Setup 1/2/3 Menus

Use the three Setup menus to change infrequently changed settings, such as language, date/time, and power saving settings. The Setup 1 menu is shown in Figure 3.8.

• LCD brightness

• Date/Time setup

• Power Save (Live View)

• Power Save (Optical Viewfinder)

• CTRL for HDMI

• Language

• Help Guide display

• File number

• Folder name

• Select folder

• New folder

• USB connection

• Audio signals

• Cleaning mode

• Pixel mapping

• Version

• Reset default

Figure 3.8. The Sony Alpha’s Setup 1 menu.

LCD Brightness

Options: Auto/Manual: Plus or minus 2

Default: Auto

When you access this menu choice, a pair of grayscale steps and a color chart appear on the screen, allowing you to see the effects of your brightness changes on the dark, light, and middle tones as well as colors. Select Auto to have the Alpha choose screen brightness for you. Choose Manual instead and a scale appears. Use the left/right controller buttons to adjust the brightness by plus or minus two (arbitrary) increments. If you find you have no trouble viewing the dimmed screen, you can set the brightness manually to –2 increments, and save some battery power.

Date/Time Setup

Options: Year, Day, Month, 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 year, day, month, hour, 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.

Power Save (Live View)

Options: 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, 30 minutes

Default: 20 seconds

This setting determines how long the Live View display remains active before the Alpha switches to Power Save mode. Then, the display vanishes but can be restored by tapping the shutter release button or certain other controls, such as the MENU button. If you want to set the time period for display of the info screen, choose 10 or 20 seconds, or 1, 5, or 30 minutes here.

Power Save (Optical Viewfinder)

Options: 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, 30 minutes

Default: 10 seconds

This setting allows you to determine how long the Sony Alpha remains active before going into Power Save mode when you are using the optical viewfinder instead of Live View. (I find Sony’s choice of nomenclature for this menu item confusing, as it almost implies that using the optical viewfinder itself calls for some power-saving measures.) You can select 10 or 20 seconds, or 1, 3, 5, 10, or 30 minutes. (If the camera is connected to a video display through the video cable or if the Drive mode is set to Remote Commander, the camera will power down after 30 minutes regardless of the time period this option, or the previous Power Save option, is set for.) However, even if the camera has shut itself off, if the power switch remains in the On position, you can bring the camera back to life by performing a function, such as pressing the shutter button halfway.

CTRL for HDMI

Options: On, Off

Default: On

You can view the display output of your Alpha on a high-definition television (HDTV) if you make the investment in an HDMI cable with a mini-HDMI connector on the camera end (which Sony does not supply) and you own an HDTV (which Sony does not supply with the camera, either). When connecting HDMI-to-HDMI, the camera automatically selects the correct image settings, including color broadcast system, for viewing. (Earlier Alpha models, which used a composite video connection instead of HDMI, had to be set to either NTSC or PAL broadcast cameras.)

If you’re lucky enough to own a TV that supports the Sony Bravia synchronization protocol, you can operate the camera using that TV’s remote control. Just press the Link Menu button on the remote, and then use the device’s controls to delete images, display an image index of photos in the camera, display a slide show, protect/unprotect images in the camera, specify printing options, and play back single images on the TV screen.

The CTRL for HDMI option on the Setup menu is intended for use when you have connected the camera to a non-Sony HDTV and find that the TV’s remote control produces unintended results with the camera. If that happens, try turning this option off, and see if the problem is resolved.

Language

Options: English, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese languages

Default: Language of country where camera is sold

If you accidentally set a language you don’t read and find yourself with incomprehensible menus, don’t panic. Just choose the second option from the bottom of the Setup 1 menu, and select the idioma, lingua, or langue of your choice. Also, Sony has placed a symbol that looks like an alphabet block “A” at the beginning of this menu item, no matter which language is selected, so you can recognize this menu item even if it’s in a language that you’re not familiar with.

Help Guide Display

Options: On, Off

Default: On

The Alpha’s Help Guide display provides quick snippets of information about various functions as you select them using the Fn button, direct-access buttons, or the mode dial, and then removes the information from the screen when you press the center controller button or shutter release. Once you’ve become comfortable with the operations of the camera, you may find that these factoids slow down your operation of the Alpha. You can turn them off with this menu option.

File Number

Options: Series, Reset

Default: Series

The File number option, the first item on the Alpha’s Setup 2 menu (see Figure 3.9), controls how the camera sets up the file numbers for your images. The Sony Alpha will automatically apply a file number to each picture you take when this option is set to Series, using consecutive numbering for all your photos over a long period of time, spanning many different memory cards, and even if you reformat a card. Numbers are applied from 0001 to 9999, at which time the camera starts back at 0001. The camera keeps track of the last number used in its internal memory. So, you could take pictures numbered as high as 100-0240 on one card, remove the card and insert another, and the next picture will be numbered 100-0241 on the new card. Reformat either card, take a picture, and the next image will be numbered 100-0242. Use the Series option when you want all the photos you take to have consecutive numbers (at least, until your camera exceeds 9999 shots taken).

Figure 3.9. The Sony Alpha’s Setup 2 menu.

If you want to restart numbering back at 0001 on a more frequent basis, set the Reset option. In that case, the file number will be reset to 0001 each time you format a memory card or delete all the images in a folder, insert a different memory card, or change the folder name format (as described in the next menu entry).

Folder Name

Options: Standard form, Date form

Default: Standard form

If you have viewed one of your memory cards’ contents on a computer using a card reader, you noticed that the top-level folder on the card is always named DCIM. Inside that folder is another folder created by your camera. Different cameras use different folder names, and they can co-exist on the same card. For example, if your memory card is removed from your Sony camera and used in, say, a camera from another vendor that also accepts Secure Digital or Memory Stick cards, the other camera will create a new folder using a different folder name within the DCIM directory.

By default, the Alpha creates its folders using a three-number prefix (starting with 100), followed by MSDCF. As each folder fills up with 999 images, a new folder with a prefix that’s one higher (say, 101) is used. So, with the “Standard form,” the folders on your memory card will be named 100MSDCF, 101MSDCF, and so forth.

You can select Date form instead, and the Alpha will use an xxxymmdd format, such as 10090204, where the 100 is the folder number, 9 is the last digit of the year, 02 is the month, and 04 is the day of that month. If you want your folder names to be more date-oriented, rather than generic, use the Date form option instead of Standard form.

Select Folder/New Folder

Options: Select Folder, New Folder

Default: None

Although Select folder and New folder appear as two separate entries on the Setup 2 menu, they are so closely related that I’m discussing them both at one time. Although your Alpha will create new folders automatically as needed, you can create a new folder at any time, and switch among available folders already created on your memory card. (But only, of course, if a memory card is installed in the camera.) This is an easy way to segregate photos by folder. For example, if you’re on vacation, you can change the Folder name convention to Date form (described previously), and then deposit each day’s shots into different folders, which you create with this menu entry.

• Select folder. To switch to a different folder (when more than one folder is available on your CF card), when you are using Standard form folder naming, choose Select folder from the menu. A scrolling list of available folders appears. Use the up/down controller keys to choose the folder you want, and press the center controller button to confirm your choice.

• New folder. To create a brand new folder, choose New folder from Setup 2 menu. Press the center controller button, and a message like “101090114 folder created” appears on the LCD. Press the center controller button again to dismiss the screen and return to the menu.

USB Connection

Options: Mass storage, PTP

Default: Mass storage

This option allows you to switch your USB connection protocol between the default Mass storage setting (used when you transfer images from your camera to your computer), and PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol), which you’d use to connect your camera to a PictBridge-compatible printer. In Mass storage mode, your camera appears to the computer as just another storage device, like a disk drive. You can drag and drop files between them. In PTP mode, the device you’re connected to recognizes your camera as a camera and can communicate with it, which is what happens when you use a PictBridge printer.

Most of the time, you’ll want to leave this setting at Mass storage, changing it only when you’re communicating with a PictBridge printer that requires a PTP connection.

Audio Signals

Options: On, Off

Default: On

The Sony Alpha’s internal beeper provides a helpful chirp to signify various functions, such as the focus lock and the countdown of your camera’s self-timer. You can switch it off if you want to avoid the beeps because they are annoying, impolite, or distracting (at a concert or museum), or undesired for any other reason. (I’ve had new dSLR owners ask me how to turn off the “shutter sound” the camera makes; such an option was available in the point-and-shoot camera they’d used previously. You can’t turn off all sounds made by a dSLR like the Sony Alpha, because of the mechanical action of the mirror and other internal components.) Select Audio signals from the Setup 2 menu, choose On or Off, and press the center controller button.

Cleaning Mode

Options: OK (flip up mirror), Cancel

Default: None

One of the Sony Alpha’s best features is the automatic sensor cleaning system that reduces or eliminates the need to clean your camera’s sensor manually using brushes, swabs, or bulb blowers (you’ll find instructions on how to do that in Chapter 9). Sony has applied anti-static coatings to the sensor and other portions of the camera body interior to counter charge build-ups that attract dust. A separate filter over the sensor vibrates ultrasonically each time the Alpha is powered off, shaking loose any dust, which is captured by a sticky strip beneath the sensor.

When it’s time to clean the sensor manually, use this menu entry to lock up the mirror to provide access to the complementary metal-oxide semiconductor device (CMOS). Use a fully charged battery or optional AC adapter and choose Cleaning mode, the first option on Setup 3 menu (see Figure 3.10). A warning screen pops up: “After cleaning, turn camera off. Continue?” Highlight OK and press the center controller button to move the mirror into its fully upright and locked position, after the Alpha makes one last stab at automatic cleaning and vibrates for a short time. When you’re done with your manual cleaning, turn the camera off (as advised by the on-screen prompt) to return the mirror to its picture-taking position.

Figure 3.10. The Sony Alpha’s Setup 3 menu.

Pixel Mapping

Options: OK, Cancel

Default: None

Sometimes good pixels go bad. Sometimes they’re just made that way. We’re talking here about the pixels on the Alpha’s LCD screen, not sensor pixels. You’re not likely to notice these errant pixels as you take photos, except when using Live View. You can reduce their effect by remapping the pixels shown on the LCD, so your Alpha will ignore them during display. Select this option and let your camera go to work, “removing” the bad pixels.

Because pixel mapping affects only the pixels on the LCD, and then only when using Live View mode, this menu entry is available only when you have activated Live View. You’ll find instructions for using this feature in Chapter 9.

Version

Options: None

Select this menu option to display the version number of the firmware (internal operating software) installed in your camera. From time to time, Sony may update the original Version 1.00 firmware with a newer version that adds or enhances features or corrects operational bugs. When a new version is released, it will be accompanied by instructions, which generally involve downloading the update to your computer, transferring it to a memory card, and then inserting that card into your camera using a specified procedure. It’s a good idea to check occasionally at the Sony website, www.sonystyle.com, to see if a new version of the camera’s firmware is available for download. (You can also go to that site to download updates to the software that came with the camera, and to get general support information.)

Reset Default

Options: Reset, Cancel reset

Default: None

If you’ve made a lot of changes to your Alpha’s settings, you may want the camera to return to the factory settings so you can start over without manually going back through the menus and restoring everything. This menu selection lets you do that with the press of a few buttons. You can see the default values that will be reset at pages 138-139 of the Sony instruction manual.