Published 2022-08-13.
Last modified 2022-12-27.
Time to read: 3 minutes.
Manuals
Videos
Really great Sony A7 iii Tutorial videos on YouTube:
Sony RMT-P1BT remote control – Focus mode only works when the lens is in AF mode and the camera is in manual focus mode.
Leveler display: enter that mode by pressing the wheel where it says DISP twice.
Sony Callback Support
Web page ilce7m3
PC Remote Control / Streaming / Webcam
I use a USB cable because Sony’s wireless Wi-Fi connection is extremely awkward to use. In fact, it is a useless feature.
Desktop Control vs. Streaming
Enable desktop control or streaming, but not both at the same time.
Testing the Memory Card and Reader
- 90 MB/s write speed
- 160 MB/s read speed
- C10 — Class 10
- U3 — UHS speed class 3
- V30 — video speed class 30
Initially I used a SanDisk 256GB Extreme microSDXC UHS-I Memory Card (SDSQXA1-256G-GN6MA) with a Transcend Information USB 3.0 Card Reader (TS-RDF5K).
I tested the performance of this combination using CrystalDiskMark when connected via USB 2 and USB 3.0. When tested with USB 3.0, throughput was better than with USB 2, but read performance was still only 60% of the rated speed.
USB 3.0 is capable of up to 500 MB/s speed, so it is not the bottleneck. The memory card has been widely tested and the published specs are reasonably accurate.
The Transcend Information USB 3.0 Card Reader is the bottleneck. While the product listings on various sites, such a Amazon and NewEgg, do not show the rated transfer speed, Camera Memory Speed tested this card reader and got similar results as I did.
I purchased a Kingston FCR-HS4 card reader; it performs much better with a UHS-II card.
Oddly enough, when connected via a 15-foot long USB 3.0 extension, the Kingston FCR-HS4 benchmarked faster. Perhaps another process was running during the previous benchmark test.
Format Memory Card
To format the card:
Video File Names
Many Sony cameras have for years not provided a way to set a video file name prefix.
Video files are all named C0___.MP4, and ___ defaults to 000.
This is a problem when using more than one memory card, or after formatting a memory card.
To provide a different value for ___, make a file called H:\PRIVATE\M4ROOT\CLIP\C0___.MP4,
where ____ is the starting number of the desired sequence.
Unfortunately, the file name will roll over after 999 videos, so be careful!
Each video has 3 files:
H:\PRIVATE\M4ROOT\CLIP\C0001.MP4H:\PRIVATE\M4ROOT\CLIP\C0001M01.XMLH:\PRIVATE\M4ROOT\THMBNL\C0001T01.JPG
Set Playmemories Home Folder Date Format
How to change the Playmemories Home folder date format
Set File Name Prefix
Set the first three characters of the file name for images saved in the camera. This feature does not work. Sony does not care.
Select the entry field for the file name to display by using the virtual keyboard that appears next, and then enter three characters of your choice. The file name will be applied to both slot 1 and slot 2.
Feed TotalMix Output to Camera
The microphone on the Sony Alpha 7 Mark iii is excellent. However, I wanted to provide the output of Pro Tools / TotalMix directly to the camera, so the video from the camera had the right audio mix. Turns out that is really easy to do.
Outputs 7 & 8 on the back of the RME UFX are provided as mono 1/4" jacks. I used a Y-combiner to convert them to a stereo 1/4" connector, then I attached a stereo cable with a 1/4" connector on one end, and a 1/8" connector on the other end. The stereo cable plugged into the camera connector for stereo microphones.
The TotalMix output was set to +4 dBu as shown in the image to the right.