I think you hit them all. Especially that dang beep! Too bad there is not a setting for turning on a tiny electrical shock when you pick up your camera with no card inserted. Would be so helpful at times when you are rushing around, right?
@@MFP_Photography haha...or battery. A couple of weeks ago, luckily I was only 1/8th of a mile into my hike to a waterfall,, when I realized I left the battery charging in the car.
Excellent video. In addition to what you mentioned, I also make sure that I have my electronic level option on for straight horizons, I have my framing guideline on to help with composition, I have my histogram on to expose correctly and also have a button assigned to magnify, so that I can check what i’m manually focusing on is sharp.
Regarding "Long Exposure Noise Reduction": I agree that when shooting RAW, you generally don't want the camera to apply any noise reduction to your RAW files. Long Exposure Noise Reduction however is generally a quite well understood algorithm and it can be useful. It is at least good to know what it does and how it works, because it doesn't work like "regular" noise reduction and you can recreate the same effect with a little effort -- IF you do a bit of extra work "on the scene". Long Exposure Noise Reduction generally kicks in when your exposure time is 1 second or longer, not for any shorter exposure. What it does, is that it takes a second exposure after it shoots your image, but the 2nd exposure is with the shutter closed. Thus it records _just the sensor noise_, which should be done when the sensor is at the same temperature as your actual shot (because sensor noise can be temperature-dependent) and should be done for the same exposure-time, and at the same ISO value. So the camera does that automatically for you with this function, and then with this second shot, which in theory should be all-black, it uses that to determine sensor-noise in your actual exposure and subtract that from the shot captured. This can be very effective, but it also doubles the time you need for each shot so it will slow you down. Therefore, especially for astro-photography when you want to take many shots for star-stacking, it can be beneficial to turn it off, but first take a number of "dark exposures" manually by leaving the lenscap on your lens. Then you can manually blend in these "dark exposures" in either a star-stacker program, in darktable, or in Photoshop. I usually leave this one on, for I find this to be really effective without negative effects on RAW file output, but I do understand why one may also want to turn it off. Regarding backbutton focus / manual focus / autofocus, on Fuji cameras I just put the camera in manual focus mode since that still allows pre-focusing using the autofocus functions and then all the manual focusing tools are readily available! Even Focus Peaking works better (for me) in MF mode vs using it in AF+MF mode. And for the IBIS, I have that at the top of the custom-menu of my Fuji so I can turn it on or off real quickly from there. For the rest I mostly have my settings similar to yours I think! Thanks for another good and useful video. :)
@@stephenschmid492 When using the manual-focus mode on your Fuji camera, you can use the AF-L button (or AF-ON, depending on your camera model) to engage focus, just like you do when setting "back button AF". If that doesn't work out of the box you have to configure it in the button-settings so that this button will engage focus. Do you shoot with Fuji, or another brand? I know that with Canon you cannot use the AF function when in MF mode, I don't know about Sony, Nikon, Olympus or other brands!
@@TimvanderLeeuw With Panasonic it's the other way around. You lock the AF in regular AF mode and then use the manual focus ring (where available) to fine-tune.
When shooting RAW, I usually select a flat camera profile (Neutral on my camera). The the image preview on the camera more closely resembles the RAW image the camera will produce. This gives me better information regarding what I may be clipping and helps make a more accurate decision when compensation for exposure.
I like how Fuji provides a Natural Live View mode to flip back n forth to get the most DR possible, but then you can easily switch back to a Film Sim (I tend to edit with Classic Chrome/Classic Neg). Helps me a ton when shooting MTB photography in dark forests!
I typically suggest setting up more than one custom mode for the different types of photos you are shooting and reassign commonly switched functions to the commonly unused buttons on the back of the camera. Another great video.
You mentioned that IBIS is often buried deep in the menus... One other thing that's very useful is to create custom menus, to quickly access settings that you use regularly but can't link to buttons. For instance, on my Canon 7DII, I have in custom menus: bracketing (actual exposure values + number of shots), GPS on/off, format card and a few other settings that I occasionally need.
Hello Mark, Thank you for the video. I love your contributions to the landscape photo community. I am new to Fuji having just acquired a GFX 50sII. I have been shooting Nikon for many years. I shoot landscape exclusively and stunned with the flexibility of the GFX system. The image quality is something special. Keep up the videos and great work. I hope catch up sometime!
Thank you, Mark. As you know, not all settings you mention are available in all models, but the principles are helpful. I also turn off the audible warnings, but today a client who is visually impaired booked me for a 1-2-1. He has the warning sounds on just for the focusing, as his eyesight is not good enough to fine tune it himself!
Hey, great video and I agree with all your points. It's something that is easily forgotten to cover since this initial setup is only done once. Something you might be missing our on is the white balance setting. You say you shoot in auto wb, which is fine for raw since you can tweak it later. However, since the histogram is based on a jpeg version of your image, that histogram is showing values based on the white balance. It is a subtle change, but I've found I get much more accurate histograms by using the appropriate white balance setting in the field. Sometimes, it allows another third of a stop exposure to be used for shadows.
Do you think you'll be keeping the GFX100S or is the XT-4 all that you need? Curious as I've been considering upgrading myself. A video on your experience with the GFX100S would be amazing!
Appreciate this timely video Mark; I have a new to me IR converted camera I need to setup. It will be interesting to discover the differences between visible and IR configurations.
great walk through - very detailed. I appreciate the tips. your studio reminds me of my college dorm room. I had a lava lamp, plasma bulb and a clock with a blue neon ring around the face that glowed like your backlighting.
Thanks Mark for your detailed video on camera settings! As a novice in photography it's always a nervous experience when having to learn about your camera and going into different menu settings! 🙂
Great set of tips, thanks Mark. I will add one of my own for fuji shooters, which I use all the time for landscapes. If you just shoot RAW, you can't select the image size. So if you want to compose for a 16x9 or 1x1, you have to guess it. You can change image size when shooting jpegs, so the workaround is to shoot RAW+JPG.
As a night photographer NR is a must mainly for hot/dead pixels, Yes I know that now cameras are programed to do a pixel reformat when turned off, PS/Lr used to rid the bad pixels but star eater problem probably stopped that. For sunrise/set when sun is up bracket 5 at +/- 2ev for a small sun. Also WB white at sunset/rise to rid blue shadow hue on white objects like boats or snow. Also for night beach shots process in portrait profile - sand color comes out almost perfect of course color pick the white surf at night for good night color of sky and sand if in RAW.
Hi Mark I really enjoyed you video. I have a Fuji GFX 50S II and so your thoughts on setting up were very useful. My one question is regarding the use of the built in depth of field indicator in the camera. It seems like the best method of focusing if you want to find the hyperfocal distance especially with a zoom lens. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this.
Thanks for this great collection of tips. Depending on the situation I also setup using the electronic shutter to further reduce the sounds my camera makes. I’ve set this to a camera button for easy switching.
Speaking of new cameras, what were your reasons from going from full frame to aps-c to medium format so quickly? Seems like you used the aps-c camera a for a very short time. One would assume there was something lacking with the smaller camera. I’m just curious.
You can have a lot of fun with HDR outdoors. I got some cool shots in New Mexico two weeks ago. Lately I've been shooting models and need to turn my screen off because when I want to move my focus point around all I do is scan through the last images I took. pretty frustrating. Good video, Mark.
Mark, love your videos, but I think there's some new video content that could be made that would be unique on RU-vid (I suggested this in your IG dm's but doubt it was seen) - Photographer's Guide to "X" (some location). When I first reached out on IG, I was looking for a video on Zion National Park as I had a trip coming up to there but couldn't find a solid photography video on the location. There are Vlogs about the location, but nothing in a guide format, such as top locations to shoot, times of day, specific gear useful for that location (like you definitely need a wide lens for The Narrows), time of year, and so on. I'm planning a trip to Acadia in Maine, and know you've been there. Would love to see a video of this type. You've made Acadia videos in the past but not in this format. Food for thought! Hope it helps
That's a super dope idea and I think it would be pretty handy for some people, but I think that for his channel and viewers, it wouldn't be relevant enough. I could be wrong though!
Great settings tips Mark.... I use my d850 for Landscapes and Seascapes and Wildlife .. I have setup and use custom function buttons for both ... I will say beeps have always been off especially for Wildlife...Another fantastic Video Mark... I always look forward to these Videos !
Pretty much the same settings I use as well on my XT-3, even for MTB Photography! I tend to use spot metering when in crazy dark forests & light beaming through & my focus area is on Zone. As for Auto Focus (which I mainly rely on), I use a few different custom settings for different kinds of shots. Lots of fun settings in our cameras these days!
I always turn off image preview as I shoot a mixture of landscape and moving subjects. It's so easy to turn it back on if I'm solely doing landscape. I also set the colour temperature to 6000k as this is a good starting point when post processing.
Even though I almost always shoot on a tripod, I never use the self timer function. l always use my remote shutter release, which makes timing shots much easier, especially shots including waves or conditions where light changes rapidly.
Really useful to see this, thank you for sharing! Reassuring that I’m pretty much set up the same. However I like to have my exposure set to ‘highlights’ rather than average or multi. If I do switch to an average metering I will switch on a function called ‘Zebra Stripes’ which identifies over exposed areas of my shot so I can dial down my exposure.
Is that GFX100S going to make it into your bag permanently? I am a Sony shooter but after buying the X100V for a trip, I really appreciate Fuji. I was going to add an XT4 to the bag but I think I am going to hold out for the GFX100S! As always thanks for the video!
I have a question: do the files sizes slow down Lightroom? To download? To process in development? And if yes, what is the best way to deal with that slowdown.
(using Canon & Sony) do you have further recommendation on: Color Space sRBB/Adobe? ISO speed settting range (default), lens correction, Metering mode. Thank you
I need to look more into those focusing settings. There are situations where my camera just misses the focus entirely and instead focuses as close as possible, although I'm looking for that infinity focus. My preferred manual focusing technique is zooming in LV to focus, which isn't always a possibility as I don't always carry around my tripod or I'm shooting something fast moving, like birds.
Mark - this was an extremely helpful video for me. I have a Nikon D7100 and am confused concerning the AF Area Mode. I usually keep my setting on manual and have auto focus set to AF-S and AF area mode set to Single focal point, Question to clear up my confusion: for every new shot with the camera set with the aforementioned settings, do I need to change the focal point (using the multi-selector button on back of camera) for each shot? It seems that if I must move the focal point for each shot would be a rather lengthy process to go trough for each shot. Hope you can advise. Thanks!
Mark, I'm a bit confused about the AF+MF. Do you have the focus mode set to "S"? Also, does the focus lock automatically once set by touching the screen or pressing the shutter half way? I have the X-T30 and I believe I have to press the AF-L button once focus is set to lock it. Or am I missing another setting? Thanks for the help.
Great video! I’ve found that manually bracketing works better. Often I want 1/3 of a stop over the base exposure, but 2/3 under (for moving water for example). It’s a little more work and adds a risk of bumping the camera, but I found it a better way. Thoughts?
Great video! I know it’s old but still helpful. I’m wondering if you could tell me how to get that histogram overlay from popping on to the LCD every time I’m trying to view an image. Also I can’t get it to swipe to the next image anymore, it seems. Any help is appreciated.
Hi Mark - Love your content but I was shocked to see you adding the (rather large) GFX to your kit after downsizing from the Sony a7r2 to the Fuji X series. Would love to hear your thoughts on the change and di you consider the Sony a7r4 in your decision making as long as you are adding a whole new body and lenses.
Love your videos and presentation style, Mark. Not sure if your cameras have something like the Nikon D-Lighting feature. I have shot with this turned off but find that in high contrast images, there is very little detail in the shadows. Will try using this feature set to ON and see if it helps preserve some of the details. 😀
its strange seeing the different Names of the same setting between different manufactures eg. with Canon the manual focus is "full time Focus override" and turning IS off is a little easier with just turning it off on the lens but, if the lens hasnt got it your right it is very hard to find so Ive saved it to a favourite . also a good idea to put bracketing to a custom mode.
Hi Mark, Great video and information. Thanks so much for sharing. I wanted to ask you how do you save your images? Do you have a video on that? Do you download from you SD card straight to your computer or do you download to an external drive so you don’t, over time, slow down your computer speed? I’m trying to learn the best way to save my RAW files without storing those large files on my laptop. Again, thanks so much for all the help you have given me through your channel. Greg Roberts, Birmingham, AL
Good day! I want to ask about your experience with DXO Pure Raw. (If you've heard of it before.) Or if you could do some research on this program ... How it works and how effective it is.
I'd be curious to see you do a side-by-side comparison of the same scene that was shot hand-held with IBIS, vs on a tripod without IBIS. Same settings etc. To see if we can see a difference even at 200%. I can run my own test but it might make for an interesting vid here. :)
It also might be a good idea to check that ridiculously thick and hard to read manual that comes with each camera. In two of my camera manuals, it says that it is unnecessary to turn IBIS off when using a tripod.
Long-Exposure Noise reduction is one of the few things you should always leave on. If you use software to reduce noise, it will be doing an educated guess as to which pixel noise needs to be reduced. When the camera does it right after an exposure it is not guessing, which makes it far superior.
Good video Mark ! I have question. Why do you prefer AWB in landscape photography? Aren't you afraid the camera won't make a good choice when you are shooting in low light condision (sunset or sunrise) ? I mostly choose daily white balance.
Thanks Mark. I use many of the settings that you use. However, my camera is almost 10 yrs old and does not have any of your later settings. I am happy with it and will use it until it dies. I do find the back button focus a very good setting. As for beeps ahhhh. Question: Do you set your aspect ratio in camera or wait until you post process.?
Hello Mark! Please tell me, are you satisfied with 32-64? You an experienced landscape photographer and would you choose, this zoom or the two primes 30 and 63?
Great video, tnx for the tips! One question still: I'm shooting in RAW (DNG) all the time - does it still matter if I turn off the Noise Reduction or not? Actually, an automatic NR should only affect the JPGs, but not the RAW-data, right?
Enjoyed the video, I have a question about shooting raw. Does it matter what the picture mode is if you are shooting raw? I know raw is unedited and as close to film as can be but unless you shoot raw+ jpeg, does it matter? Does whit balance matter?
"IBIS is usually hidden deep within the menus" Using a Canon 5D mk-iii, my IS selection is a switch right there on the lens body beside AF/MF, and I still manage to forget to turn it off 90% of the time.
Hi Mark! I have long exposure noise reduction on for one reason, it solves the problem of the annoying coloured pixels that happen on the sensor ( due to temperature I believe...). Do you come across this and if so, how do you solve this? Cheers, love the videos!
Man. It's watching these kinds of videos, that make me realize my humble Nikon D5300 is Aging. I've got: Dumb auto-bracketing (I have to trick it into using it), no focus check, no Focus Peaking, no custom modes. hmm. I may have to look into upgrading
I think you made a mistake about LENR. It isn't the usual noise reduction a camera or a software can apply. It is about stucked pixels. At least in canon cameras, after a long shot where there are the greatest possibility of stucked pixels, the camera takes another picture with the same speed but the shutter is closed. Then it can identify the stucked pixels that glow in completely black picture and subtract them from the first photo. This is something than no software can do it without this technique.
