Tutorial on How to Set up a Sony Camera to Record Videos

If you are looking for how to set up your camera to take good videos, you have come to the right place, so pay close attention because we have prepared something special for you so that you can share it with your friends and video record project partners.

In this tutorial, we will teach you how to configure Sony A7III, A7RIII, A7RIV, A9, and A9II cameras for video. Enjoy it because we have created it for you.

Setting up the Sony a7RIV to record video

This video is valid for practically all "recent" Sony Alpha models, but especially for Sony a7III, Sony a7RIII, Sony a7RIV, Sony a9, and Sony a9II, there are small differences between them, but the base is common to all. So get ready because we will teach you how to configure Sony a7III for video, or any of the models mentioned above since the features and functions are similar.

The most outstanding features of configuring your Sony Camera to record videos

The basic parameters in the configuration of your camera are important and above all, in the shooting parameters, which vary a lot from when we take pictures.

The first thing is the shooting mode, but in the video it is not like that, here we want and must shoot in manual almost always. Since we don't want the camera to start changing the ISO, the white balance, the shutter speed, the diaphragm in the middle of a video sequence, because these are changes in the exposure in "steps" they are not gradual, and the eye it will detect them as a failure. So let's "manualize" everything.

Shutter speed is very relevant in the video, remember to shoot at 1/twice the frames per second you are recording.

 If you are shooting at 25fps you should shoot at 1/50. If you're shooting at 100fps, you should shoot at 1/200. It is not mandatory, but you should try to make the speed as close as possible to those values since they are the ones that will give a more cinematic look to our video.

ISO: Keep in mind that if you use a special color profile, such as S-LOG, you will have a minimum ISO of 800

Learn to expose a video

Here you will learn the keys to getting the perfect exposure in your videos because this changes a lot concerning photography.

Note that here we have fixed 2 of the 3 parameters that we normally use, the shutter speed (at twice the frames) and the aperture (to get the look you want). Only the ISO remains to modify and this always has a minimum value (100 without profiles and 800 in S-LOG).

For that reason, we are going to find a problem. The light, which on many occasions will be excessive.

Take the test, go out in broad daylight, and set your camera to 1/50, F1.4, and ISO: 800. That's the problem, we're going to need to reduce the light input. For this, you must use a neutral density filter, using it you will be able to decide which filter to use to get the perfect exposure in our videos.

Resolution and FPS to record videos on SONY

Recording at a higher resolution will allow us to reframe in editing, crop, move the image, zoom, etc.

frames per second.

The ideal, for "normal" shots, is 24 or 30 fps depending on whether you want a more cinematic or TV look, respectively.

Camera Settings

• Shooting mode: Manual
• Shutter Speed: 1/50 or 1/250 depending on whether I use VLOG or B-ROLL
• Opening: The one you need for the look you want. Normally open to the maximum
• ISO: Minimum possible. Normally ISO 100 or 800 if I use PP7
• WB: Manual depending on the scene. That it does not vary during the shot
• Focus mode: AF-C or Manual
• Focus Area: Flexible Point-S or Touch Tracking
• MEASUREMENT MODE: Multi

Of the thousand settings we have, we will show you the main ones to change.

Menu Settings.

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  VLOG type configuration

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  VLOG type configuration

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  B-ROLL type configuration

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  B-ROLL type configuration

The speed varies depending on whether you want to do something more cinematic (slow) or not (normal). Never fast.

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Button customization

In this way, as we show you below, you can customize the buttons of your Sony camera to adapt it to your needs.

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Function menu

Something amazing that modern Sony cameras have is that you can easily navigate through the functions menu, here is an instruction on how to configure the functions menu of a Sony camera.

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