Sony A9 video settings/tips for newbie

JJ!

JJ!

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Just trying to get in to a bit of video and before changing/upgrading camera body I am going to use the A9 for a bit too see how I get on.

Lenses are 35mm 1.8 and 85mm 1.8

Footage will be some interviews outdoors (tripod available) and then some horse riding.

I know hand held will not be ideal but it’s just for practice at the moment.

Going to go HD rather than 4K as that would be overkill for what I need.

Have watched a few vids but they all differ a bit when it comes to the settings. Some say 25p and some 30p. Some 50m some 100m.

Shutter speed needs to be double the frame rate, is that correct?

Then for portrait shots should I be looking at 2.8 or higher/lower?

Will have face detect for the interviews but when it comes to tracking movement of the horse will the camera do that automatically if set to focus tracking?

I have only ever really shot stills so any advice be great.
 
I don’t shoot video but know that the A9 isn’t well liked by video shooters as eye a.f doesn’t work in video and it doesn’t have any picture profiles for video and most use s-log.
 
Some Sonys work Ok with 1080p but generally it would be best to use 4K and render at lower res if you want, though for youtube results can be poor uploaded at 1080 they use a different algorithm if you don't want to upload 4K render at 2.7k 1440p
There's a lot of BS about shutter speeds and frame rates most people won't notice the slightest problem if you just leave it on auto.
Action cameras like gopro might be running at 1/1000 and it usually looks fine.
But yes you should aim for shutter at 2x frame rate.

Then which frame rate.
You'll need to run in NFTFS to get 30p and a Sony quirk is that in 4K HS probably the best quality setting you only have 50p and 100p in PAL or 24, 60 and 120 in NTFS.
There's increased risk of strobing effects from any lighting if not in PAL group frame of 25/50/100 rate so 25p is probably best option or shoot 50p if you might want to slow down any section like little cutaways. You can still render the output at 25p

Then which profile to choose I don't know the A9 but the 'best' Sony option now is invariably sLOG3 if it records 10 bit HEVC - however you need to know what you are doing to shoot it correctly and edit to rec709 so I would recommend use Picture Profile off then go into creative style settings. By default PPoff = standard in creative styles.
You can customise that by using right arrow it is often better with contrast and saturation turned down 2 or 3 points for more natural look/
Or switch it to Natural (NT) or maybe Portrait.

It might well do as good a job as anything in full auto and just adjust exposure comp so that your main subjects look reasonably well exposed depending on look you want.
I use my FX30 like that sometimes or at least in auto ISO - with a button customised so the rear ring is immediately exposure comp.
 
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Thanks for the tips! Just a note that this is not pro work. It’s mainly for YouTube and Instagram footage. The current videos are all done on an iPhone or Galaxy so just trying to get some better more uniform footage that looks a bit nicer.
 
f/2.8 said:
I don’t shoot video but know that the A9 isn’t well liked by video shooters as eye a.f doesn’t work in video and it doesn’t have any picture profiles for video and most use s-log.
Click to expand...

Does the A7iv have eye a.f in video mode?
 
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