Zebra 109+ for Sony Raw Photographers
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 เม.ย. 2020
- Choose the most appropriate exposure using Sony's Zebra feature. Photographers shooting in the Raw file format have a little highlight recovery headroom, so the optimum level for being warned of overexposed highlights (that cannot be recovered in Raw editing software) is to create a Custom level with the appropriate settings. In this video tutorial I show the custom settings to use to ensure you never over-expose your highlights.
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Just got an a7iii and have seen a few videos on Zebras. This is the only one that explains how Zebras work with RAW files. Awesome work!
the best explanation for Sony on the web!!! Thank you sir 👍
Excellent tutorial. I was not using the Zebra feature very often and only for video, but now I have it set-up per your recommendations and look forward to trying it out in the field later... Thank you very much Mark!
Absolutely useful. Keep them coming.
Excellent information and well done video. Thank you very much!
Mark, I tried this after learning from your video and it has exponentially improved my shots already. Thank you so much for this.
Very useful insights for using Sony camera to its best advantage for exposing for highlights. Thank you 🙏
Absolutely great! I've been looking for an adequate video about this topic - sometimes I underexposed a bit too much (no big deal, but why not use it all). Thank you!
Great movie, Mr. Galer! I guess I’ve been taking the zebra feature of my cameras for granted.
Thank you very much for this great video, Mark.
Fantastic Mark. Many thanks. Would never have figured this out on my own!
Yep! How I have been rolling. Works well.
This is gold and your shots speak for themselves. I’ve been on +100 zebra and will be changing it in the morning 🙌🏼
Hi Mark. Great Video and great explains. Greetings from Germany.
Excellent video. Thank you.
I discovered this feature last week and I thought "this is brilliant and nobody has made a video about it!".
Today I found your video. Thanks for explaining it Mark, I really thought this had to be explained and shared.
SUPERB info Mark. I sometimes use the Zebra's but not enough. I didnt fully understand the Lower limit 109+ thing until you showed us this. I will have to try it out on my a6500, a6000 and NEX-7. Thanks so so much for all you do.
very good explanation mark thank you
Great tutorial as usual. Love your videos.
This was a great tip, Mark. I have been turning my Zebras off because they have been annoying me and I have not been able to figure out how to use them properly. I will definitely try this as I do prefer to expose to the right so as not to introduce a lot of noise in the shadows during post-processing.
Great tutorial! For some reason I hadn't thought about setting my zebra to above 100, great idea.
Neither had I. I've always just had it on 100
Thank you for sharing your experience and putting all this work into these videos, they've been very instructive in my work.
Great to hear!
As with all of your videos, this is so very, very, helpful! Thank you sooooo much!
Thank you very much! Great info on the Zebra feature. Now I get it :-)
By far this is the best explanation on the Zebra feature - thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Some great advice, clearly articulated as always Mark, thanks so much!
My pleasure!
I've been using your zebra/exposure comp tips to better expose HDR video and I usually get it spot on now. Thanks!
Glad to help!
This is gold! Thumb up and subscribed to the channel!
Thanks Mark, very interesting 👍
I have been wondering about this setting as I used to use it on my Nikon cameras before I switched to Sony. All your tutorials are well worth it so I joined your club/group for the monthly fee.
Thanks for the positive feedback and for becoming a Paid member 👍
very nicely explained will try to follow it. Great work
Glad you liked it
Thanks Mark for this video. It was very helpful in my understanding of my new Sony A7 iii camera. Keep safe....Keith Pinn (Canada)
Thanks Mark!
brilliant Mark.
This is such a great tutorial.
I have had my a7r3 set to Neutral -3 -3 -3 to get the histogram display more close to exposure for raw .
Sony should make a histogram fir this purpose and have it available as an option in meny. RAW SHOT HIST.
Now zebra +109 is a good option to this while that is not there.
Thanks Mark
Thanks for great tip.
Thank You!
I just got my sony a7iii 2 weeks ago and was struggling with the menu! Specifically with the zebras. Thanks a lot for all the precious info u provide on ur channel!!
Happy to help!
Thanks , really helpful video , i usually use filter make it easy for me to shot in bright light , the only problem i have i can't adjust the manual exposure with manual iso . I have Sony a6600 with sigma 16mm.
I often use the Highlight metering mode. It does a very good job of protecting highlights without having to make exposure compensations.
It tends to be aggressive (underexposed too much) and suited to JPEG shooters. It can also make serious errors if the light source is in the frame. It can be fine-tuned in the menus but this is the subject of another video.
The sunny F16 rule was originally base on shooting with Kodachrome 64 ASA film @ 60th of a second. That shows how old I am.
I shot Kodachrome and Tri-X when I started my career.
Thanks, I've been using Zebras like this for years with my A7RII.
I don’t believe the A7Rll has the lower limit option - this will result in the zebras showing early as it is working with a range.
@@AlphaCreativeSkills You're technically right, but I still use it very effectively. I set the zebras to 100+, color space to AdobeRGB and with the standard creative style, I find that 1 stop over the point when zebras first appear is when I've got a good ETTR exposure. To build some more safety into that, or fine tune it, increase saturation to +1 on the standard creative style. I confirm the results in RawDigger.
Thank you!
Nice. Never used this feature and was able to go into manual settings for the a6600 and put it at 109+
Glad I could help!
I have zebra on/off and zebra sensitivity on my function menu. C1 is 100+ and C2 is 107+ Easy to flip back and forth between the two. I use both as I shoot raw + jpeg and do not process every image. I sometimes feel 107+ "leaves a bit on the table" if you will. I will try 109+.
sweet, I had mine on 100. I do ski photography and I try to retain snow detail. Another fantastic tutorial. I really appreciate that you don't release a video unless you really have something to say.
Amazing video. I'm joining.
Welcome aboard!
Useful video Mark, thank you.
As I understand you, you "back off" (presumably a third of a stop) from first seeing the zebras, but what is not clear cut to me is that the zebras are graded in intensity from very bright bands to black bands. Do you back off from the first time a (bright banded) zebra appears? Trying that it seems the picture is too under-exposed to allow much shadow lifting before noise becomes ugly
This is the best tip from you ever.
Glad it was helpful!
lovely
thanks
Thanks!
No problem!
Superb
superc
Very useful stuff! Thank you :-)
You're very welcome!
Thanks for the tip, I have used the Zebras since my Sony R1 Camera. But it was unclear to me how these "new" settings actually worked. This is clearly the way we still shooters want to set the Zebras.
Happy to help!
Great video if you have a short description for video zebra setting for skin tone exposing and highlight using the custom settings that would be great
Noted!
Very helpful and clearly explained. Is there any reason or condition where using the Standard + Range is useful for photography, not video? I have watched several videos that explain the reason for this option as applied to video, for example properly exposing light to dark skin tone values. Thanks!
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thank you for these great videos! +1 to your subscribers :)
Great video again. I have both A7RIV and A9. A7RIV has slightly better dynamics at low ISO values. Would you still recommend 109+ on the A9 as well?
109 is the highest setting and is appropriate. The usable advantage of the A7RlV is just how clean the dark shadows are at low ISO. You can raise them three stops in post and they are very usable - this means you can comfortably underexpose to protect the highlights and not worry about bracketing - as seen in the slot canyon image used in the demo.
Thanks Mark for your wonderful tutorials. On this is specific topic, will metering mode set to *highlight help protect highlight ?
It tends to be aggressive (underexposed too much) and suited to JPEG shooters. It can also make serious errors if the light source is in the frame. It can be fine-tuned in the menus but this is the subject of another video.
@@AlphaCreativeSkills thankoo master...
Your tutorial made my Sony experience very very interesting and satisfying
@@AlphaCreativeSkills i
Superb video as always. When shooting Raw + Jpeg, is sRGB a better colour space than Adobe RGB when using Zebras at 109+ as used by yourself. Does it really matter for obtaining the best Zebra accuracy?
sRGB and Adobe RGB are about the gamut (saturation) range and have no bearing on the brightness range.
Thank you Mark. What was the suggestion for video? Also, does it differs based on colour profile?
Videographers mostly use Zebras to confirm highlights are at the correct exposure and not overexposed. They will often set Zebras to 70 or 80% …and yes the Picture Profiles can make a difference
Great tutorial - what picture style settings do you use as I understand they will affect when the zebras start to show. Thanks
I use the Standard (ST) creative look
Hey Mark, excellent video! Do you know by any chance whether the 109 still applies to the A7 IV?
Yes it still applies
Very well exposed as usual (no pun intended) ; unfortunately A7RII does not have a C1/C2 for zebra settings and max setting in 100+.
Annoying that Sony does not deploy the same or equivalent firmware for all the A7* series.
Hello Mark, Thanks for the great tutorial !
Just to make sure I got this right - the Zebras don't take into account the picture style set , is that correct ( unlike the histograph that is based on the jpeg and is picture style/ profile dependent )?
BTW- I had the zebras set to lower limit of 107 in my Sony a7III and still got completely blown highlights in backlit sunset situation ? Seems for the Sony a7III it has to be set a bit lower..
This zebras setup is for Raw shooters. Picture Profiles should be switched off when shooting Raw as it is intended for movie capture.
@@AlphaCreativeSkills Thanks Mark. I shoot raw but have a picture style set on my Sony a7III - that's being mostly used for the video settings as you said and for the jpeg preview for the pictures. I know that you've mentioned that the histogram IS affected by the picture style and was wondering if the zebras are as well , or they are "immune" to it :)
It it is , then I'll check out how to easily switch to "standard" picture style when doing stills. I know that it may be a little cumbersome in the a7III since the picture style setting is shared by both the video and stills modes.
Thanks !
Hi Mark! For some reason when shooting JPEG, if I set the zebras to 108+, although the camera shows completely blown highlights, there's no clipping and full detail when viewing the JPEG on my computer/phone. Why is that? Thank you!
Hello, very valuable information. My Sony A7Rii only gives me a setting of Zebra Off to 100+. It doesn't give me options for more than 100+ or a Lower Limit setting. I have the latest firmware installed. Is there another setting to look for?
thanks
Unfortunately not - this is a feature that must have appeared with the third generation of A7 cameras.
Great video! Just wish I knew what number to set it for any of the APS-C cameras.
Set to 127 to be safe and then test. The test is easy - you simply raise the exposure comp until the zebras just start to appear and then try to recover the highlights using just the exposure and whites sliders in post (not the highlights). If you can do this at 109 then use 109.
@@AlphaCreativeSkills I tried to test the setting at 127 on the a6600 and the max I can go is 109 :) I was able to recover the highlights using 109 so I think that should be good. Thank you for such a great tutorial, Mark!
He meant 107 : )
@@rsmith02 ha okay
Hello Mark, would you know if the Zebra settings affect my metering mode if it was set to "Highlight"? I feel the Highlight metering mode seems to work for my workflow and I want to also get comfortable using Zebras, but I'm not sure if having both is redundant.
Many thanks for your high quality content!
Highlight metering mode is effective in some situations but can lead to underexposure when specular highlights are present. Multi Metering is generally more reliable and when used with Zebras and exposure compensation it provides the optimum exposures.
@@AlphaCreativeSkills Many thanks, I appreciate your time to answer my question! Cheers!
Great video! Which creative style are you using in conjunction with 109+ zebras, and does it even matter?
I've also noticed that there is not clear consensus how to get perfect Ettr exposure on Sony cameras, since there is no RAW histogram. How would you compare your method to following methods that I've found online, in order to achieve optimum ETTR
1. Highlight metering + 2EV exposure compensation
2. Standard creative style + zebra 100+. Then apply +2EV after first zebra appears
3. Using HLOG picture profile with 100+ zebras
I use the workflow I have promoted in this video (109+) and Multi Metering. See my Metering video to know why I choose this method of metering.
I did the experiment with your method, on my A7 III, and looks like it works regardless of creative style applied. Both with neutral (with contrast/saturation -3) and with landscape, I got similar results in a sense that even +0.3 EV above zebra shows visible clipping in Lightroom.
Thanks a lot. I went here from your book aboute the A6700. Does the 109+ assume that you are in the default ST creative look ? Plus, it would be nice to have the same information for video when shooting SLOG with Flex ISO and 709(800%) displayed. That would be super useful.
The Creative Look settings have no impact on the dynamic range of Raw files. These are applied only to JPEGs and Movies when not using Picture Profiles. I am not an S-Log user as I prefer to use S-Cinetone. I provide full guidance on shooting Movies via my Patreon support channel and 600-page eBooks: Patreon.com/markgaler
@@AlphaCreativeSkillsI've been experimenting with picture profiles for a while. And I noticed that if you increase the contrast, zebras turn on much earlier. Very confusing as I thought zebras ware an exact representation of raw. Now I'am a little confused. It should probably be left on the default profile picture settings.
Mark, you've taught us to use Aperture priority and ISO Auto Min. SS. In this video you're showing us to use zebra +109. Question, the zebra +109 should be used when using Manual, right?, how exposure compensation would work if using any priority mode otherwise. Am I wrong? Thank you very much for your videos, I've learned a lot. You're my go to guy when it's about Sony cameras.
I use the Zebra 109+ Lower Limit in Aperture Priority mode. It is an ideal companion to gauge how much exposure compensation is required. It is not just for Manual Exposure mode. Check out my Patreon.com/markgaler support channel - I have a huge amount of educational material available to download or watch. And yes, I am perhaps the most knowledgeable person to talk about Alpha cameras - 44 years as a Pro Photographer, 14 years as a senior lecturer in photography at a University and 12 years as a Sony Ambassador.
@@AlphaCreativeSkillsI assume that's if you're not using auto ISO, right?. thanks Mark, you're the best.
I am mostly using ISO Auto in conjunction with ISO Auto Minimum Shutter Speed and Exposure Compensation. I offer personal guidance on my Patreon support channel.
Thank you for your vídeo! One question if I may.. If we use the Zebras, what is the advantage to have the histogram on the screen too? To show us if the photo is underexposed? Thank you so much!
The histogram relates to JPEGs or the embedded JPEG preview in the Raw file (not the Raw file itself), so if you are a Raw shooter you can just use the Zebra Display to guide your exposure.
@@AlphaCreativeSkills Thank you so much for your help! I am a Raw shooter and it is great that I don't need the Histogram and like that I can use the Level on screen!!!
Does this higher zebra level only work at base ISO, since that is the point of maximum dynamic range for the camera? Or if I'm at like ISO 6400 for example will I still retain highlight data up until I see zebras?
It works at any ISO but if in doubt test before you have to rely on it.
Great video - thanks a lot! One question though: isn't it advisable to turn Zebras on as a standard and only turn it off for special occasions? Why would you have turned it off in the first place?
That is correct
Hi Mark. I'm confused on the Zebra setting in my A7IV - Do you only set the Lower limit value, or do you also set the Std+Range to the same value or leave it at default? Is the Std+Range used for indicating correct exposure and Lower Limit for clipped highlights? The manual wasn't clear on the difference. "The settings for correct exposure confirmation and overexposure confirmation are registered to [Custom 1]and [Custom 2] respectively in the default settings.". Thanks so much!
Mark is recommending you set the Custom setting to Lower Limit and NOT use Standard Range to implement the workflow outlined in this free community support video. If you want in-depth personalised guidance to set up your camera using workflows Mark does not recommend, consider joining him on Patreon.com/markgaler as a Premium Plus member.
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Mark I didn’t get the part about setting zebras for video. What zebras should I usually pick for video shooting ?? I heard someone said once that around 90 , but I believe you mentioned 70. Not exactly sure what to based myself for setting zebras for video
It depends what highlights you are monitoring- some use Caucasian skin at 70% while others might choose to monitor the wedding dress at 90%.
Also depends on the profile you use, for instance, the setting for slog2 recommended from Sony are, 32% for the 18% grey card, 42% to 49% for average skin, 59% for the 90% white card, and that at base exposure without pushing, for example, pushing 2 stops, the exposure will shift to 55% grey card, 67-72% average skin, 83% for a white card. These settings were initially tested on a7s, but they still relevant for modern a7 cameras when shooting slog2, the testing and data come from a Sony pro filmmaker.
Giovanni Farina thanks!! where can I get that information! ???I need to digest it more possibly reading the entire thing
@@JoelRiveraMD The data are from Alister Chapman here you can find a lot more, and yes there is plenty to digest there for sure
www.xdcam-user.com/2014/08/exposing-and-using-slog2-on-the-sony-a7s-part-one-gamma-and-exposure/
Hi Mark, I shoot most of my photos in hi speed bursts. I believe that the raw files drop from 14 bit to 12 bit when doing this. Would you still stay at 109+ or perhaps drop to 107+ in this situation, as there may be less room for highlight recovery?
I stay at 109+
Thanks for your input on this interesting topic !
Do you know if the zebra feature is calculated on the integrated jpeg in a raw or on the actual raw data itself. Said differently, on other brands, zebra is not the maximum value that you can set in order to have ETTR. Is setting 109+ and going just above is always going to have something overexposed in the image ?
My other question is related to skin tones. Because softwares are not perfect for recovering information from highlights, do you set it to another value sometimes in order to be more precise ?
Finally, when you are talking about the bird at the end and the problem of being too much overexposed in the sky. Would using « highlight » metering mode would have been a solution for you ? Some people say that using this mode + 0,7EV is the perfect ETTR, what do you think ?
Have a nice day
I recently took some Raw images which included a White and a Grey card. I set the histogram as far as possible to the right till it just clipped then backed it of a tiny bit. When I processed the images in Adobe Camera Raw I increased the exposure slider till the highlights just clipped, my exposure increase was +0.7EV, interesting.
I like your method, I'll try it also :)
It was with the "highlight" metering ?
My TH-cam
I used multi metering, the histogram still picks up the White card when you ETTR.
You could try the Highlight metering as well.
My conclusion was you could increase the histogram clipping point by +0.7EV and the highlight would not be clipped in ACR.
Because ACR can successfully recover a certain amount of highlights I tend to ETTR then add +1.0EV via the exposure compensation dial when I consider it appropriate.
Let me know what results you get please.
@@MikeT-yy3 Did some quick tests right now. I only found that I really don't understand at all if we can trust the Zebra and the Highlight metering mode (or maybe I don't understand this one...). I'll do real tests with FastRawViewer and RawDigger, because they are the only tools that display the real informations regarding the raws files. ACR, Capture One and other tools don't give you the truth (at best, it's an average and not relevant to one of the 3 channels : RGB). I have seen pictures that were clipped in the blue channel (like the sky) and my editor was saying that everything is fine (which was not when I recovered the highlights because I had an ugly teint).
My TH-cam The sooner we have a true Live Raw histogram in ACR or C1 the better.
Probably best if you take a number of different scenes fully ETTR then note the extra exposure you can gain before clipping the highlights of any channel
Do you bother to reduce exposure to stop a boring overcast sky from blowing out? Thanks
I always protect the highlights unless it is the light source (the sun) or the reflection of the light source off a shiny surface (specular highlights). Grey skies can be very dramatic when rendered a little darker in post.
Following your guide here, I sometimes get just a tiny bit of zebra stripes in some particular areas of a picture. For example taking a photo of a pen with a white cap, only the very top of the cap gets zebra stipes. So my question is, should I lower the shutter speed and overall darken the image, or accept the zebra stripes? (I am shooting RAW)
Ignore specular highlights - the reflection of the light source off a shiny surface
Hi Mark - does 109+ also work with the A7iii? I’ve read, for ETTR, to try a combination of neutral -3 contrast and 107+. Have you tried this? Great videos! Stay safe!
It works with most of my Sony cameras but I have not tested it with the A7III. Best thing to do is to test your own camera so you know what is recoverable and what is not - just remember not to use the Highlights slider when determining what is recoverable (just the Exposure and Whites Sliders).
@@AlphaCreativeSkills I’ve managed to test this in multiple scenarios today and I can confirm that my A7iii works without issue with 109+ and neutral -2 contrast with uncompressed RAW. I also had an extra stop to play with in post production. What an amazing camera! Plus it is also considered ‘entry level’?! Far from it in my opinion. Cheers
@@_JBP_ the a7iii is entry level price for FULL range of features Still the best bang for your buck for full frame.
Do you still adopt the same 109 value for the new cameras which came out meanwhile (talking specifically about the A7S iii and A1 here). It feels to me that there is some additional headroom there to dial back highlights in post production (if you use lossless compressed raw).
Regarding ETTR: Is the benefit substantial enough on modern fullframe Sony cameras? In theory you can achieve additional shadow detail because you are not clipping highlights and can just back down in post processing (assuming that you are already using iso 100, otherwise camera iso would be raised which pretty much equivalant to raising shadow exposure in post, they act pretty much iso invariant). It feels like the newer generations of Sony fullframe sensors handle that so well that this is useful other than for slow landscape shooting.
There may be more headroom but Lower limit 109+ is the highest you can set Zebras.
Hello Mark, How about the Zebra setting for A7C? Thank you!
Same 109+ Lower Limit
Hi Mark is it possible to have both level and histogram in the EVF? Difficulty in doing that brought me to zebra
Unfortunately not :-(
I was mad when I first used my A7R IV that it could'nt show the level and histogram at the same time but after learning about the zebra I don't need the histogram.
Yea that really bothers me the level wont stay with the histogram... Excited to try out the zebra settings. I tried them once before and they were distracting but I had them on level 70....
What is best zebra lower limit value for Sony A1? Also 109+ ?
109+ If I had the option for 110+ I might use that instead but 109+ will have to do.
What are "Standard +Range" and "+-(in ex.)5" intended for ? (As oposed /or in addition to
"Lower limit")
I guess it is just another way to situate oneself in the density range, and to be forgotten once we adhere to the "anticlipping" approach. Right?
Restricting zebras down to a 10% brightness range may mean that Zebras don't show when you want them to warn you of overexposure. This is why I have recommended lower limit.
@@AlphaCreativeSkills I understand the (goal) principle totally (I use it since 2 years, but had it on 105+, made it instinctively, (always RAW only).
Now falling onto your this tutorial I actally do want to upper it (to 108). However I'm suddnly confused if I missed something when I see I see the option "Std..Range". I can ignore that, right ?
I offer personal support, above and beyond my TH-cam videos, on my Patreon.com/markgaler support channel.@@AR-vf7vg
to understand it right: the LOWER Limit should be set to 109 and the STD+RANGE should stay default 70? or both to 109? Thanks
You can only have the Zebras set for one set of values. 109+ and Lower Limit are my choices when shooting Raw files.
in sony a7R III - is the zebra correctly set to 109+ or 107+?
At ISO 100 I use Lower Limit 109+
still worth applying all this or the A7RV? or have the values changed?
Still applies
What are your zebra settings on your A1’s?
Same as in this video
@@AlphaCreativeSkills great thank you.
"Lower ISO produce better Color fidelity and good Dynamic range."
On the contrary, shooting with 'Log' profiles (the Base ISO being 800, in S-log 2) helps to fatch higher 'Dynamic Range'
Please clarify the above contradictory statements.
Log profiles are for movies as it lowers the contrast of the scene being captured. Highest dynamic range for Raw is with ISO 100
Anyone tried these settings with the A7III ? Great vid
The dynamic range of Sony's full-frame sensors does not vary greatly from model to model, so I would start with 109+ and then fine-tune if required.
Is 109+ recommended for A7RIII?
I would start with this but you can test to be sure.
What would be the limit for a 7R-III?
109+
Sony should be proud to have you as their ambassador. Also, the image at 12:36 is just breathtaking.
Thanks for your positive feedback :-)