--- title: "A Beginner's Journey - Macro Photography Notes with the Sony α7IV, Part 1" description: "Macro photography notes for new Sony α7IV owners, covering an introduction to the camera's buttons, an explanation of the main shooting modes, and hands-on impressions of the FE 90mm macro lens." canonical_url: "https://blog.markkulab.net/en/post/buy-sony-a74" author: "Mark Ku" author_url: "https://blog.markkulab.net/en/author/mark-ku" site: "Mark Ku's Tech Notes" date_published: "2022-06-12 01:01:35 +0800" category: "Photography" tags: ["photography", "sony", "a74", "macro", "camera"] language: "en" license: "CC BY 4.0" license_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" attribution: "when reusing or quoting, credit the author and link back to the original" --- # A Beginner's Journey - Macro Photography Notes with the Sony α7IV, Part 1 ## Getting Started - My Sony A74 Macro Photography Notes, Part 1 ## The Origin As a front-end web developer, I've always been curious why the photos on many commercial websites don't look very good. I met up with my friend Howrad and went to the Sony store at Syntrend to find out. ## Sony A7M4 Test Shots Next, we went to the Sony store on the 2nd floor of Syntrend and found a very enthusiastic salesperson who immediately cleared up my confusion. He explained that for commercial photography, to show more product detail, the cameras and lenses used are on a completely different level than the ones in our phones. He immediately let me take some test shots with a Sony a74 paired with an FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS lens. ![Sony a7IV camera with attached FE 90mm macro lens](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/buy-sony-a74/images/Qlrh9fo.jpg) ### Portrait Shot - Depth of Field Effect ![Portrait of man in blue mask with blurred store background](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/buy-sony-a74/images/JtrNfqK.jpg) ### Still Life Shot - Details of My Sister's Dried Fruit ![Dried pineapple slice on brown dried fruit on a napkin](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/buy-sony-a74/images/e3REn7u.png) ### I was very satisfied with the test shots; I thought it was incredibly powerful. It's hard for a typical camera to capture this level of detail. However, the price was really steep, and Sony's prices are firm. I hesitated for a long time before finally buying it. I decided to go for it because I'm genuinely interested and plan to keep investing my time in it. Official product pages: * [SONY α7IV A7M4 ILCE-7M4 Camera](https://www.sony.com.tw/zh/electronics/interchangeable-lens-cameras/ilce-7m4) * [FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS Lens](https://store.sony.com.tw/product/SEL90M28G) ## First Charge The new battery was completely dead. A full charge takes about three hours, and the indicator light turns off when it's done. A full charge lasts for about two hours of use. ## I spent some time getting familiar with the common button functions. ![Sony α7IV camera top view showing various controls and dials](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/buy-sony-a74/images/fjN8caW.jpg) ## Main Modes Auto - Automatic mode. Automatically adjusts aperture and shutter speed, suitable for any kind of shooting. P Mode - Program Auto. The camera automatically meters and adjusts shutter speed. Beginners can use this mode to understand the relationship between aperture and shutter. A Mode - Aperture Priority. Allows manual adjustment of the aperture. (The wider the aperture, the more pronounced the depth of field effect.) S Mode - Shutter Priority. Allows manual adjustment of the shutter speed. (A slower shutter can capture scenes invisible to the naked eye.) M Mode - Full Manual. Allows manual adjustment of both aperture and shutter speed. ## AF Button The AF button is for autofocus assist. It emits an infrared beam and can be used to focus instead of half-pressing the shutter button. ## Soft Skin Effect MENU > (Exposure/Color) > [Color/Tone] > [Soft Skin Effect]. ## One time, I turned on the camera and suddenly found that all my shots were blurry and I couldn't find a focus point. I asked the Sony salesperson at Syntrend and learned that I had accidentally switched the camera to manual focus. Since I'm still a beginner, I switched it back to autofocus for now. ![Sony macro lens with focus ring and focus mode switches](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/buy-sony-a74/images/XzzFdJj.jpg) ## Creations from two days of playing around ![Almond cookie on plate next to glowing Ecoya candle warmer](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/buy-sony-a74/images/q2rTtXs.png)![Golden almond cookie in macro focus, blurred background](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/buy-sony-a74/images/oYz15EV.png)![Macro photo of a small, heart-shaped green leaf and new bud](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/buy-sony-a74/images/RwlQUAs.png)![Gold Golem and silver Slime Dragon Quest figurines](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/buy-sony-a74/images/ZNA32vI.png) Even the dust is captured clearly. ![Long exposure city street at night with car light trails](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/buy-sony-a74/images/jBNsTfH.jpg) S Mode, shutter speed needs to be around 5 seconds or more. ![Night street scene with bright starburst streetlights and buildings](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/buy-sony-a74/images/N94AIoR.jpg) P Mode, adjust the aperture to F8 or higher. P.S. The larger the F-number, the smaller the aperture (the bigger the number after the F), and the longer the points of the starburst effect will be! ## Conclusion The Sony A74 is a really powerful camera with a lot of potential. After shooting with it for three days, I have no regrets about buying it. However, I haven't mastered it yet, but I will keep practicing to improve my photography skills. ## Supplements and References ### [Sony Camera Shooting Modes Tutorial](https://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/2110/v1/zh-tw/contents/TP1000543536.html) ### [The Exposure Triangle - Aperture, Shutter, ISO / Reviewing Photography Basics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i1IFAOXd60) ### [Sony Digital Channel](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvH2i7Dq6qFglS1KXP0d9d-ZSVuwUJdXJ) ### [Online Help Guide](https://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/2110/v1/zh-tw/contents/TP1000543536.html) --- ## About this article and its author Originally published on [Mark Ku's Tech Notes](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/post/buy-sony-a74) License: [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — when reusing or quoting, credit the author and link back to the original ### About the author **[Mark Ku](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/author/mark-ku)** — Software Solution Provider - 10+ years senior software engineer, now an AI Builder - Focused on large-platform architecture — North-American e-commerce, AI SaaS subscription billing - Combining AI Agents and automation to build evolvable product foundations ### Free tools built by the author All of these are free to use: - [Free PDF Sign Tool](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/tools/pdf-sign): Online PDF sign tool — draw, type, or upload a signature, then drag, resize, and download. 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