Shutter speed

[Alforno]

Hello,😄

Is there any way to set the shutter speed with the Sony a7 i in Aperture mode? In my street photo session, some pictures of mine are indeed blurry and have a low shutter speed 😐 I'd like to increase this parameter.

Thank you 😄

[XKAES]

Do you have a user manual?  You can get it on-line from SONY.  When you use Aperture mode, you select the f-stop that you want.  The camera selects the correct shutter speed.  The only other variable is the ISO.  Do you have the ISO set to AUTO?

[Pieter]

Set your camera to (M)anual mode instead of (A)perture mode and put ISO on auto. That way you can set the aperture and shutter speed and the camera will try to get correct exposure by varying the ISO. Do bear in mind that your camera can't work magic: if you pick a small aperture and fast shutter speed, your photos will likely look like crap due to extremely high ISO and/or underexposure.

De remember the autofocussing mechanism of the A7 mark 1 is very limited and your camera might struggle anyway to get a properly focussed shot of a moving subject, rendering it blurry.

[Alforno]

42 minutes ago, XKAES said:

Do you have a user manual?  You can get it on-line from SONY.  When you use Aperture mode, you select the f-stop that you want.  The camera selects the correct shutter speed.  The only other variable is the ISO.  Do you have the ISO set to AUTO?

It depends. Sometimes in Auto, sometimes in manual 

 

26 minutes ago, Pieter said:

De remember the autofocussing mechanism of the A7 mark 1 is very limited and your camera might struggle anyway to get a properly focussed shot of a moving subject, rendering it blurry

Ok, some pic are blurry with moving people on manual focus, too. What do you think could be the cause?

[XKAES]

1 hour ago, Pieter said:

Set your camera to (M)anual mode instead of (A)perture mode and put ISO on auto.

 

Hold on a second.  You can set the ISO to AUTO when the camera is set to MANUAL exposure mode????

[SonyFF32137]

Yes

[Pieter]

2 hours ago, Alforno said:

Ok, some pic are blurry with moving people on manual focus, too. What do you think could be the cause?

Could be inaccurate manual focussing,  could be too slow shutter speed, could be bad lens, could be camera shake, could be atmospheric haze, could be really high ISO, could be... Hard to tell without seeing any samples with corresponding EXIF data.

[Cameratose]

2 hours ago, XKAES said:

Hold on a second.  You can set the ISO to AUTO when the camera is set to MANUAL exposure mode????

That's how I run mine. I don't have time to make a lot of changes as the light comes and goes, like on a cloudy day for instance. I let the camera choose ISO so I can dictate Shutter and Aperture. I don't worry too much about noise anymore, I set my max ISO to 20,000 and just run anything more than 3200 through DXO Deep Prime. 

[Cameratose]

6 hours ago, Alforno said:

Hello,😄

Is there any way to set the shutter speed with the Sony a7 i in Aperture mode? In my street photo session, some pictures of mine are indeed blurry and have a low shutter speed 😐 I'd like to increase this parameter.

Thank you 😄

Unless you must have a specific aperture, try shooting in shutter mode. Better yet get familiar with M. It doesn't take long, and eventually becomes second nature. 

[Alforno]

13 hours ago, Pieter said:

Could be inaccurate manual focussing,  could be too slow shutter speed, could be bad lens, could be camera shake, could be atmospheric haze, could be really high ISO, could be... Hard to tell without seeing any samples with corresponding EXIF data.

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[Alforno]

13 hours ago, Pieter said:

Could be inaccurate manual focussing,  could be too slow shutter speed, could be bad lens, could be camera shake, could be atmospheric haze, could be really high ISO, could be... Hard to tell without seeing any samples with corresponding EXIF data.

The picture can not be sent because it is too big. So there Is attached a screenshot of It.

I've sent upside the exif file, even in italian. It can help.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[Cameratose]

The almost looks like you were moving, the static objects like the building are blurry, but honestly, we can't tell with a screen shot. Reduce the image size and post it directly to the forum.

1/60 is pushing it for people moving. It can be done, but why not bump it higher? 

f/11 is getting near diffraction with some lenses, open it up.

1/125 and f/8 is the same exposure and will give you a cleaner shot. 

[Pieter]

1/60 sec is indeed pretty slow, 1/250 sec should be fine in this case. Is there a reason you're using such a small aperture? f/11 doesn't give the camera a lot of light to work with and image quality starts to degrade in general at such small apertures due to diffraction. I'd use ~f/5.6 in such a case, or larger even to separate the subject (kids walking in the parade?) from the crowdy fore- and background. You shouldn't fear to crank up the ISO a bit too.

Like I said before, the autofocus (AF) of the A7 mark 1 might struggle a bit with moving subjects, especially when walking towards the camera. If autofocussing, be sure to use continuous AF and perhaps don't choose a too large aperture to get enough depth of field to allow for a bit slack in front-/backfocus.

[Alforno]

1 hour ago, Pieter said:

1/60 sec is indeed pretty slow, 1/250 sec should be fine in this case. Is there a reason you're using such a small aperture? f/11 doesn't give the camera a lot of light to work with and image quality starts to degrade in general at such small apertures due to diffraction. I'd use ~f/5.6 in such a case, or larger even to separate the subject (kids walking in the parade?) from the crowdy fore- and background. You shouldn't fear to crank up the ISO a bit too.

Like I said before, the autofocus (AF) of the A7 mark 1 might struggle a bit with moving subjects, especially when walking towards the camera. If autofocussing, be sure to use continuous AF and perhaps don't choose a too large aperture to get enough depth of field to allow for a bit slack in front-/backfocus.

Hello,

If I remember well, that pic was shot on manual focus mode.It is a classical technique for street photography. It allows gaining time, the time for autofocus disappears.🫠

I set f.11 on the beginning of a street photography session and I don't touch it anymore. Otherwise, the background and/or the foreground can get blurred. But F.5.6 seems to me unrealistic for street photography, because any detail is accurate in a street photography picture. I could test f.9 or f.8 instead, they would provide more light. Do you think these parameters would improve the image?🫠

I also reckon 1/60 is a bit slow and I wish I could change it. I shoot in general in Aperture priority so that I only think about triggering.Do you think there is a way to change shutter speed in that mode?🫠 Thank you 

[Pieter]

52 minutes ago, Alforno said:

that pic was shot on manual focus mode.It is a classical technique for street photography. It allows gaining time, the time for autofocus disappears.🫠

For the A7i I understand that. Newer models focus near instantaneously, much faster and more accurate than you can manually focus.

54 minutes ago, Alforno said:

I set f.11 on the beginning of a street photography session and I don't touch it anymore. Otherwise, the background and/or the foreground can get blurred. But F.5.6 seems to me unrealistic for street photography, because any detail is accurate in a street photography picture. I could test f.9 or f.8 instead, they would provide more light. Do you think these parameters would improve the image?🫠

Really depends on your artistic preference. To me an image of a busy scene becomes more attractive if the subject is slighly isolated from its surroundings. In your sample photo, the fore- and background are quite distracting and the image would have been more appealing to me if the guy in the foreground and car in the background were blurred out. So yes, opening the aperture helps in several aspects:

 - more light to sensor, so faster shutter speed

 - your subject will become sharper as your lens is not stopped down to the diffraction limit

 - more subject isolation (subjective benefit)

1 hour ago, Alforno said:

I also reckon 1/60 is a bit slow and I wish I could change it. I shoot in general in Aperture priority so that I only think about triggering.Do you think there is a way to change shutter speed in that mode?🫠 Thank you 

In newer cameras there's a setting called 'auto ISO min shutterspeed', which determines the minimum shutterspeed at which your camera starts increasing ISO. But I don't think that option exists in the A7i. So as suggested before, better use S or M mode if you want to set shutterspeed.

[Cameratose]

1 hour ago, Alforno said:

But F.5.6 seems to me unrealistic for street photography, because any detail is accurate in a street photography picture. I could test f.9 or f.8 instead, they would provide more light. Do you think these parameters would improve the image?🫠

I also reckon 1/60 is a bit slow and I wish I could change it. I shoot in general in Aperture priority so that I only think about triggering.Do you think there is a way to change shutter speed in that mode?🫠 Thank you 

Well, a larger aperture will certainly allow you a fast shutter without pushing ISO any higher. 

I'm a bit confused by your desire for such a deep depth of field, though. Most street photographers want something shallower to isolate their subject. I can see it for certain shots. 

[Alforno]

46 minutes ago, Pieter said:

In newer cameras there's a setting called 'auto ISO min shutterspeed', which determines the minimum shutterspeed at which your camera starts increasing ISO

Interesting, I've planned maybe to get a new body. Do you know which Sony full frame camera has this option?

[Pieter]

As far as I know the A7Rii and A7iii are the first models that have this feature.

[Alforno]

7 hours ago, Pieter said:

1/60 sec is indeed pretty slow, 1/250 sec should be fine in this case. Is there a reason you're using such a small aperture? f/11 doesn't give the camera a lot of light to work with and image quality starts to degrade in general at such small apertures due to diffraction. I'd use ~f/5.6 in such a case, or larger even to separate the subject (kids walking in the parade?) from the crowdy fore- and background. You shouldn't fear to crank up the ISO a bit too.

Like I said before, the autofocus (AF) of the A7 mark 1 might struggle a bit with moving subjects, especially when walking towards the camera. If autofocussing, be sure to use continuous AF and perhaps don't choose a too large aperture to get enough depth of field to allow for a bit slack in front-/backfocus

I wonder which Sony full frame camera has a relevantly better AF, for example for moving people. Thank you 🤔

2 hours ago, Pieter said:

 

 

[Cameratose]

3 hours ago, Alforno said:

I wonder which Sony full frame camera has a relevantly better AF, for example for moving people. Thank you 🤔

 

The A7III pretty much set the bar for AF, it was first camera that made others sit up and take notice of Sony's AF. 

Keep in mind 'moving people' isn't the issue, it's the settings you're using. Now, if you were to say that the A7III would acquire focus faster and in lower light, that would be true, but the camera you're using is fully capable under good conditions. 

The A7III also uses the FZ100 battery, which is vastly superior to the one in your camera. There are many newer features in the A7III that you'd like. 

[Pieter]

17 minutes ago, Cameratose said:

Keep in mind 'moving people' isn't the issue, it's the settings you're using. Now, if you were to say that the A7III would acquire focus faster and in lower light, that would be true, but the camera you're using is fully capable under good conditions.

I beg to disagree: people moving towards the camera is somewhat of a problem for the 'slow' AF system of the A7i: it tends to backfocus a lot as the subject will have moved toward the camera between focus acquisition and shutter release. The hitrate with my old A6000 was pretty mediocre in this regard as well and it had a better AF system than the A7i. I do agree that the A7iii is really the camera that put these 'issues' to rest and showed people that mirrorless systems could outperform the dedicated AF module found in DSLRs.

[Cameratose]

3 minutes ago, Pieter said:

I beg to disagree: people moving towards the camera is somewhat of a problem for the 'slow' AF system of the A7i: it tends to backfocus a lot as the subject will have moved toward the camera between focus acquisition and shutter release. The hitrate with my old A6000 was pretty mediocre in this regard as well and it had a better AF system than the A7i. I do agree that the A7iii is really the camera that put these 'issues' to rest and showed people that mirrorless systems could outperform the dedicated AF module found in DSLRs.

People walking toward you when using f/11 on a 50 shouldn't be a problem for any camera. Running, riding a bike, rollerblading, ok. But walking, no. Focusing on a person walking at 25' would require them to walk toward you almost 13' before they walked out of the focus range, more than enough time for even the worst AF camera to get a shot. And since the hyperfocal distance is 24', everything behind the subject would be in focus to infinity. 

Besides which, the OP has stated repeatedly he was using manual focus. I could see the subject walking out of the range if someone took too long to acquire and shoot. 

[Pieter]

Sorry, I should have mentioned that I wasn't referring to this specific case, but more in general. For this specific case you're totally correct that all subjects at moderate distances should be within the DoF range.

[Alforno]

7 hours ago, Pieter said:

I beg to disagree: people moving towards the camera is somewhat of a problem for the 'slow' AF system of the A7i: it tends to backfocus a lot as the subject will have moved toward the camera between focus acquisition and shutter release. The hitrate with my old A6000 was pretty mediocre in this regard as well and it had a better AF system than the A7i. I do agree that the A7iii is really the camera that put these 'issues' to rest and showed people that mirrorless systems could outperform the dedicated AF module found in DSLRs.

Probably, I think a faster AF can be relevant e.g. in a crowd. Because many persons there move, dance, run,....

[Cameratose]

4 hours ago, Alforno said:

Probably, I think a faster AF can be relevant e.g. in a crowd. Because many persons there move, dance, run,....

The camera can focus at one distance at a time depending on your depth of field, but you still need to determine who the subject is, using your photo as an example. Multiple focus points only allow the camera to use several, to find focus, but it will still only use one to focus if the subjects are at different distances. I rarely use more than a single focus point because I don't want the camera to choose my main subject.