Guide to Sony a7 III Camera Menu Settings Hacks

sony a7 iii menu hacks

Sony a7 III (Order from B&H Photo | Amazon) is loaded with tons of new menu settings since the Mark II. Here’s a list of settings you’ll want to change as soon as you get the camera.

MENU > Camera Settings 1 (5/14) > AF 1 > Swt. V/H AF Area > AF Point + AF Area
This setting links AF Point & AF Area to the same part of the screen when switching between vertical to horizontal shooting.

MENU > Camera Settings 1 (9/14) > Exposure 1 > ISO AUTO Min. SS > Fast
If you’re an a7/a7II users who complained that you wanted to control minimum shutter speed with Auto ISO, Sony Engineers listened. You’re welcome!

MENU > Camera Settings 1 (10/14) > Exposure 2 > Spot Metering Point > Focus Point Link
Awesome new feature that links Spot Metering Area to the focus point.

MENU > Camera Settings 1 (11/14) > Flash > Wireless Flash > On
This is a new setting starting with a9 that must be enabled to use Wireless Flash. Unless you’re using old-style flash triggers like Pocket Wizards, turn it on and leave it on.

MENU > Camera Settings 1 (12/14) > Color/WB/Img. Processing > DRO / Auto HDR > D-R Off
Unless you’re shooting quick & dirty Jpeg only, turn this off and adjust shadow detail in post.

MENU > Camera Settings 1 (13/14) > Focus Assist > Peaking Setting / Peaking Display > On
If you’re a manual focus lens user turn this on. If you only use both AF and manual focus lenses, you may prefer to assign this selection to a Custom Button.

MENU > Camera Settings 1 (13/14) > Focus Assist > Peaking Setting / Peaking Level > Low
It may sound counter-intuitive but you want the lowest sensitivity for the most accurate feedback

MENU > Camera Settings 1 (13/14) > Focus Assist > Peaking Setting / Peaking Color > Red or Yellow
By default Peaking Color is White but unless you’re shooting a school bus against a red wall, either yellow or red is a usually a better choice.

MENU > Camera Settings 2 (1/9) > Movie 1 > File Format > XAVC S 4K
Unless you want Standard 1080p HD set the camera to XAVC S 4K

MENU > Camera Settings 2 (1/9) > Movie 1 > Record Settings > 24p 100M
For the best recording codec, use a UHS Class 10 SDXC card (64GB or larger) and select this setting.

MENU > Camera Settings 2 (3/9) > Movie 3 > Movie w/shutter > On
Allows you to use the shutter button to start video recording

MENU > Camera Settings 2 (4/9) > Shutter/SteadyShot > Release w/o Card > Disable
Do you want to shoot images without recording them? NO!

MENU > Camera Settings 2 (7/9) > Display/Auto Review2 > Auto Review > 2 Sec
I prefer to see a 2 sec playback of the last image, but if you don’t – leave this off

MENU > Camera Settings 2 (8/9) > (Still Photo) Custom Key 3 > Focus Hold Button > AF2 > Eye AF
Best way to activate Eye AF is using Focus Hold Button when using lenses that have a Focus Hold Button.

MENU > Camera Settings 2 (9/9) > Custom Operation 2 > MOVIE Button > Movie Mode Only
This setting prevents unintentional movie recording

MENU > Camera Settings 2 (9/9) > Custom Operation 2 > Audio Signals > Off
Turn this off if you don’t want to hear the beep when you focus

MENU > Setup (1/7) > Setup 1 > Monitor Brightness > Manual > +1
Indoors bump up Monitor (LCD) brightness +1. Outdoors change from Manual to “Sunny Weather”

MENU > Setup (1/7) > Setup 1 > Delete confirm. > “Delete” first
What do you want delete to do? Delete. Make that the first option to save lots of presses of the button

MENU > Setup (2/7) > Setup 2 > Display Quality > High
While ‘Standard’ quality will save a bit of battery power, the new NP-FZ100 Lithium-Ion Battery is so good that it’s best to go for maximum display quality.

MENU > Setup (2/7) > Setup 2 > Touch Operation > On
This setting allows ‘Touch Focus’ which is a godsend for landscape, architectural & product photography and video.

MENU > Setup (4/7) > Setup 2 > USB Power Supply > On
Allows you to power the camera using an external USB Battery. (Depending on your OS, you may need to turn this off to run firmware updates.)

MENU > Setup (5/7) > Setup 2 > Copyright Info > Write Copyright Info > On
Allows you to embed your copyright into the Metadata of all images.

MENU > Setup (5/7) > Setup 2 > Copyright Info > Set Copyright Info >
Press Center Button to Bring up Keypad then enter “copyright Your Name”

READ: SONY A7 III REVIEW

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30 thoughts on “Guide to Sony a7 III Camera Menu Settings Hacks”

  1. I have a slightly off topic question Brian:

    When I set the A7Rlll to PP10, my default videography PP, the EVF utilizes PP10 profile in stills mode too (as expected). Yet, as soon as I switch over to “Silent Shutter” the EVF defaults to the stills (jpeg) setting (Neutral in my case) even though I only shoot RAW. Is there a way to make “Silent Shooting” default to PP10 as well? Thanks Chris.

    1. Not every setting is compatible with Silent Shooting Mode – but try setting the camera to Silent Shooting mode and then selecting PP10. If that works it may just means the two modes allow different settings. If not then it’s a compatibility problem.

      1. I just get the greyed-out PP option in the menu when in silent shooting. So it looks like setting the jpeg shooting style to “Neutral -3 -3 -3” (as we did on the 5D2) is the only way to keep the EVF “look” similar between mechanical and electronic shutter.

        Maybe this is why the A9 has no PP video settings!!!!

        Thanks, Chris

  2. Hi Brian! I hope you can assist me because I have tried to figure this out and I have to stop pulling my hair.
    I have saved memory for my 1 & 2 mode for a specific type of video shooting. I mapped the shutter to record video (Camera setting 2 (3/9). This is not at all working. The shutter just takes pics and does not record. it only works when im on the movie mode. I dont know what change I need to make on any of my setting to make use of this function. I would greatly appreciate a response. Thank you sir!

  3. Hi Bryan
    I have the 7R III and would like to customize a button so I can switch from Raw to JPG fast. I was unable to find a way . Do have any suggestion please.
    Andres from Argentina

  4. Audio control question. Is there a way to record audio on the A7III without also using the built in mic? When I plug in my Sennheiser ew100 wireless lav, I am getting both external and internal mic recording? WTF Is there no way to turn the internal off? I have my Sennheiser down to -36db and the Sony volume down to 5… but I don’t want the internal working at all… what to do?

    1. I don’t own that mic, but try lowering the Camera Menu setting for internal Audio Rec Level to 0 and raising the Sennheiser volume to the appropriate level.

  5. Hi Brian

    Most times I use my A7-III in fully manual mode with back button focusing and shutter AF disabled. However, it is a nightmare when I want to hand over the camera to someone else to take a picture. I can easily spend a minute changing settings here and it becomes a hassle.

    I have tried saving all my settings to the “1” dial and setting up a uber-auto mode in “2” dial which included all the autofocus options turned on. However, they don’t seem to be saved. Can this be a bug? If not, how can we make a feature request to Sony so that all menu adjustments get saved in “1” and “2” positions?

    I’m pretty confident i’m doing it properly, and already saw a thread in dpreview discussing the issue.

    What do you think?

    Kind regards

    1. I believe you are correct. I don’t think back button AF can be saved to a Custom Shooting mode, however there is actually only ONE setting which must be changed to allow someone else to shoot normally – turn AF w/Shutter > ON

  6. Yes, i think i was taking the all or nothing approach. As I didn’t see it working i just changed everything one by one. I can save all the other adjustments to “2” and just put that setting into My Menu for quick access. Thanks for the heads up!

  7. Brian,

    Received my new a7iii fro B&H. Want to reprogram the focus hold button on my G lenses (I’d choose eye autofocus, same as you have) but in the menu I cannot find this button listed. Looks like the a7iii does not support reprograming button on lens. Please advise.

    For now I have eye autofocus programed into the center button of control wheel, inconvenient when using back button autofocus.

  8. Great article. I picked up my A7III last week after waiting what felt like an eternity for the pre-order to arrive. Having upgraded from an Olympus EM5II I am excited to see what this can do.

  9. Hi Brian, thanks for all the great notes. I was trying to figure out if its possible to backup all my camera settings and transfer to another body. Since it take about 10 hours (kidding) to set the menu up, it would be great to have it saved. Any thoughts?

  10. On an a6500 (and presumably an a7), you can back up or copy the M1 – M4 settings. You find them on the flash card in Private > Sony > Setting > 6500N (for an a6500) > CAMPRO01.DAT, etc. Copy the Sony folder to your computer. Then when you format a flash card, copy it to Private from your computer.

  11. Hi Bryan In Canon DSLRs, users are able to keep “My menu” as default screen when pressing “Menu” button. In Sony, it opens the screen where it was left before. How to make “My Menu” as default? Is there a way?

    1. Unless it’s been shut down, the camera normally returns to the last screen it was on. At start-up, you can quickly access the My Menu tab if you first scroll to the tabs on top instead of all the sub-menus

  12. I am having a problem with getting the right setting in low light, I have a Sony a7III. What would you recommend? Thank you

  13. Interior shots with my new A7iii appear dull and on the darker side straight out-of-camera. I shoot only jpegs and in aperture priority mode (f/8, ISO 400, Tamron 17-28, 2.8) I am able to bring out a lot a data in post and get the shots to look nice, but can’t figure out why they appear so dull straight out of camera. DRO is off. Thanks in advance.

    1. Sounds like you may be underexposing. Try adjusting the EV Comp Dial as you shoot to bring up the exposure.

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