The following settings are recommended for portrait photography:
| Photo shooting menu | |
|---|---|
| Set Picture Control | Portrait |
| Focus mode | Continuous AF |
| AF-area mode | Wide-area AF (L-people) |
| Vibration reduction | Normal |
| Silent photography | Off |
| Custom Settings menu | |
| a5 Store points by orientation | Yes |
| d5 Shutter type | Auto |
| Other settings | |
| Monitor mode | Prioritize viewfinder |
Choose this option for portraits in which your subject's complexion looks smooth and natural.
Choose AF-C for shots of mobile subjects. The camera adjusts focus continuously while the shutter-release button is pressed halfway or the AF-ON button is pressed.
When this option is selected, the camera detects and focuses on the faces or eyes of human portrait subjects in the active focus area (face/eye-detection AF), making this a good choice when you want to focus on a particular human portrait subject. On detecting a human portrait subject, the camera will automatically keep the focus point (indicated by a yellow border) positioned over the subject's face, or if the eyes are detected, over one or the other of their eyes, letting you concentrate on composition and your subject's expression even when your subject is in motion.
Face/eye-detection is also available with human portrait subjects when [Auto-area AF (people)] is selected. If more than one human face or eye is detected, and icons will appear on the focus point, which can then be positioned over a different face or eye by pressing or .
When photographing dimly-lit subjects with AF-S selected for focus mode, choose [On] for Custom Setting a10 [Low-light AF] to help the camera focus.
Choose [Normal] for a comparatively high level of vibration reduction. As a consequence of how lens shift vibration reduction operates in [Normal] mode, the image in the display may jiggle after the shutter is released, but this is expected and does not indicate a malfunction. If you find the motion distracting, choosing [Sport] will stabilize the image in the viewfinder and free you to concentrate on composition.
Note that if an F mount lens with a vibration reduction switch is attached via an optional FTZ mount adapter, the [Vibration reduction] item in the camera menus will be grayed out and unavailable, and vibration reduction options will instead have to be selected using the switch.
Selecting [Yes] for Custom Setting a5 [Store points by orientation] lets you choose separate focus points for "wide" (landscape) orientation, for "tall" (portrait) orientation with the camera rotated 90° clockwise, and for "tall" orientation with the camera rotated 90° counterclockwise.
Recommended for users familiar with traditional digital SLRs, "prioritize viewfinder" mode lets you frame pictures in the viewfinder during hand-held photography. In photo mode, putting your eye to the viewfinder turns it on and displays the view through the lens, but the shooting display does not appear in the monitor when you take your eye away. Menus and pictures can still be displayed in the monitor using the MENU and buttons.
