Clock Setup Menu

The other new branch of the menu system added by Sony is the very short Clock setup menu, which has only two entries. If you travel a good deal, you may find it convenient to be able to get quick access to these settings to adjust your current location so that the dates and times of your images and videos will be recorded accurately. This brief menu screen is shown in Figure 3.26.

Date/Time Setup

Area Setting

Figure 3.26 The Sony Alpha’s Clock setup menu.

Date/Time Setup

Options: Daylight Savings Time, Year, Month, Day, Time, Date Format

Default: None

Use this option to specify the date and time that will be embedded in the image file along with exposure information and other data. You can select whether Daylight Savings Time is in effect or not, year, day, month, hour, minute, and date format, but you cannot choose AM/PM specifically. To set, say 2:32 AM or 2:32 PM, you’ll have to pretend you’re using a digital clock and cycle past midnight or noon to get to the AM/PM hours, respectively.

Area Setting

Options: World Time Zones

Default: None

When you select this option, you are presented with a world map on the LCD. Use the control wheel or the left/right direction buttons to scroll until you have highlighted the time zone that you are. Once the camera is set up with the correct date and time in your home time zone, you can use this setting to change your time zone during a trip, so you will record the local time with your images without disrupting your original date and time settings. Just scroll back to your normal time zone once you return home.