Sony a6400 Video Settings: Fast Photo and Video Switching

The fastest way to switch the Sony a6400 between photo and video settings is to save complete setups to the MR position on the mode dial, then give your buttons separate jobs for stills and movies. Add a hold-to-recall key for quick changes and use the dedicated movie button with Movie mode, and you rarely need to open the main menu mid-shoot.

Three tools that switch the a6400 between photo and video

The a6400 gives you three separate ways to change many settings at once or reach one setting quickly. Each solves a different problem, and they work best together.

• Memory Recall (MR on the mode dial) stores whole setups you can return to.
• Custom keys put single functions on buttons, with separate layouts for still shooting, movie shooting and playback.
• Recall Custom hold applies a saved set of settings only while you hold a button down.

Sony's own description of the custom key feature sums up the goal: assigning frequent functions to easy keys lets you skip selecting items from MENU, so you recall them more quickly.

Memory Recall: save whole setups to the MR position

Memory Recall lets you shoot after recalling often-used modes or numeric settings that you registered in advance. Photography Life lists Memory Recall alongside Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, Auto and Scene on the mode dial.

Photography Blog notes that Sony replaced the two memory positions found on the previous model's dial with a single MR mode, and that the change provides more memory modes, 7 in total. Sony's tutorial explains that you can save these setups either to the camera or to a memory card.

How to register a setup

1. Set the camera exactly the way you want the saved setup to behave: exposure mode, focus mode, ISO and so on.
2. Go to MENU → Camera Settings1 → Memory and choose the number to register the settings to.

Sony recommends registering basic camera settings for the scenes you will shoot. Keep each slot focused on one job so you always know what you get when you load it.

How to recall a setup

To recall settings registered to the memory card, set the mode dial to MR, then pick the number by pressing the left or right side of the control wheel. You can also recall registered modes or settings through MENU → Camera Settings1 → Recall.

Be aware that recalling registered settings gives them priority over your current settings, which may change what you had dialed in. If you made a quick tweak you want to keep, register it again before you switch away.

Share setups between cameras

Settings registered to a memory card on another camera of the same model can be recalled on yours. Sony's tutorial says other cameras of the same model can read those settings, so both bodies run the same setup. If two people shoot the same event on two a6400 bodies, this keeps your footage and photos consistent.

What to put in each slot

Photography Life's author describes toggling between two presets, one for landscapes and one for people. The landscape preset uses Aperture Priority, manual focus, ISO 100 with Auto ISO off, while the portrait preset uses AF-A focus mode and Auto ISO. That writer also encourages every a6400 owner to try Memory Recall because it helps when changing from one shooting scenario to another.

A practical split for a hybrid shooter is one slot per situation you meet often: a daylight stills setup, a low-light stills setup, and a people setup. Name them in your head by situation, not by the settings inside.

Custom keys: separate button layouts for stills and movies

A custom key holds one function you choose. On the a6400 you can assign functions separately for the still image shooting mode, the movie shooting mode and the playback mode. To set a function you want while shooting movies, choose the movie Custom Key menu, and for playback choose the playback Custom Key menu.

This is the main reason the a6400 can feel like two cameras in one body. The same button can open a stills setting in photo modes and a video setting in Movie mode.

The buttons you can reassign

Photography Blog describes the a6400 as a very customisable camera, with two Custom buttons, a customisable AF/MF/AEL button, customisable left, right, down and centre rear navigation buttons, and a configurable Fn button role in playback. Sony also added an illustration of button positions to the custom settings screen, so you can confirm which control you are assigning.

Button	Default or noted behavior	Source
C1 (near the shutter release)	Changes Focus Mode by default
C2 / Trash	Assigned to nothing by default in shooting; deletes images in playback
AF/MF/AEL button with switch	Performs AF/MF Control Hold by default with the switch on AF/MF
Flash button	Opens the pop-up flash; not programmable
Red record button	Records video; located almost on the side of the camera

Photography Life's author changed C2 to ISO AUTO Min. SS to adjust the minimum shutter speed quickly when using Auto ISO. The same writer reassigns the AF/MF/AEL button to AF On for back-button focusing. Those are one photographer's choices, not rules, and the article itself says the settings might not suit your needs.

A sensible starting point is to give C2 a different job in each layout: something exposure-related in the stills layout and something you check often for video in the movie layout.

Follow Custom in playback

If you assign Follow Custom to a key in the playback Custom Key menu, pressing that key during playback switches the camera back to shooting and recalls the assigned function. That saves a step when you review a clip or frame and want to get straight back to shooting.

The Fn menu

The Fn button shows a quick-access menu of shooting settings, and you choose which items appear on it. Sony's Help Guide points out that combining the Function menu with custom keys lets you recall functions more quickly. Photography Life notes the default Fn items include ISO, White Balance, Drive and Focus modes.

For less frequent settings, the a6400 also offers a tab where you can construct your own custom menu, according to Photography Blog. Photography Blog also calls the overall menu more logical but still pretty complicated, so a short custom tab saves real time.

Recall Custom hold: borrow settings while a button is held

This feature temporarily applies modes or settings you registered, for as long as you hold down a custom key. It is ideal for a quick departure from your main setup without leaving it.

1. Go to MENU → Camera Settings1 → Reg. Custom Shoot Set, choose Recall Custom hold 1, 2 or 3, prepare the settings, then select Memory.
2. Go to MENU → Camera Settings2 → Custom Key, choose a button, then choose Recall Custom hold 1, 2 or 3.
3. Hold that button and press the shutter button to shoot with the registered settings.

When you release the custom key, the previous camera settings are restored. Sony suggests the AF/MF/AEL or Focus Hold buttons because you can press them without changing how you hold the camera.

Sony gives two examples. You can register ISO and similar values for when subjects move into the shade, then hold the key while they are there. At a sports event, you can temporarily switch from 1/1600 sec. to 1/60 sec. to photograph the scoreboard.

The movie button, Movie mode and S&Q

Photography Blog explains that the dial's Movie mode works in conjunction with the video record button on the right edge of the thumb grip.

The a6400 also has an S&Q position for slow and quick motion, with frame rates from 1fps to 120fps chosen in the Movie1 tab under S&Q Settings. Keep S&Q as its own dial position rather than changing your normal video frame rate every time you want slow motion.

Video settings worth knowing before you register them

Before you build a video layout, know what the camera records. These specs come from retailer listings and Photography Blog.

Video feature	a6400 spec	Source
4K resolution and frame rate	3840x2160 at 30fps, also 4K24
Full HD high frame rate	1080p at 120fps, up to 100 Mbps
Recording length	No limits for 4K or 1080p120
4K capture	Full pixel readout, no pixel binning, 2.4x oversampling
Picture profiles	HLG, S-Log2, S-Log3
Exposure aids	Zebra, Gamma Display Assist
Other	Proxy recording, mic jack, clean HDMI output

S-Log profiles give you more color grading flexibility, while HLG supports an Instant HDR workflow for compatible TVs. Retailer Abt notes that checking exposure is often difficult when shooting in S-Log, which is why the camera includes zebras. The zebra target range can be set between +10% and -10% of a chosen value in 1% steps.

Good candidates for your movie custom keys are the zebra display and picture profile, since those change between log and standard shooting. Proxy recording is another setting to keep within reach if you edit on a laptop.

The a6400 body lacks in-body stabilization. If you shoot handheld video with the kit lens, its Optical SteadyShot helps you capture steadier footage.

The kit pairs the body with the E PZ 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS, which gives a 24-75mm equivalent range, a power zoom and a retractable design.

Photo settings worth registering

On the stills side, the a6400 shoots 24.2 megapixels and up to 11 fps with AF/AE tracking. Filmtools lists bursts of up to 116 JPEGs or 46 raw images. Standard ISO reaches 32,000, expandable to 102,400 for still images.

The autofocus system uses 425 phase-detection points covering about 84% of the image area. Real-time Eye AF activates with a half press of the shutter button in all autofocus modes. Photography Blog reports AF works in low light down to -2EV.

These facts shape good memory slots. A daylight slot might use Aperture Priority, which Photography Life's authors usually choose because it controls aperture while the camera handles the rest of the exposure. A low-light slot could use Auto ISO with a minimum shutter speed you choose, and an action slot could use continuous drive and continuous focus.

A setup plan you can copy

1. Build the stills custom key layout. Decide what C1, C2 and the AF/MF/AEL button do while you shoot photos.
2. Build the movie custom key layout. Switch to the movie Custom Key menu and give the same buttons video jobs.
3. Trim the Fn menu to the settings you change most.
4. Register stills setups through MENU → Camera Settings1 → Memory and recall them from MR.
5. Add one Recall Custom hold on a button you can press without changing your grip.
6. Use the dial for video. Turn to Movie mode for normal video and S&Q for slow motion.

Once this is in place, switching from photo to video is one turn of the dial, and your buttons change jobs with it. For broader beginner settings across Sony bodies, see Best Sony Camera Settings for Beginners, and for whether the a6400 suits learning, read Sony A6400: Still the Best APS-C Camera for Learning Photography?