You're very welcome!

Thank you very much!

You are welcome. :)

You are welcome.

This is a great overall tutorial even that you aren't making landscape with this machine. I was wondering how to get he Focus Point Link on and there it is, among with other great advice. Thank you. @@StephenIngraham

Glad I could help!

Great to hear! Enjoy Costa Rica. One of my happy places.

Glad it was helpful!

Happy to help!

You are so welcome!

Glad it was helpful!

Great to hear!

I cannot believe that the RX10 outperforms that combination..

Glad to be of help!

@@StephenIngraham Quick query if that's ok. When using flexible spot M how do you move the focus point to a different area of the screen without triggering the short-cuts assigned to the L R U D points of the dial? Thanks.

@@MancunianWay21 I use the touchscreen. I know some hate it…but I find it useful despite misplacing the focus with my nose on occasion.

@@StephenIngraham Thanks. Makes sense. I’m sure I’ll get used to that with practice! Bw

and thank you

Glad it was helpful!

I often use that method! Trying to learn it at 800mm as well. I need to go somewhere where there are more birds in flight to practice.

@@StephenIngraham Thanks for the reply! Indeed, it seems that whenever you go out with a camera set up for birds in flight they don't arrive until you have given up and set the camera for flowers or butterflies. We do have jackdaws nesting on (and indeed, in) our chimney so they give me some practice (to say nothing of half a winter's worth of kindling when we sweep that chimney)🙂

Glad it was helpful!

Glad it was helpful!

Glad it was helpful!

Glad it was helpful!

Glad it was helpful!

:)

You are welcome.Enjoy Africa. Which country?

@@StephenIngraham Tanzania!

You are very welcome

enjoy!

You're very welcome!

Glad to hear it!

Great cameras!

Great to hear! For macro I use the same settings as for birds and wildlife. For landscapes see my ebook on the Sony Rx10iv. Free here psnp.info/psnp_/?p=1525. For portraits I generally just use iAuto. :)

@@StephenIngraham OMG, you are an absolute star!, many many thanks.

My pleasure 😊

Glad it was helpful!

Unfortunately I have never found a way to do that. You can program a button to open the memory function…but you. still have to select which memory you want, so it is to much faster than using the function button. :(

@Mt Top Memory saves all the current settings. Custom sets only save the settings that are part of that function. It is possible to come close to a BIF custom set with the Custom Settings and then save it to a button. I do that. It is not as comprehensive as a saved Memory though. Take a look at the settings available under Custom sets. :)

Glad it was helpful!

You're welcome!

If you mean at the long end of the zoom the most likely culprit is camera motion. Try a faster shutter speed (set the minimum higher) or set ISO to “fast” or “faster”. Practice correct hand holding. The bones of our arms should support the camera, not our muscles…keep your elbows in and under the camera as much as possible. Invest in a monopod…and build a bean bag head (see my video). :)

The video is certainly my latest version but I can’t remember if it is different than my latest version of the ebook. To be safe use the settings in the video.

Thanks, but to clarify - are video settings for BIF or Basic (mostly stationary)? I have two different ones programmed to Memory.

@@jillferrer3694 The video settings are from stationary birds. :)

Thanks for the clarification. I changed the ISO Auto SS to Fast, Metering Mode to Spot Large, turned on Focal Point Link, and Phase Detection with Animal. I think those are the differences I noticed.

I used to use Clear Image Zoom (CIZ) on occasion, when it was important to get a shot for id or just because I was unlikely to get any closer. In good light and if you keep your expectations reasonable, it works quite well. It actually works best to take close-up of subjects that are not that far away…when you just want to fill the fame, as in tele-macros, or insects, etc. However, the new AI enlargement tools in post processing software (Lightroom, Pixomator Pro, Topaz, On-1, etc) does a better job enlarging a crop to higher resolution, and you have more control. My advice would be to give it a try on a nice sunny day, and see if you are happy with the results. :)

@@StephenIngraham thank you 🙏

You are welcome

it always gives you three shots or it continues to shoot as long as you hold the shutter down. I set my cameras up to take continuous shots…as many as it can while I hold the stutter button down. In practice, in the field, I only shoot burst of 3-5 images of sitting birds or wildlife (to be safe and get the shot I want) but I might take more if the bird or critter is moving much…to try to catch a pose that i like. So having it on continuous shooting is intentional. You can turn that off by setting your camera to ‘single shot’ in menu. Then it will take just one shot each time you press the shutter, and you will have to fully release before the next shot. On the other hand you might have set the camera to HDR or to multi-frame-noise-reduction. The multi-frame-noise-reduction mistake is easy to make on the Sony RX10iv as it is the first “Auto” setting under ISO settings. You want the second Auto setting…that is the normal one. :)

Thanks a heap for the response and explanation. In fact I was still figuring how to get such focus and sharp pic till I saw your post. Now I am loving my bird watching. Appreciate. Will look for more of your tips. Amateur me working on it.

Your camera may need to be updated to the latest firmware. I am pretty sure that was an added feature.

@@StephenIngraham How do I do the firmware update

@@Xpandableyouth First you need to check to see if the firmware is up to date in the menu system under settings. I am pretty sure if you google this there will be a video or written instructions. It was honestly so long ago that I did it that I do not remember. :)

I have no idea. I will look into it.

If you value focus speed and accuracy then yes it is worth the upgrade. :)

Things to try: Remove the card you are using and replace it with a fresh one. Switch batteries. Remove the battery for at least an hour and then try. Make sure the flash is all the way down. Go outside where there is no wifi in reach and try. ??

Go back to the ISO settings. The top one Auto is Multi-frame noise reduction. The next Auto down is regular Auto. :) You want regular Auto. If that does not cure the problem let me know.

I have followed your program and now all 12 windows on the fn screen are highlighted. However, the final window says MR1 instead of P, and I still cannot get the first window (Drive Mode) to allow anything except 4 bracketing settings; It also says Self timing during Bracketing Off. When I work on the Program setting using the Menu, I did get the Program to set Continuous Lo. How can I get control of this setting using fn? And how can I get the choices to read the same using Menu or fn? Thanks again for your help. Progress is slow, I'm sorry.@@StephenIngraham

@@ruthcrews6308 Can you take a photo of your camera showing the back after pressing the Fn button and send it to me at lightshedder@gmail.com? Clearly there is still something miss set. :)

It is indeed very good. If they would add Bird’s Eye Focus it would be just about perfect!

have you updated to the latest firmware?

Thanks for the idea!

Just put it at 600mm before you save the settings to memory, and it will remember and return the zoom to that setting when you choose that memory :)

@@StephenIngraham ah ok thank you

Can you send me one at lightshedder@gmail.com?. And check your exposure compensation dial.

The ISO fast, slow, and medium set how quickly the camera increases ISO as the light level changes. Fast means that the camera will favor higher shutter speeds over keeping the ISO low…so in low light situations the ISO will increase rather than the shutter speed going down…which is what I want when shooting active birds. Slow would keep the ISO as low as possible while decreasing the shutter speed to compensate. Medium…well somewhere in the middle.