looks about right.
Center button we're gonna change this to focus magnifier.
This has got a four times focus magnifier.
This is super helpful when you're shooting on
a manual lens and you're not sure if you're
in focus or not.
You just hit center button now twice.
It gives you a little extra reach.
And then, you hit it one more time to cancel it out.
The left button we're gonna do Peaking Display Select
letting you know if it's in focus.
And now, you see those things in white, super helpful.
We're gonna go to Peaking Color change that to red.
It is red.
Back to custom keys we're gonna go to the right button.
It says follow custom, whatever the picture custom
settings are it's gonna follow that.
I'm actually gonna change this to what it normally is
which is iso.
So, if I ever go in and change it in the photo settings
that it doesn't also automatically change it
in the video for me.
Down button we are going to
change this to monitor brightness.
So, from regular mode to sunny weather mode.
The only thing is that it drains a lot of battery.
So, for the regular mode I'm actually going to keep it
at negative two.
I can quickly just toggle it on and off if I want.
AEL button we are going to change this to center lock
on auto focus.
This is one of the coolest functions that this camera has.
Now is a good time to enable the touch screen.
We have that, so lets skip ahead to Touch Operation.
Turn that on.
Now, when we go into this center lock on we can actually
just select wherever we want and it'll track it, see?
Such a frickin' game changer.
Next, we're gonna go down to Focus Area and change
to Expand Flexible Spot.
Next, Auto Focus on change this to
Gamma Display Assist.
When you're shooting S-log2 everything's very flat,
there's no contrast.
It's hard to find focus, it's hard to see if
your exposure is correct.
Gamma Display will actually imitate Rec 709 Gamma
and give you a correct exposure reading contrast
if you're shooting without a monitor that has
these kind of LUTs that are programmed in there.
All right, next Focus Hold button.
This is only available if you have a button
on the side of your lens.
Not all lenses have this.
This one I'm actually going to set as Center Lock
on Auto Focus as well.
And, that's gonna free up this button for me
to program something else like Zebras.
And, there we go.
So, now we've got Zebras, it's pretty damn good.
All right, next Function menu setup.
The Function button right here holds a bunch of stuff
you don't really use and it's confusing.
So, we're gonna get rid of all of that stuff.
So, we're gonna go ahead and set this to not set.
We are gonna set the middle ones.
Function Lower three, let's change that to
our S and Q frame rate.
This is a super fast way to switch from our
120 frames per second slow-mo to time lapse.
Flip the dial to S and Q then hit your function,
120 frames per second, go to four frames per second
and boom there you go.
All right, and Function Lower four we're gonna
change this to Marker Display.
So, if you want a super cinematic Aspect Ratio
or center cross hairs then you can toggle the guide frames
on or off.
Find all the other aspect ratio and options in
Marker Display Settings.
All right, and the last one Lower Function five
we're gonna change this to Prioritize Record Media.
This is a really quick was to switch from card one
to card two.
I shoot a lot of interviews and B-roll and this is
a way for me to keep things separate and organized.
Okay, Dial Setup we're actually going to switch this
reversing this top two dials right here and it's making
this one your aperture, which you're gonna use
a lot more than shutter speed.
Power Saver Start Time, we're gonna set this
to five minutes.
Time code settings, I already set this up for time code.
If you guys wanna see how to do this exactly
I did a video just on time code alone and it's linked in
at the end.
Record Media Settings, we're gonna change this
to Auto Switch On.
If it fills up it'll automatically switch from
card number one to card number two.
Last one on here is My Menu.
There really is only one item on here that
you're gonna need and that's format.
Everything else I have assigned a button for it.
Boom, this thing is ready to go.
These custom buttons work for me,
strongly encourage you guys to test it out, experiment.
The only way you're gonna get good at something
is by trying things out and failing miserably.
If you guys find this helpful blow me up on
that little like button right there or jump on
the bandwagon if you haven't done so already.
Anyway, this is Josh Yeo saying thank you very much.
Stay creative, now go make some art.
(funky music)