Need a Low Light Profile for the Sony a7 III? Build Your Own

Sony's a7 III is full of features but, like most new cameras, finding the best video settings requires some experimentation. Self-confessed uber geek Josh Yeo made this video to help you create your own picture profile to shoot with minimal noise in low light. (Warning: F-bomb and spreadsheets!)

Rather than throwing some guesswork at the a7 III's maze of a menu system, Josh has applied some logic, basing his settings on how all that dynamic range is captured by the camera and then wedged into Rec. 709, or, more simply, the 5 stops of range (thereabouts) that are conveyed by most viewing devices. With the right approach, not only can you minimize the amount of noise that appears in your footage, you can also give yourself maximum flexibility when it comes to adding a color grade.

Even if you're not a Sony shooter, the principles being applied here are incredibly useful, offering an insight into how cameras work and how you can achieve the best results. As Josh notes, one option is to switch to S-Log and overexpose a little, but he is confident that his profile provides the highest quality, as proven by his rather ingenious method of assessing the resulting footage.

If nothing else, check out his video to understand why you're much better off shooting in 4k than HD. And if you've somehow managed to get your hands on an a7 III, head out tonight with Josh's settings and let us know in the comments how you got on.

Andy Day's picture

Andy Day is a British photographer and writer living in France. He began photographing parkour in 2003 and has been doing weird things in the city and elsewhere ever since. He's addicted to climbing and owns a fairly useless dog. He has an MA in Sociology & Photography which often makes him ponder what all of this really means.

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3 Comments

He just dialed a bunch of numbers without really delving into the theory behind each change.

Just watched and set up the profile on my A73... will test tonight!

Follow up: these profile settings work quite well. Cheers.