Sony A7riv Set Up Guide

The Sony A7riv is a powerful and highly customizable camera with a truly awful menu system. I’ve seen some Sony owners forego powerful features of their camera that were buried in the menus, or simply not maximize the potential of the camera because they didn’t use/understand the camera set up. 

In this post, we will concentrate on what to do after you take the camera out of the box. After you charged it, picked the language and set the clock. This post will address default menu settings you may wish to change, setting up a customized function menu, assigning custom buttons and setting up the MyMenu system.  The recommended settings are for hobbyists and enthusiasts. It assumes you want to maximize the potential of the camera, you likely intend to shoot raw. 

 

But before we do any of that, we will talk about setting up one of the most powerful features of the Sony A7riv: Setting up the Autofocus system.

Sony A7r4 Autofocus setup

 

Over the last decade, advanced cameras have added more and more autofocus modes, autofocus areas, etc. A skilled photographer had to understand which mode would work best for each situation. For the casual photographer, there was frustration that “auto” focus was not truly completely automatic, often failing to initiate and keep focus on the correct subject.

The newest generation of Sony autofocus brings us wonderful simplification. There are still a dizzying array of focus modes and focus areas, but there is one setting which is appropriate for almost any situation. Set your focus mode to AF-C (autofocus continuous). Above, you see the focus area menu which appears on the left side of the frame, when you enter your focus area adjustment. The last selection is “Tracking.” By toggling left and right, you can change the size of the focus box. I recommend toggling until you get to “Tracking: Flexible Spot S.”

This setting will give you a small focus box which can be moved around the frame with the thumbstick or with the touchscreen. Once you lock focus on the subject, it will continuously track the subject with high precision and reliability. If your subject is a person, it will automatically seek out the face and eyes. Whether your subject is moving or standing still, the focus will stay locked. 

In other words, you can use AF-C and Tracking:Flexible Spot almost all the time. By keeping the flexible spot set to small, you’ll be able to precisely pick smaller subjects. You can move the focus spot in the frame to the subject, or you can simply lock focus on the subject and then re-compose. Except for rare circumstances, you won’t have to use any of the other focus modes. 

Adjusting the Menu Options in the Sony A7riv

As noted above, the default menu system is a weakness with Sony cameras. By making some adjustments out of the box, we can avoid having to constantly hunt through the menu systems. Below, find the default settings I recommend changing.

 

 

• Starting with some of the AF settings, in Camera1, page 5, I switch the priority setting in both AF-S and AF-C to “AF.”  With this setting (when in autofocus), the shutter will only fire when autofocus is confirmed. In other settings, it may prioritize firing off the shutter even where the camera can’t confirm autofocus quickly enough. I’d rather have the camera take another fraction of a setting and confirm focus rather than fire off a continuous burst of mis-focused images.
• AF w/ Shutter: In Camera 1, page 6, at the bottom you have the AF w/shutter option. If you wish to use back button autofocus, this must be turned off. Even if you have another button assigned to autofocus, half-pressing the shutter will re-focus unless you turn off AF w/shutter. So if you truly want to use back button AF, turn this off.
• In Camera1, page 7, I switch the focus frame color to red. This makes it much easier to find the focus box within the frame. Below, see a comparison between the Sony A7riii, which doesn’t have a colored focus box, and the Sony A7riv. A red focus box is simply much easier to find:

 

Moving on to the rest of the Camera1 Menu:

 

• Spot Metering Point to Focus Point Link: When switching to spot metering, I want to meter the subject that I’m focusing on. The default setting is to meter based on the center point of the frame.
• Exposure Comp Set to Ambient Only: When using flash, this setting separates the flash exposure compensation from the in-camera exposure compensation. “Ambient only” unlinks them, so that you can set the ambient exposure compensation with the assigned camera dial, but set the flash exposure compensation separately. 
• DRO (Dynamic Range Optimizer)  turned Off: If you are a RAW shooter, DRO doesn’t do anything to your images but it does have a negative effect in the viewfinder. DRO “optimizes” the dynamic range by lifting the shadows and reducing the highlights in jpegs. The EVF/LCD view would make these adjustments as well. As a result, if DRO is on, you’re EVF/LCD image is going to look very different than the raw file you later upload to your computer. Turn off DRO, and the EVF/LCD image should be a little truer to your raw file.
• Focus Assist, Focus Magnifier to x5.9: As noted above, you can use AF-C/Tracking for autofocus almost all the time. But in some low light cases or where you want extreme precision on a small subject, you may want to use manual focus or AF-S with magnified focus. When using AF-S with focus magnifier at 5.9, you get an extremely precise single autofocus point to place over your subject. 

Moving on to some settings under Camera2:

• Finder Frame Rate: You have the option a faster frame rate speed, for less EVF lag, but this reduces the quality of the EVF slightly. Personally, I don’t really notice the difference in the EVF image quality, and therefore prefer to keep the frame rate as high for a more fluid EVF view.
• Live View Display: Setting Effect On: A benefit of mirrorless is “what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG). This needs to be set to on for a true WYSIWYG experience.
• Audio Signals: Off: By default, audio signals are on. If you don’t want the constant little beeps every time you lock focus and take a picture, turn this off.

Set up Networking

Networking on the Sony A7riv is a mixed bag. In theory, the camera has the capability to do background FTP transfers as you shoot, but you may need a professional IT professional to set it up. (I spent 20 minutes trying to get it to work before giving up in frustration). 

All users will want to at least do a basic networking set up:

• Download the Imaging Edge App on your phone;
• Using bluetooth, pair your phone and camera;
• Use Location Info Link Set, to be able to assign GPS coordinates to your images via the bluetooth connection;
• In Wi-Fi settings, pair your phone to your camera Wifi.

 

[Note, I utilize an iphone, which requires constantly re-linking the camera and phone to transfer images by wifi. NFC transfers are a bit smoother on other operating systems]

Assigning Custom Buttons to Sony A7riv

Nearly every button on the Sony A7riv can be and should be customized. To assign the custom buttons, go to Camera2, page 9:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Proper customization will give you quick easy access to the settings you are mostly likely to change as you shoot. Once in the custom key function, there are 4 pages over which to reassign functions, which I do as follows:

 

 

Rear 1:

1. Not set: Though there are a few options for setting the ring around the control pad, I don’t find it to be a comfortable place to apply a setting.
2. Metering Mode: Quickly switch between metering modes. For me, that may mean switching between multi, spot and highlight weighted.
3. AF-on: The AF-on button has become so comfortable on the A7riv, I actually use it as intended for back button autofocus.
4. Select Right/Left eye: Eye detection is now automatic in mode focus modes but with this custom button, you can override the camera to specify which eye.
5. Focus Magnifier: As noted above, if you need to focus on a small subject with extreme precision, switch to AF-S and magnify the focus.

Rear 2:

1. Recall Custom Hold 1: I call this the “Instant Reaction” or “OH SH%$” button. It’s essentially an alternative AF back button that recalls a bunch of other settings instantly. I customize it so that I can quickly switch to shooting action. Imagine you are shooting a landscape and suddenly a hawk flies overhead. You may not have time to switch your focus mode, increase your shutter speed, etc. So I just switch my thumb to the “Instant Reaction” button. Read how to set up the instant reaction button here. 
2. Finder/Monitor Select: Gives you the ability to turn off the LCD monitor, which can save battery when the camera isn’t at your eye.
3. Drive Mode: Keeping the default setting, to switch self-timer, burst modes, etc.
4. ISO: Again, keeping the default setting. Since it’s already labelled on the camera as ISO and it’s useful.
5. Not set: When the camera is on a strap on your side, I find this can get accidentally pressed too often, so I stopped setting it.

Top

A convenient location to put both focus mode and focus area side by side, since you will set them in conjunction with each other.

1. Focus Mode: Switch from AF-S to AF-C and manual focus
2. Focus Area: Switch from AF tracking to other modes

Lens

Many Sony lenses have a customized focus hold button. It’s useful for eye-AF on portrait lenses that have the button. While regular focus modes should automatically seek out the eye, it’s not 100% reliable. A dedicated eye-AF button will tell the camera that it definitely is looking at a person and should seek out the eye. 

 

Customized the FN Menu

Your most frequent functions should be assigned to dedicated buttons. At the next level, menu items that may need to be changed under specific shooting situations, we can go to the FN menu. In an improvement over the Sony A7riii, you now get 2 different function menus: one function menu for stills and one function menu for videos. [I am primarily a stills photographer. A video shooter may have very different video function priorities then I used below]. 

Starting with the Still function menu set up:

 

• ISO Auto Minimum Shutter: Making aperture-priority shooting even more powerful, set a minimum shutter speed to be used before increasing ISO
• White Balance: A commonly used feature. Raw shooters can primarily stick to AWB, but if you are gelling a flash in mixed lighting, it can be helpful to customize the white balance.
• Anti-Flicker: To be turned on when specifically encountering certain types of light flicker
• Silent Shutter: To switch to completely electronic shutter for total silence. (Just be warned that it can lead to banding in artificial lighting and can use to rolling shutter with moving subjects).
• Face Detect: Typically, you’d want to leave it on. But for example, when shooting a landscape, you may want to turn it off so the autofocus system doesn’t accidentally switch off to a face.
• Flash: Settings including slow synch flash, etc.
• APS-C/Super 35 mode: Operate the camera in “crop mode”: A 26mp 150% crop of the frame.
• Aperture Drive in AF: A new feature in the Sony A7r4. In the older models, when shooting AF-C, focus was acquired at shooting aperture. You can now set the camera to behave like a dSLR and acquire autofocus with aperture wide open. It slows down the camera slightly, so I’d stick to the normal aperture drive. But if the camera is struggling in low light, you may want to make the switch.
• Interval shooting: If you do timelapse shooting, you may want the easy access here.
• Steady Shot – Image Stabilization: In camera image stabilization. While you typically want to leave it on, it’s helpful to turn it off when using a tripod or very fast shutter speed.
• Subject Detect – Person / Animal: Sony recently added animal-eye detect to their autofocus systems, but you need to switch between detection of humans versus animals. If you routinely photograph pets, this is a convenient place to access the feature which is otherwise buried in the menus.
• Pixel Shift: A powerful feature exclusive to the Sony A7riv. Requires a tripod and a completely still subject. It takes multiple images shifting by a single pixel, which can then be compiled on the computer to create a 240mp final image with improved quality.

My FN menu for video:

 

• Audio Record Level: Self explanatory…
• Auto White Balance: Easy access to custom and pre-set white balances.
• Zebra Lines: A display setting to measure whether you are blowing out highlights.
• Marker Display: Select your aspect ratio to insure you are properly framing your subject for video.
• Face/Eye Detect: Sony A7riv is the first generation of Sony camera that enables eye-detect in video.
• APS-C/Super 35mm: Whether to shoot video in full frame, or with a 1.5 “Super 35mm” crop.
• Picture Profiles: You can choose SLOG if you do your own video color grading, or one of the other color graded profiles.
• Metering: Spot, multi, highlight priority meter settings, etc.
• Steady Shot: In camera image stabilization is helpful for video but turn it off when using a tripod or other type of stabilization system.
• Subject Detect: If shooting animals, can switch the subject here.
• Shoot Mode: If you are using the mode dial to select video, then you need another way to choose manual, aperture priority, etc. So place it here in the function menu.

Sony A7r4 MyMenu Settings

Apart from your custom buttons and FN menu, the Sony A7riv lets you create your own custom menus alongside the default camera menus. Given how disorganized the menus are, it’s helpful to assemble your own menus of items you may need to find on occasion. These may be settings you don’t change often, but you don’t want to spend 10 minutes of frustration when it does come time to change the setting. Thus, for settings I may use on occasion, but not frequently enough for a custom or FN button, they make it to the My Menu.

My Menu Page 1 — Common settings

• File Format: Jpeg, Raw or RAW + JPEG
• Raw file type: I usually shoot compressed files. For maximum image quality, I’ll sometimes switch to uncompressed but be warned that the files are about 120 megabytes each.
• Bracket Settings: Whether bracketing just to protect your exposure or for HDR editing, access the settings here.
• Interval Shooting function: If you are going to do timelapse shooting, you’ll want easy access either in your FN menu or MyMenu.
• Wireless flash: For those that shoot off-camera flash.

MyMenu 2: Image effects

• Priority set in AWB: As explained in this article about priority AWB, you can shift the white balance to protect the truest coolest whites or create a warmer bias. 
• DRO: Dynamic range optimizer. If you are shooting jpegs, you can use this feature to control adjustments to shadows and highlights.
• Creative Style and Picture Style: Further filter-type and processing type effects for JPEG shooters.
• Anti-Flicker shooting: To be selectively used when flicker of artificial light is interfering with proper exposure.

MyMenu 3: Video settings

I create one page to my most common video settings. For me, this is File Format (4k vs HD), Record Settings, and S&Q settings (for “Slow” and “Quick” videos).

MyMenu 4&5 Other Tools

• e Front Curtain shutter (EFCS): By default, the Sony A7r4 uses electronic shutter to open the shutter but closes mechanically. At times with wide aperture, this can interfere with the bokeh. Even more critically, if you are using High Speed Sync flash at high shutter speed, EFCS can cause banding. So turn it off in such situations.
• Live View Display: Settings Effect: Turn on or off the “What you see is what you get effect.”
• Airplane Mode: Turn off all networking to save battery (or if on an airplane).
• Location Info Set: To link the camera to your phone so you get GPS location date in your images.
• Touch Operation: Turn on and off your touch screen, as well as customize it.
• Format: To format or re-format SD cards.
• Rec. Media Settings: Your Sony A7r4 is equipped with 2 SD slots, how do you want to use them? I usually sort RAW files onto the primary card and backup JPEGs on the second card. You can alternatively use the second card for duplicate backup, overflow, etc. 
• File/Folder Settings: How to label and organize the storage folders on the SD cards.
• File Settings (Video): How to assign file names to video files.

 

While these are my custom settings, you should set up your settings based on your own needs.  If you utilize video extensively, you will probably have very different needs than me.  

 

Accessorize!

Camera Strap:

The included neck straps are not the most ergonomic way to carry your camera.   There are much better straps that allow for much better distribution of the weight and more comfortable camera carrying.

Some recommended strap options:

• BlackRapid Cross Body Strap
• Op Tech Classic Strap
• Peak Design Slide Strap (My current Strap)

Memory Cards:

The Sony A7riv and Sony A9ii are the first Sony cameras with dual USH-II slots. The files for the Sony A7riv are so large that you absolutely want to use the fastest possible cards in order to reduce camera lag. 

Purchase at least  UHS-II cards.  (At least 64gb)

Sony A7riv Flash Options

As with most professional level cameras, the Sony A7riv does not have a pop-up flash. Proper lighting is more important than a great lens. 

Flash used properly is still an essential tool.  There are two very affordable flashes that I can highly recommend over the Sony-branded lenses:

• Small portable:  Godox TT 350s,
• Large and very powerful:  Godox V860ii-S,

I own both of these flashes.  I can even use them together wirelessly for great off camera lighting situations.  They are much cheaper than the Sony branded flashes but actually are more powerful with more features.

Tripod

The Sony A7riv is capable of fantastic landscapes with amazing dynamic range.  But if you want to maximize that dynamic range, you want to keep the ISO low.  If you’re shooting in the evening or night, you will need a tripod with reduced shutter speeds in order to get that low ISO. For Pixel Shift of time lapse photography, you absolutely need a tripod.   

Read my article on how to use tripods for night landscapes.  

Tripods can be very cheap or run hundreds of dollars.  Balancing price, durability, portability and size, I’m a big fan of the Manfrotto BeFree Tripod.

For ultra small, portable and affordable, I love the GorillaPod and never travel without it. The 3K GorillaPod can safely hold up to 6.6 pounds, enough for a Sony A7r4 and medium-sized lens. It’s small enough to squeeze into most camera bags. 

The 2 second shutter speed for this image required a tripod

Lenses

If you own an interchangeable lens camera, then you should interchange the lenses!

See my full post on the best lenses for the Sony A7riv. 

The 61 megapixels of the Sony A7riv require the best lenses to truly maximize the potential of the camera. Otherwise, you aren’t using all those megapixels and may as well use another camera. If you don’t want to read my full article, my top three lens choices for the Sony A7riv would be:

• Sony FE 35mm F/1.8: A small lens and a relative bargain, it’s ultra sharp. 
• Sony 135mm F/1.8 GM: The best lens I’ve used for the Sony system, and I’ve used every first party lens. 
• Sony 16-35mm F/2.8 GM: One of the best wide angle lenses you can buy for any system.

Photography Education

Learning photography will pay greater dividends then the investment in any lens or accessory. 

• Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson:  The bible for beginner enthusiast photographers to break down basic rules of exposure and composition.
• Access unlimited eBooks from Amazon including many great photography titles
• Learn to Use Lightroom for organizing and processing your images.  I learned a lot about using Lightroom to process landscapes from YouTube videos by Serge Ramelli.

Post Process

You should shoot RAW, at least some of the time.  The Sony A7iii does produce some very nice jpegs but optimal image quality requires processing images yourself.  Learn how to use Lightroom or another good raw processing software.   I prefer Lightroom as it is intuitive to use and very powerful when used in conjunction with Photoshop.  Lightroom and Photoshop are available as an affordable monthly package.

Thank you for Reading

In the near future, we will be posting our comprehensive review of the Sony A7riv. By the end of 2019, I’ll complete my library of reviews of virtually every Sony FE lens. More general photography and Sony photography articles are coming. 

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For those reading this and still considering whether to purchase the Sony A7riv, while it’s a fantastic camera, I’d actually recommend saving $1,000 and buying the Sony A7riii. 

Any questions, comments or feedback, please leave a comment below.