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Sony ⍺1 Mirrorless Camera Set-up

How to set up the best camera for wildlife photography on the market

Sony ⍺1 camera body

I’ve just come back from a week in Arviat, Canada, for the polar bear migration.

I had a very good trip—apart from all the waiting around and BA losing my rucksack!—and I was particularly pleased with my new camera, the Sony ⍺1.

Here's a complete set-up guide.

The Sony ⍺1

I’d always been a Nikon man, but I’d been keeping my eye on mirrorless developments, and the evidence eventually became overwhelming, so I decided to take the plunge!

I ended up buying a Sony ⍺1 camera body, a Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens (with drop-in Sony VF-DCPL1 polarising filter), a Sony FE 1.4x teleconverter and Sony VGC-4EM Vertical Grip with an extra NP-FZ100 battery and Sony 160GB Cfexpress Type A (800MB/s) Memory Card.

The autofocus was just as good as I hoped it would be, and I used my Sony for almost all of my shots of the bears, foxes and hares—although that was partly because the zoom froze on the 80-400mm lens that I had on my Nikon D850!

The only problems I had were down to two things: the cold and the 30fps frame rate.

The weather in Arviat got down to -16° C plus wind chill, so my Sony batteries did run out at one point, and I had to recharge them as quickly as I could.

Fortunately, they needed warm air rather than a full recharge, so they were soon good to go again.

The other issue was the lightning-fast frame rate.

That was supposed to be one of the big benefits of going mirrorless, but I just wasn’t used to taking 10 or 15 pictures every time I pressed the shutter!

Again, that cost me big time when my memory card filled up just as a couple of polar bears were sparring right in front of me, but I learned after that to be a bit gentler with my trigger finger and stick to bursts of five shots or so.

How do I set up the ⍺1?

I only received the camera body and lens a few days before I flew to Canada, so I didn’t have much time to familiarise myself with them or customise many of the settings and shortcuts.

However, I did come across a couple of very useful YouTube videos by Mike Lane FRPS and Mark Galer that pretty much told me exactly how to set up all the menu options!

Thanks, guys.

You can also have a look through the Sony ⍺1 camera manual, which shows the whole menu system starting on p43.

The MENU button is on the back of the camera just to the left of the eyepiece, and there are seven main sections:

  • My Menu tab

  • Shooting tab

  • Exposure/Color tab

  • Focus tab

  • Playback tab

  • Network tab

  • Setup tab

I’ll list every single one of the menu settings in a moment, but first let me focus on the most important changes I made to the defaults.

Focus

The autofocus system of the Sony ⍺1 can focus automatically on the eye of a human, animal or even bird, and that’s the main reason I bought the thing.

I was tired of going to Africa and missing shots of cheetah kills just because I wasn’t quick enough to focus on the action in time, so I look forward to going back next year with a little bit of electronic assistance!

In Arviat, it was very handy to have a camera with a focus system that automatically jumped to the eye of the animal I was photographing - but it didn’t always work!

I did my research beforehand, and I knew I might have to shift between and Wide, Zone and Spot modes, and that turned out to be true.

With no distractions in the background and a reasonably large and close subject, the Wide mode had no problems at all.

However, as the animal got smaller or further away and the background became more cluttered, I found I had to switch more and more to Zone or even Spot Medium .

The Zone mode narrows the focus search to about a quarter of the Electronic Viewfinder (EVF), and that usually gives the camera the ‘nudge’ it needs to acquire focus.

In extreme cases, I had to resort to the Spot Medium mode, which limits focusing to a small square similar to the one you get in the Nikon D850.

It wasn’t that easy navigating the menu system wearing gloves, so I set up a custom button (AEL) to toggle between focus modes and switched off the ones I didn’t need in the menu system.

To easiest way to do all that is to use the touch screen, but you can also turn the front and rear dials, turn or press the different sides of the Control wheel on the back of the camera and press the button in the middle to confirm.

To set up the custom button to toggle between focus areas:

  • Press MENU

  • Press the suitcase icon (for the Setup tab)

  • Press Operation Customize

  • Press Custom Key Setting

  • Press the area of the camera where your chosen button is (Rear1, Rear2, Top or Lens)

  • Press the chosen button (in the menu diagram)

  • Scroll through the options and press AF MF/Focus Area/Switch Focus Area

To switch off unused focus area modes:

  • Press MENU

  • Press the AF MF icon (for the Focus tab)

  • Press Focus Area

  • Press Focus Area Limit

  • Press the checkboxes of the focus areas you don’t want

  • Press OK

I also set Autofocus - Continuous (AF-C) by pressing the unlock button and turning the outer Focus mode dial on the top left of the camera body.

You can also change the point of focus by touching the rear screen, but I like to look through the EVF rather than at the rear screen, so that wasn’t very convenient!

Finally, I find it’s a good idea to increase the ‘stickiness’ of the AF system as much as possible. You can do that in the menu by going to AF/MF > AF Tracking Sensitivity and selecting 1 (Locked on). This means the camera is less likely to lose focus if your subject goes behind a foreground object like a tree or bush.

It does mean you can’t switch so easily to a different subject, but you can always briefly take your finger off the shutter (or your thumb off the AF-ON button) and focus again.

Shooting Mode

The other big advantage of the Sony ⍺1 (and mirrorless cameras in general) is the fast frame rate.

The ⍺1 can manage 30fps, which is astounding considering that my D850 can only do 7fps (or 9fps even with the MB-D18 battery grip).

And the best part is that you can see the action the whole time through the EVF!

Given that I love taking slow pan shots, blackout-free shooting is a huge benefit, and I look forward to trying it out on the plains of the Masai Mara…!

To take advantage of 30fps shooting, you need to do a few things beforehand.

  • Turn the Drive mode dial to H+ on the top left of the camera body

  • Set shutter priority to Release (rather than Focus)

    • Press MENU

    • Press the AF MF icon (for the Focus tab)

    • Press AF-MF

    • Press Priority Set in AF-C

    • Press Release

  • Set file quality to compressed RAW (or JPEG)

    • Press MENU

    • Press the camera icon (for the Shooting tab)

    • Press Image Quality

    • Press Image Quality Settings

    • Press the RAW box next to RAW File Type

    • Press Compressed

    • Press OK

  • Don’t use any of the tracking AF modes

  • Make sure your lens is compatible with 30fps

EVF

The Electronic Viewfinder on the Sony ⍺1 is exceptional, with a 0.9x magnification, 9.44 million-dot OLED display giving a maximum resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels.

The maximum refresh rate is 240fps, which means the image will be refreshed eight times in between shots even if you’re shooting at the maximum 30fps!

The only problem with the highest refresh rate is that the finder drops to using a 1600 x 1200 pixel region and the magnification drops to around 0.7x, so I set mine on High (120fps) to get the best of both worlds:

  • Press MENU

  • Press the suitcase icon (for the Setup tab)

  • Press Finder/Monitor

  • Press Finder Frame Rate

  • Press High

Custom Buttons

The Sony ⍺1 comes with an awful lot of custom buttons that can have almost any function assigned to them.

All you need to do is go to the relevant menu setting (MENU/Setup/Operation Customize/Custom Key Setting), choose each button in turn and allocate a menu function.

A few of them are set up by default, but here are my custom button assignments:

Rear1

  1. ISO

  2. AF On

    • For back button focusing, you also need to go to MENU/Focus/AF/MF/AF w/ Shutter and switch it off

  3. Tracking On + AF On

  4. Movie Shooting

  5. White Balance

  6. Touch Operation Select

Rear2

  1. Focus Standard

  2. Focus Standard

  3. Face/Eye Prio. Off Tggle (ie Face/Eye Priority Off Toggle)

  4. AF Tracking Sensitivity (to make the tracking more or less ‘sticky’)

  5. Zebra Display Select (to show zebra stripes when whites are being clipped)

Top

  1. Aperture/Shutter Speed

  2. Aperture/Shutter Speed

  3. Switch Focus Area

  4. Face/Eye Subject Select

Lens

  1. AF/MF Selector Hold

Menus

When it comes to the rest of the menus, I’ve left them all set to the defaults.

Here’s a list of all the menu sections:

  • My Menu tab

    • My Menu Setting

      • Add Item

      • Sort Item

      • Delete Item

      • Delete Page

      • Delete All

      • Display From My Menu

  • Shooting tab

    • Image Quality

      • JPEG/HEIF Switch

      • Image Quality Settings

      • Aspect Ratio

      • File Format

      • Movie Settings

      • S&Q Settings

      • Proxy Settings

      • APS-C S35 Shooting

      • Long Exposure NR

      • High ISO NR

      • HLG Still Image

      • Color Space

      • Lens Compensation

    • Media

      • Format

      • Rec. Media Settings

      • Recover Image DB

      • Display Media Info.

    • File

      • File/Folder Settings

      • Select REC Folder

      • Create New Folder

      • IPTC Information

      • Copyright Info

      • Write Serial Number

      • File Settings

    • Shooting Mode

      • Exposure Mode

      • S&Q Exposure Mode

      • Exposure Ctrl Type

      • MR Recall Camera Setting

      • MR Camera Set. Memory

      • MR Memory/Recall Media

      • Reg. Custom Shoot Set

    • Drive Mode

      • Cont. Shooting Speed

      • Self-timer Type

      • Bracket Settings

      • Interval Shoot Func.

      • Pixel Shift Multi Shoot

    • Shutter/Silent

      • Silent Mode Settings

      • Shutter Type

      • Release w/o Lens

      • Release w/o Card

      • Anti-flicker Set.

    • Audio Recording

      • Audio Recording

      • Audio Rec Level

      • Audio Out Timing

      • Wind Noise Reduct.

      • Shoe Audio Set

      • Audio Level Display

    • TC/UB

      • Time Code Preset

      • User Bit Preset

      • Time Code Format

      • Time Code Run

      • Time Code Make

      • User Bit Time Rec

    • Image Stabilization

      • SteadyShot [Still]

      • SteadyShot [Video]

      • SteadyShot Adjust.

      • Focal Length

    • Zoom

      • Zoom

      • Zoom Range

      • Zoom Speed [Custom Key]

      • Zoom Speed [Remote]

    • Shooting Display

      • Grid Line Display

      • Grid Line Type

      • Live View Display Set.

      • Emphasized REC Display

    • Marker Display

      • Marker Display

      • Center Marker

      • Aspect Marker

      • Safety Zone

      • Guideframe

  • Exposure/Color tab

    • Exposure

      • Auto Slow Shutter

      • ISO

      • ISO Range Limit

      • ISO AUTO Range Limit

      • ISO AUTO Min. SS

      • Auto/Manual Swt. Set.

    • Exposure Comp.

      • Exposure Comp.

      • Reset EV Comp.

      • Exposure Step

      • Exposure Std. Adjust

    • Metering

      • Metering Mode

      • Face Priority in Multi Metering

      • Spot Metering Point

      • AEL w/ Shutter

    • Flash

      • Flash Mode

      • Flash Comp.

      • Exp. Comp. Set

      • Wireless Flash

      • Flash Sync Spd. Prty.

      • Red Eye Reduction

      • External Flash Set.

    • White Balance

      • White Balance

      • Priority Set in AWB

      • Shutter AWB Lock

      • Shockless WB

    • Color/Tone

      • D-Range Optimizer

      • Creative Look

      • Picture Profile

    • Zebra Display

      • Zebra Display

      • Zebra Level

  • Focus tab

    • AF/MF

      • Priority Set in AF-S

      • Priority Set in AF-C

      • AF Tracking Sensitivity

      • AF Illuminator

      • Aperture Drive in AF

      • AF w/ Shutter

      • Pre-AF Off

      • AF Transition Speed

      • AF Subj. Shift Sensitivity

    • Focus Area

      • Focus Area

      • Focus Area Limit

      • Switch V/H AF Area

      • Focus Area Color

      • AF Area Registration

      • Del. Regist. AF Area

      • AF Area Auto Clear

      • Area Disp. dur Tracking

      • AF-C Area Display

      • Phase Detect. Area

      • Circ. of Focus Point

      • AF Frame Move Amt

    • Face/Eye AF

      • Face/Eye Prior. in AF

      • Face/Eye Subject

      • Subject Sel. Setting

      • Right/Left Eye Select

      • Face/Eye Frame Disp.

      • Face Memory

      • Regist. Faces Priority

    • Focus Assistant

      • Auto Magnifier in MF

      • Focus Magnifier

      • Focus Magnif. Time

      • Initial Focus Mag.

      • AF in Focus Mag.

      • Initial Focus Mag.

    • Peaking Display

      • Peaking Display

      • Peaking Level

      • Peaking Color

  • Playback tab

    • Playback Target

      • Select Playback Media

      • View Mode

    • Magnification

      • Enlarge Image

      • Enlarge Initial Mag.

      • Enlarge Initial Position

    • Selection/Memo

      • Protect

      • Rating

      • Rating Set (Custom Key)

      • Voice Memo

      • Voice Memo Play Vol.

    • Delete

      • Delete

      • Delete pressing twice

      • Delete confirm.

    • Edit

      • Crop

      • Rotate

      • Copy

      • Photo Capture

      • JPEG/HEIF Switch

    • Viewing

      • Cont. Play for Interval

      • Play Speed for Interval

      • Slide Show

    • Playback Option

      • Image Index

      • Display as Group

      • Display Rotation

      • Focus Frame Display

      • Select Image Jump Dial

      • Image Jump Method

  • Network tab

    • Smartphone Connect

      • Smartphone Connection

      • Connection

      • Select on Cam & Send

      • Cnct. while Power OFF

      • Remote Shoot Setting

      • Always Connected

    • Transfer/Remote

      • FTP Transfer Func.

      • PC Remote Function

      • Bluetooth Rmt Ctrl

    • Location Information

      • Location Info Link

      • Auto Time Correction

      • Auto Area Adjustment

    • Wi-Fi

      • WPS Push

      • Access Point Set.

      • Wi-Fi Frequency Band [WW411329 only]

      • Display Wi-Fi Info.

      • SSID/PW Reset

    • Bluetooth

      • Bluetooth Function

      • Pairing

      • Disp Device Address

    • Wired LAN

      • LAN IP Address Setting

      • Display Wired LAN Info.

    • Network Option

      • Airplane Mode

      • Edit Device Name

      • Import Root Certificate

      • Security (IPsec)

      • Reset Network Set.

  • Setup tab

    • Area/Date

      • Language

      • Area/Date/Time Setting

      • NTSC/PAL Selector

    • Reset/Save Settings

      • Setting Reset

      • Save/Load Settings

    • Operation Customize

      • Custom Key Setting [Stills]

      • Custom Key Setting [Video]

      • Custom Key Setting [Playback]

      • Fn Menu Settings

      • Different Set for Still/Mv

      • DISP (Screen Disp) Set

      • REC w/ Shutter

      • Zoom Ring Rotate

    • Dial Customize

      • My Dial Settings

      • Av/Tv Assign in M

      • Av/Tv Rotate

      • Dial Ev Comp

      • Function Ring (Lens)

      • Lock Operation Parts

    • Touch Operation

      • Touch Operation

      • Touch Sensitivity

      • Touch Panel/Pad

      • Touch Pad Settings

      • Touch Func. in Shooting

    • Finder/Monitor

      • Select Finder/Monitor

      • Monitor Brightness

      • Viewfinder Bright.

      • Finder Color Temp.

      • Viewfinder Magnifi.

      • Display Quality

      • Finder Frame Rate

    • Display Option

      • Take care./UB Disp. Setting

      • Gamma Display Assist

      • Gamma Disp. Assist Typ.

      • Shoot. Start Display

      • Shoot. Timing Display

      • Remain Shoot Display

      • Auto Review

    • Power Setting Option

      • Auto Monitor OFF

      • Power Save Start Time

      • Auto Power OFF Temp.

    • Sound Option

      • Volume Settings

      • 4ch Audio Monitoring

      • Audio signals

    • USB

      • USB Connection

      • USB LUN Setting

      • USB Power Supply

    • External Output

      • HDMI Resolution

      • HDMI Output Settings

      • HDMI Info. Display

      • CTRL FOR HDMI

    • Setup Option

      • Video Light Mode

      • IR Remote Ctrl

      • Anti-dust Function

      • Auto Pixel Mapping

      • Pixel Mapping

      • Version

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