Capture Professional Looking Portraits with a Sony Alpha Camera and Kit Lens
Conquering the dimension of time with 4D autofocus (Sony Blog).
Sony Low-Cost Global Shutter Sensor Features in Point Grey Cameras (Image Sensor World).
The Zeiss Distagon ZM 35/1.4: First Impressions on a Sony A7r (DearSusans).
AdoramaPRO and SONY Present: The New PXW-FS7 (Youtube).
Real-world samples: Sony Alpha 7 II in Kauai (Dpreview).
Comparing several Sony microphones by Dave Tameling.
Sony A7R: Sensor Glass Thickness, Ray Angle and Image Degradation: Kolarivision Modification (Diglloyd).
a7S power solution from Hawkwoods (Newsshooter).
We redesigned cinema5D and open our doors for your films (Cinema5D).
Anonymous: “Just love this example on how to color grade the Sony a7S SLOG: https://vimeo.com/116417752“
43 Responses
I find it absolutely disgusting that using any MIS mic on ANY MIS camera will disable manual audio control. I’ve been wrestling and baffled as to why my wireless Sony mic won’t allow access to manual audio on any of my cameras. Reviewer just confirmed this for all setups.
WTHell Sony? Is this another INTENTIONAL CRIPPLING to force us to buy the big XLR unit? What’s the purpose of the new MIS shoe? Where are the promises fulfilled? I spend extra on your mic, extra on your cameras that have manual audio, AND YOU CRIPPLE THE FUNCTION?
The stupid MIS interface doesn’t even work with all accessories. I’d like to put the external finder onto both my E-Mount and A-Mount cameras so to get angled viewing with EVF… you know, like REAL video camera do? But it only works with the RX1, and NOTHING else.
It’s bad enough that Sony MIS shoe KILLED my Minolta/Sony flash investment, and KILLED all third party support for smart flash triggers… But then they CRIPPLE the mic functions that were supposed to be the miracle wonder connections to save us all.
SCREW YOU SONY. SCREW YOU.
But dude, it’s a standard hotshoe. I get to use my $12 chinese radio slave without an adapter (after filing it down).
Be happy. Sony loves you man!
care and love about big corporations… goodness me
QQ QQ QQ QQ QQ QQ QQ QQ QQ QQ oh cry me a river
Thank you Sony for the wireless mic. With it I was able to capture the audio clearly and consistently even when I move around to different locations. It is perfect for shooting events like weddings because I can just leave the mic next to the bride and groom and never worry about the direction of my boom mic.
I;m free to to roam around anywhere I want to go and never worry about the sound. And if anything else I can just edit the sound in post.
You missed the point you dope. I’m not complaining about having a wireless mic. I’m complaining that the manual audio controls that I PAID EXTRA FOR are CRIPPLED, TURNED OFF, BROKEN, NON EXISTENT, GONE DADDY GONE when using the blasted thing.
Now to address my point you sick Sony fangirl, would you rather retain manual audio when using the mic, or loose the function after paying extra for it. Answer the question.
There’s a freaking mic input built-in the wireless mic. You can insert any analog mic you want to control manually. The wireless feature is tremendously good for event shooters and stop complaining and learn to adapt.
Learn to adapt?
Adapt my flash shoe…
Adapt my lenses…
Adapt my microphone…
Every one of these adaptations comes with a loss of functionality and reliability. Speaking truth is not complaining. So add a mic to get back the functionality that I paid Sony extra for in the first place? They didn’t just break the old hot shoe, they’ve broken the new one too.
It’s absolutely absurd. Put a bunch of adapters on a wobbly toy camera and expect professional results? Sony inmates are truly running the photo asylum.
But we’ll pretend everything is great and thank Sony for this wonderful mess because they’ve hypnotized little flying monkeys to defend them.
What i don’t understand why most people don’t do this but then still the bluetooth solutions give a lot of noise. Also why people just don’t remove the noise in post its mostly a one button action.Its not that hard to tune the audio better if needed. I think there is no manual control since its transported over bluetooth its already leveled (to optimise the digital range). I use the one with the same receiver and then you have a volume control on the receiver too you can use. I use a combination of that and the gain control in the external recorder.
I had to dump all my Sony gear for this very reason – the New disfunctional hot shoe among other things. HVL-58 adapted falls off, HVL-60 overheats way too quickly. I couldn’t rely on my gear and had a bagful of adapters, cords, batteries, receivers and covers. God forbid you lose any of these pieces. Some lunatic suggested using continuous lighting for events)))) Expensive toys they are. Please Sony, get your act together or stop confusing people
What kind of flashes do you use now or having replaced them with the Sony HVL-F43M and 32???
Flashes beside AF Systems are the only two thing where Canon is definetely leading….AF systems with lots of crosspoints and the amazing powerful EX-RT 600 radio flash with trigger (my friend is still using canon due to sports photographer)
With regard to flashes/system
Nikon is second, Sony third, Oly fourth and Fuji fifth….oh and Pentax dont know, never used one
The reviewer hated that mic so much that he hooked up a different one to the receiver. I must agree. It sounds like a tin can in a toilet. And the headphone jack to monitor has a horrible delay, making it unusable. The receiver doesn’t even have a lock. A $200 accessory that won’t lock onto the shoe? That’s absurd, almost like they want me to loose it.
The RX1 metal thumb grip has a lock. But the $200 microphone, external EVF finder, and flash adapter don’t.
Smart.
If you really want Sony to listen, why post here? Post in the Sony forum and maybe get something solved.
Yes, Sony want to screw you, literally, knows you are Sony fegit…got free vaseline with lenses?
That aussie guy is talking about 50/1,8, but that’s not what he’s using. Also, he looks and talks really sad – not what I would expect from a “Sony Ambassador” 🙂
He is talking about the kit lens initially then the 50mm f1.8 but I think he is using the 55mm f1.8.
Could be a recent hire from Canon or Nikon.
Yes, that is the 55/1.8. I don’t know, but to me it doesn’t really feel serious when you say you use a lens, but in reality you use another.
Relies on Sony bribes to pay for AIDS medication…advanced state of Sony fegitry
I did not learn a thing watching this! Admin, stop posting newbie stuffs! We Sony users are also pros. We don’t just use our cameras to shoot our kitties, breaksfasts and selfies.
This may actually explain why they sold the A7s kit plus adapter for 1200 Euros. 🙂
You forgot the brick walls and statues.
Oh no, Just because this post was not useful to you, it means no one else on SAR should be seeing this. There might be complete newbies that are interested in moving up from a Canon point and shoot on this site that is considering a sony.
It wasn’t useful to me either, I stopped watching a third of the way through. But I wouldn’t think I’m the only one that mattered.
If this is really useful to you, you don’t need a new camera 🙂
forget the camera talk. that model was gorgeous!
There was camera talk? Couldn’t understand a word that guy was saying with his weird accent.
Promising start on DearSusan. The new ZM 35 deserves more attention I think. More accurate review is on http://www.verybiglobo.com/zeiss-distagon-35mm-f1-4-zm-review/ Plenty of things to look at, as usual.
The new Summarit 35/2.4 may be a better than lens than all these. I would like to hear more about it. It is a alos a very beautiful lens unlike the ugly Zeiss ones.
I hear there is a revolutionary new tech for this: reflectors. Put one under the chin and se what happens. Even more revolutionary are remote flashes, but they are probably out for the target FE user.
I think with mirror less they mean no reflecting surfaces anywhere, and your high concept flash idea, in daylight? No man, just stand in the shade! Didn’t you get this was info from a sony ambassador? Makes me wonder how the interview went:
Sony: “Do people know you?”
Tog: “Nah mate I just bought this cam like 15 minutes ago and was going to the beginner training and accerdently walked into this room”
Sony: “great, so do you want to be an ambassador? We wil feed you PRO tips you can then explain in crappy videos to make it look legit”
Tog: “Sounds fantastic, do I get to boss skinny chicks around and act professional?”
Sony: “We wouldn’t want it any other way”
Tog: “Cheer! I had no idea when they said ‘free training’ with this camera I would become a real professional photographer! Put another shrimp on the barby Kylie!”
LOL and what about the first frame shot too close with a wide angle?
Check it out: even beautiful chicks have really chubby arms 🙂
Putting a reflector under the chin is often terrible advice. For example, when have you known the sun to appear underneath someone? Look outside! A reflector under the chin can look okay if you’ve got a brighter flash above the model but in a situation like this, the reflector would expose under the chin too bright and then you’re left with an unnatural light-source. Unnatural isn’t always a bad thing but to blindly suggest putting reflectors under the chin is like saying “I watched some equally stupid youtube videos and claim to know what I’m talking about.”
It would be nice if idiots wouldn’t keep posting youtube videos full of terrible information
I just realised this was an australian video; everything’s upside down there; ignore my advice
iAuto is Sony pro-tip, lel at Sony “artisans”…
This is terrible advice. You can have a lovely background setting somewhere and with this advice you cannot use it because you should manoeuvre around the building for the correct light? This is awful! You could be stuck in the most majestic place of all time and you should seek out a yellow wall?
Wide apertures aren’t always the be-all-end-all to portraits.
Using the eye-dropper tool in photoshop you can find out what values skin tone consists of, for example black people have more cyan in their skin colour. How is this relevant? Using a very basic knowledge of colour theory, you are able to determine what colours should contrast well against what skin tones.
http://www.artyfactory.com/color_theory/images/colours/colour_wheel.gif
If the subject you’re photographing has clothing or skin tones with high levels of blue, do you think you should be seeking out a purple wall? Obviously not.
In regards to the light itself… You should be manoeuvring around the entire setting for the scene you like the most. Once you’ve done this, you manipulate the light into what you want.
The shadows are too harsh? Defuse them.
The background is too bright relative to the subject? Use a flash or a reflector.
This is why flash is frowned upon because terrible photographers don’t understand how to use light properly and so you get a photograph that looks like “it was taken with a flash.” But if you can master manipulating light with reflectors and diffusers, you will soon love to use flashes!
Not that you can with the sony system since they’re triggered by infrared and not radio (like the canon 600ex-rt) which doesn’t always work in direct sunlight.
The brighter the scene, the brighter the flash you need
It was a simple “howto” for beginners for “professional looking portraits”, were the pictures bad? It was pretty good for an auto mode and the kit lens/basic prime lens (even if it was the Zeiss 55/1.8…), don’t you think?
The model was dressed in dark blue/black and white, so the orange wall is OK, I think?
And he didn’t carry any stuff, apart from his A6000 (no diffuser, reflector, etc.) like all people do (read : not pro/semi-pro), so the “shoot in the shadows” is a good advice here.
Beginners shouldn’t be given bad advice! They’re the most impressionable. The fact this video is for beginners makes it even worse.
The photos were terrible, look at the scenery at about 43 seconds in and you’ll see nice trees, bushes, etc. There’s plenty of ways to get a far more interesting portrait. If you aren’t going to manipulate light and your aperture is dictated to by a brick wall, what really is the point of doing photography? There’s NOTHING creative here. A good way to judge photography is to ask yourself “would this photograph look interesting if the subject was ugly?” In addition to this, portraits like that tell absolutely no story. I get that not every photograph has to tell a story, studio work for example. If you’re after clean images like in a studio, then you’re better to stay in a studio. At least that way you would be able to get far more consistent lighting results.
“It was pretty good for an auto mode and the kit lens/basic prime lens”
There’s a time and a place to look at camera gear and to compare camera gear. If you want to compare a 5d mk 3 camera with a sony a6000 camera, you have to forget the human’s mistakes and assume the human is equally skilled or assume a robot is using the camera. This allows you to objectively look at the camera. In this video, I’m not criticising the cameras “auto mode” or lens (I’d argue a 55 1.8 is far from basic, for portraiture. On crop cameras it’s pretty much the perfect focal length for portraiture) but I’m criticising the terrible photographer. My argument has very little to do with the camera.
The problem with “he wasn’t carrying XYZ” or “the best camera is the one you have with you” is rather like a carpenter only carrying a hammer. All he is going to see is nails. Diffusers are tiny and easy to carry around.
“The model was dressed in dark blue/black and white, so the orange wall is OK, I think”
What if the wall wasn’t this colour? Using this man’s advice, the scene is off limits.
Just because someone failed to bring a diffuser (they can be bought for $20 on ebay) or just because someone is too useless to make a temporary one, doesn’t mean standing by a brick wall is good photography. Furthermore, if you get into the habit of doing things like this, you’re always going to be a beginner stuck in the shade.
Light is the most important aspect of photography in my opinion. Being told to avoid or hide from it is the most vulgar thing someone can say in a photography video
It’s not a college/advance course on photography either… It’s “how to use your a6000 with the kit lens for professional looking portrait in 5 min”.
I think you missed the point of this video (and you are clearly not the target audience). Only beginners shoot in auto, it’s a video for beginners who just grab an a6000 with a kit lens as their first camera ever. Even if the photos were terrible, it’s a first step to learn how to take good photos.
BTW, did you carry a diffuser/reflector with you when you first started? or strobes ? or an off camera flash?
It’s not a professional looking portrait.
“I think you missed the point of this video”
My point is there is no point to this video. It’s bad advice.
“Only beginners shoot in auto, it’s a video for beginners who just grab an a6000 with a kit lens as their first camera ever. Even if the photos were terrible, it’s a first step to learn how to take good photos.”
My problem is not with the camera (why do you keep mentioning this?) but the fact there’s a beautiful scenery around it and his advice is “stay by a wall for shadows.” Consider being in the most beautiful place on the planet. There’s some harsh lighting…
Do you a) search for a wall suitable, making an unoriginal photograph that you have no idea where it is set b) try to manipulate the light?
“BTW, did you carry a diffuser/reflector with you when you first started”
Yes, it was the first thing I bought. Light means a lot in photography and I had a background in painting, so I knew the fundamentals of colour/light.
The problem is quite clear to see, I mean, you’re demonstrating beginner knowledge right now by constantly bringing up the mode of the camera. People have forgotten the fundamentals of photography and are perpetuating bad advice. Argue with me if you like, it’s just sad to see a bunch of unskilled people
One further thing to add, for beginners, you’re going to learn more by photographing without restrictions. Having to hunt for walls does not help you learn composition.
If you photograph in harsh lighting and get a crap photograph because of the lighting, but you gain a better grasp of compositional knowledge, so what if the photograph came out bad? Why do you want “professional looking photographs” if you aren’t a professional?
That’s like a beginner racer wanting to win a race. If a competition allows a novice, a truly unskilled person, to win the competition, then the skill-cap for that competition is low.
Photography is no different. There’s no shortcuts, there’s no “get a professional looking photograph.” You have to put in the hard work
Yeah, sorry, every beginner is a pro, have all photography knowledge and they are lighting masters when they take their first picture…
Sorry for being an under-beginner for not knowing everything.
Now you’re just being silly. I am not criticising beginners or camera modes. I am criticising his video because it doesn’t help beginners learn about light, it simply makes them afraid to go near it and to hide in the shadows.
I hope this makes sense for your stupid brain 🙂
Lel, Sony people only get fat chicks…stop feeding that beast, jeez