Settingan Terbaik untuk Sony a6000

Halo!

Dalam postingan ini, saya bakal nunjukkin settingan-settingan buat Sony a6000 yang paling cocok buat saya. Tapi sebelumnya, saya mau ngingetin kalau settingan-settingan yang ditulis disini gak selalu harus sama buat setiap orang. Settingan-settingan disini dipilih karena saya paling sreg sama settingan-settingan ini, jadi kalau mau ganti-ganti dikit biar lebih cocok buat anda, silakan saja.

Di kamera ini, ada banyak settingan yang bisa anda ganti. Bahkan saya bisa bilang settingan yang ditawari sama kamera comapct ini sama dengan kelas-kelas enthusiast SLR seperti Nikon D7200 dan Canon 7DII. Tapi, banyak settingan yang bikin bingung pengguna, karena gak dijelaskan dengan baik di buku manual (terutama buat pemula). Saya udah pakai kamera ini selama 3 tahun lebih, karena itu saya bakal coba untuk menjelaskan settingan-settingan yang bisa anda ganti buat pemula.

Dial Mode

Dalam dial mode, ada banyak mode yang bisa dipilih. Tapi menurut saya, ada yang seharusnya anda pilih dan ada yang sebaiknya dihindari saja. Kenapa? Karena mode-mode tersebut dibuat untuk pemula, dan memiliki batasan (limitation) yang banyak.

Mode-mode Beginner:

a. Superior Auto dan Intelligent Auto

Dalam mode Auto ini, kamera bakal nebak dan milih settingan sesuai dengan algoritma software bawaan kamera. Karena semua "diserahkan" sama kamera, jadi banyak setting yang terkunci, misalnya ISO, White Balance, penggantian focus point, dll. Lebih lagi, mode auto ini juga hanya teroptimisasi untuk kit lens (Sony SEL1650PZ). Artinya, jika anda menggunakan lensa lain, algoritma yang digunakan di mode ini jadi gak efektif.

b. Scene Modes

Ini hampir sama seperti mode auto. Yang beda, hanya sekarang anda yang milih scene nya apa. Tapi sama aja, hampir semua setting dikunci dan hanya teroptimisasi untuk kit lens.

c. Sweep Panorama

Saya sudah sering coba buat sweep panorama dengan mode sweep panorama ini, tapi saya jarang berhasil ngambil panorama dengan mode ini sekali jadi. Saya harus ngulang-ngulang beberapa kali sampai berhasil seperti yang diinginkan. Mode ini cenderung lambat dan kurang andal. Saya lebih suka foto manual beberapa kali dan nanti bakal saya stich pakai software di komputer.

d. Mode "P"

Mode "P" adalah salah satu mode manual yang "paling tidak manual". Disini, sebagian besar setting yang terkunci pada mode-mode otomatis sebelumnya sudah terbuka. Sebagai contoh, ISO, focus mode, drive mode, dll. dapat diubah. Tetapi, bedanya dengan mode "yang lebih manual" lainnya, mode ini gak ganti aperture atau shutter speed sendiri-sendiri. Jadi mode ini hanya bisa mengganti aperture dan shutter speed dalam waktu yang sama.

Menurut saya, ini malah sering bikin saya bingung. Saya gak bisa lihat jelas apa yang sebenarnya saya ganti, karena saya butuh "acuan" yang jelas. Lebih baik menggunakan mode "A" atau "S". Memang secara fungsional sama persis, tapi dalam mode-mode itu ada semacam "acuan" yang lebih jelas, entah itu aperture atau shutter speed. Jika anda baru mulai belajar fotografi, malah bakal membingungkan menggunakan mode ini karena anda akan "mencampuri" urusan shutter speed dengan aperture.

e. Mode Movie/Video

Mode ini hanya mengcrop gambar dalam Live view biar sama dengan format video HD (yang tadinya punya rasio 3:2 jadi 16:9). Saya kira mode ini gak terlalu diperlukan, soalnya gampang sekali anda mengcrop Live view tanpa bantuan kamera.

Yang seharusnya digunakan:

a. Mode "A"

Di mode ini, anda milih aperture dan shutter speed disesuaikan otomatis oleh kamera. Menurut saya ini adalah mode yang paling "sapu jagat" buat objek statis, karena settingan yang paling berpengaruh buat objek statis itu aperture (dan shutter speed hampir gak pengaruh sama sekali). Jadi, settingan ini paling cocok buat digunain pas objek yang anda foto gak bergerak. Di mode ini anda bisa ganti-ganti depth of field tanpa harus lihat settingan lainya buat menyesuaikan exposure.

b. Mode "S"

Mode ini adalah kebalikan dari mode "A", dimana shutter speed lah yang anda pilih dan aperture disesuaikan otomatis. Meskipun aperture juga pengaruh untuk objek dinamis (bergerak), tapi shutter speed lebih berpengaruh. Jadi mode "S" ini cocok kalau anda lagi ngambil foto objek-objek yang gerak. Anda bisa menghilangkan atau bahkan membuat motion blur pakai mode "S" ini tanpa harus peduli dengan masalah exposure.

c. Mode "M"

Di mode ini, anda bisa ganti aperture dan shutter speed tanpa harus "dikunci" dengan exposure. Artinya kamera gak lagi ganti-ganti salah satu secara otomatis. Saya jarang sekali pakai settingan ini, kecuali saya lagi emang buth settingan aperture dan shutter speed yang "pas". Contohnya, pas lagi foto motion blur air terjun pakai filter gelap (ND). Di mode ini, anda juga bisa pakai mode bulb. Mode bulb adalah mode dimana anda bisa mengubah shutter speed sesuka hati, karena dalam mode bulb shutter bakal kebuka selagi anda mencet tombol shutter. Mode bulb sangat berguna jika anda punya remote shutter.

Tetapi selain scene tertentu dimana saya butuh settingan yang pas dan mode bulb, mode "A" atau "S" sudah cukup "bebas".

d. Mode "MR" (Memory Recall)

Dalam mode ini, anda bisa mensave semua setting-setting yang disave dalam kamera. Semua setting (termasuk mode, setting dasar dan setting-setting lainya) tersimpan dalam memori, jadi kalau anda mau pake salah satu setting, anda tinggal menggunakan mode ini dan pilih salah satu. Cara mensave setting adalah:

1. Pilih semua settingan yang pengen disimpan
2. Pilih menu, terus ke halaman 7 dari tab pertama
3. Pilih "memory" dan pilih salah satu dari 3 tempat yang ada, settingan bakal disimpan disana.

Jika anda ingin load, anda hanya tinggal ganti mode ke mode "MR" terus pilih antara 1, 2 atau 3 yang pengen anda load. Ii jauh lebih cepat daripada ganti settingan satu-satu. Selain itu saya jadi gak salah-salah settingan lagi, karena sering ada yang lupa/kelewat. Banyak settingan yang perlu diganti kalau saya berubah dari ngefoto objek statis ke ngefoto objek dinamis. Karena itu saya sangat sering menggunakan mode "MR" ini.

Saya bakal ngebahas tentang mode "MR" ini lagi di post ini.

Settingan Dasar

Untuk setiap menu, bakal ada banyak settingan yang bisa anda pilih. Tapi, saya cuma bakal jelasin yang perlu anda perhatiin saja (selebihnya hampir-hampir gak berguna). Untuk mengganti settingan dasar, ada tiga cara. Anda bisa mengakses menu, mencet tombol "Fn" atau custom button (nanti akan dibahas), atau menggunakan shortcut arrow key.

a. Drive Mode

Single Shooting: Camera ngambil foto satu per satu. Seperti biasa, setiap mencet tombol shutter kamera bakal menjepret sekali.

Continuous Shooting (Lo, Mid, Hi): Juga umum disebut "Burst Mode". Jika tombol shutter dipencet, kamera bakal ngambil banyak foto selama shutter masih dipencet. Lo, Mid, dan Hi adalah kecepatan-kecepatan penjepretan foto per detik yang bisa anda pilih. Kamera bakal terus ambil beberapa foto per detik. Tapi, kalau buffer memory habis, bakal jadi lambat. Buffer memory tergantung dari kecepatan memory yang anda pakai. Mode ini umumnya dipakai untuk objek-objek yang bergerak cepat.

Lo: 2.5 fps
Mid: 6 fps
Hi: 11 fps

Self Timer (2s, 10s): Akan ada delay (jeda) antara pemencetan tombol shutter dan penjepretan foto. Saya biasanya pakai mode ini kalau saya pakai tripod mengambil gambar long exposure. Karena anda bisa menghilangkan goyangan (shake) yang sering ada kalau pakai single shooting.

Selt Timer Continous (Beberapa Opsi): Gabungan dari kedua mode diatas. Kamera bakal ngambil beberapa foto burst (jumlahnya sesuai dengan opsi yang anda pilih) setelah jeda. Saya pakai settingan ini kalau saya mau buat foto multiple-exposure blending yang dibuat manual pakai software.

Continous Bracket (Beberapa Opsi): Kamera ngambil beberapa foto yang exposurenya (kecerahannya) beda. Saya biasa pakai settingan ini kalau saya mau buat foto HDR yang dibuat manual pakai software.

b. Flash dan Flash Comp

Saya gak sentuh settingan flash, masalahnya flashnya juga jarang saya gunakan. Kecuali keadaan gelap banget, saran saya hindari pakai flash karena menurut saya hasil jepretannya jadi kurang natural.

c. Focus Mode

AF-S: Hanya akan fokus sekali aja pas tombol shutter ditekan setengah. Pakai jika anda yakin 100% anda mengambil objek statis.

AF-A: Kamera bakal mendetect dan milih antara AF-S dan AF-C tergantung dari gerak atau tidaknya objek. Menurut pengalaman saya, mode ini cukup bagus buat mendetect objek dan menyesuaikan focus mode.

AF-C: Akan mencoba fokus terus-terusan selama shutter dipencet setengah. Pakai kalau anda yakin 100% anda akan ngambil objek dinamis.

DMF: Manual focusing setelah dilakukan autofocusing. Jadi anda bisa merubah-rubah focus setelah kamera melakukan autofocus. Mode ini mode manual focusing yang saya pakai, karena hampir 100% saya mengambil foto, autofocus tidak bermasalah.

d. Focus Area

Flexible Spot (Pakai M atau L, jangan S): Anda bisa mencet tombol panah tengah dan milih area fokus. Setelah memencet tombol tengah, anda gunakan panah terus gerakin ke bagian mana kamera harus melakukan focus. Ini bisa bantu anda buat membidik fokus lebih tepat sasaran. Menurut saya, mode ini hanya mode yang perlu digunakan, karena bidikan fokus sangat penting di fotografi.

e. Exposure compensation

Dalam setting ini anda bisa ganti-ganti atau memfinetune exposure. Jika anda kurang puas sama settingan yang dipakai kamera, anda bisa mengurangi atau menambah sedikit atau banyak kecerahan dalam foto. Kamera nantinya bakal menyesuaikan shutter speed atau aperture (tergantung anda pakai mode "A" atau "S") untuk mengubah exposure. Anda bisa mengakses settingan ini pakai shortcut di tombol panah bawah (default) atau diganti pakai top dial. Saya bakal bahas tentang ini di bawah.

f. ISO

Saya biasanya menset ISO di auto. Anda bisa ganti jangkauan ISO dari minimum ke maksimum di settingan auto. Caranya, di menu ISO, saat ada di menu "Auto" anda pencet tombol panah kanan. Disitu anda bisa gonta-ganti minimum dan maksimum ISO yang anda mau pakai. Saya menset 100 untuk minimum dan 3200 untuk maksimum, tapi buat maksimum anda boleh menaikkan atau menurunkan ini sesuai selera.

Untuk pilihan ISO manual, saya kurang rekomendasi, karena sering saya lupa ganti kembali ke auto. Saran saya kalau anda mau pakai manual, jangan set manual yang tinggi. Kalau saya sendiri, set manual itu bolehnya ISO 100 aja. Kalau emang pengen nyoba-nyoba exposure yang beda-beda, lebih baik anda pakai exposure compensation.

g. Metering

Hampir semua foto yang saya ambil saya ambil pakai mode "multi". Saya pakai mode "spot" khusus ambil scene-scene tertentu seperti shilhouette. Saya gak pernah pakai mode "center".

h. White Balance and Creative Style

Lebih baik dibiarkan saja. Tapi kalau anda suka ngambil JPEG, anda boleh gonta-ganti creative style biar lebih cocok.

i. Quality

Saya lebih suka mengambil foto RAW karena hampir semua foto yang saya ambil bakal saya post-process lagi. Tapi kalau saya lagi kurang mood post-processing, atau butuh cepat, saya bakal ganti ke JPEG fine. Tapi jangan lupa setelah ke JPEG fine, kembalikan lagi ke RAW.

Menu Options

a. Tab 1

Aspect ratio: Set di 3:2, kalau diubah artinya photo dicrop.

Video file format: XAVC S kalau kompatibel, kalau gak ya AVCHD (tergantung memory card yang anda pakai)

Video Record Setting: 50p 50M XAVC atau 28M AVCHD)

Red Eye Reduction: On

AF Illuminator: Menurut saya AF Illuminator kurang begitu berguna. Autofocus a6000 sudah cukup bagus di kondisi gelap, jadi AF illuminator ini gak diperlukan. Kadang-kadang malah mengganggu.

Video AF drive speed: Normal. Slow terlalu pelan dan fast terlalu cepat.

AF Track duration: High. Gak terlalu pengaruh.

Exposure Step: 0.3 EV. Buat step nya sekecil mungkin biar bisa memfinetune exposure.

Long exposure NR: On. Saya denger-denger ini sering bikin masalah. Ada sebagian pemilik a6000 yang katanya hasil fotonya lebih jernih kalau settingan ini di setting "off". Tapi jujur aja saya gak nemuin beda apa-apa diantara on dan off, karena harusnya settingan ini hanya aktif kalau anda ambil foto bershutter speed lambat. Kemungkinan besar ada semacam bug yang hanya ada di firmware lama, jadi lebih baik kalau anda pakai firmware lama di update saja atau matikan setting ini.

High ISO NR: Low. Menurut saya "Normal" bikin foto kurang tajam.

Lock On AF: On.

Smile/Face Detection: Off.

SteadyShot: On. Bahkan pakai tripod pun anda seharusnya gak perlu matiin ini.

Colour Space: AdobeRGB.

Auto Slow Shutter Speed: On. Kalau anda rekam video di kondisi gelap, menurut saya exposure lebih penting daripada fps.

Audio Recording: On, bahkan kalau anda pakai gear lain untuk rekam sound, anda bisa pakai recording biar suaranya sync.

Wind noise reduction: On.

b. Tab 2

Zebra: 100+. Zebra adalah fitur yang bisa nampilin tingkatan-tingkatan exposure tertentu. Menurut saya level zebra yang paling berguna level 100+. Karena di di level 100+ anda bisa lihat bagian-bagian yang overexposed, atau dimana detail pada bagian terang (highlights) kebuang (clipped).

MF Assist: On.

Focus Magnification Time: 2 Sec.

Grid Line: Sering Off, kadang-kadang On. Saya sudah biasa buat komposisi gambar tanpa bantuan grid, tapi kadang-kadang saya nyalain kalau butuh. Tombol panah bawah (yang awalnya exposure compensation) saya ganti buat ngubah-ubah settingan grid line. Buat pemula saya saranin nyalain rule of thirds aja, supaya jadi biasa bikin komposisi sesuai dengan grid.

Auto Review: 2 Sec

DISP button

Monitor: Display All Info, For Viewfinder, No Disp Info

Finder: Histogram, No Disp Info

Peaking Level: Mid paling cocok.

Peaking Colour: Red paling cocok.

Exposure set guide: Off. Karena ada info berapa aperture, shutter speed, ISO dan exposure compensation dibawah, gak perlu settingan ini.

Live view: Setting effect On biar exposure di layar sama dengan foto yang bakal diambil.

Display continuous AF Area: On, anda perlu lihat dimana focus point nya pas motret.

Pre-AF: On.

Zoom setting: Optical Zoom only. Digital zooming bikin kualitas gambar rusak.

Finder/Monitor: Auto. Pasti anda bakal ganti ganti antara viewfinder dan layar.

Release w/o Lens: Disable. Gak ngaruh buat ambil foto.

AF w/ shutter: On.

AEL w/ shutter: Auto.

e-Front Curtain Shutter: On

Exposure Compensation Setting: Ambient and Flash

Bracket Order: Minus, Netral, Plus

Face Registration, AF Micro Adjustment: Default aja.

Lens Compensation: Auto semua.

Function Button Menu Set:

1. Drive Mode*

2. Flash**
3. Flash Compensation**
4. Focus Mode*
5. Focus Area
6. Exposure Compensation*
7. ISO*
8. Metering
9. White Balance
10. Memory Recall
11. Creative Style**
12. Quality

*Bebas diganti apa aja, sudah ada shortcut yang lebih cepat.
**Gak ngaruh, saya biarin default.

Custom Key Settings
AEL Button: Lock-on AF (Sangat berguna!)
C1: Focus Mode
C2: Zebra (sebenarnya gak juga gak apa-apa)
Bottom: Grid Line
Yang lainnya default

Dial/Wheel Setup: Front dial F/no, Top dial SS

Dial/Wheel Ev Comp: Top Dial. Daripada anda harus klik tombol panah bawah, anda bisa langsung ganti exposure compensation pakai top dial.

Movie Button: Always

Dial/Wheel Lock: Unlock

Settingan Memory Recall

Catatan: kalau saya gak tulis disini, berati settinganya sama.

MR1: Settingan sehari-hari

Drive Mode: Single Shot

Metering Mode: Multi, atau spot buat ambil silhouette

ISO: Auto, 100 Minimum, 3200 Maximum

Focus Mode: AF-A

Quality: RAW

Camera Mode: A

MR2: Action (objek dinamis)

Drive Mode: Continous Shooting, Hi

Metering Mode: Multi

ISO: Auto, 100 Minimum, 1600 Maximum

Focus Mode: AF-C

Quality: RAW/JPEG Fine

Camera Mode: S

Pakai tombol AEL kalau anda ingin focus tracking!

MR3: Pakai tripod

Drive Mode: Self-timer: 10 Sec

Metering Mode: Gak begitu pengaruh, tapi multi aja

ISO: Manual (100)

Focus Mode: AF-S

Quality: RAW

Camera Mode: M

Sisanya: Default

Hi!

In this post, I'm going to show you how I set my camera to suit my needs. Before that, know that most of these settings can be adjusted to personal preference, so I'm going to explain what each one does and why I chose that particular option. So, feel free to change the settings a bit to suit your needs better.

There are a lot of customizability in this little camera. In fact, it holds up pretty well against its bigger competitors like the Nikon D7000 series and the Canon 7D series. But unfortunately, what each setting does and how they affect photography is somewhat really confusing even for aficionados, let alone for novice photographers. I've been using this camera for more than 3 years for now and it took me a while to be confident enough to share what I know about this camera. So here, I'm going to try my best to explain what and how the settings are from the standpoint of a novice photographer.

The mode dial

The mode dial consists of many different modes that you can choose. But in my opinion, most of them are geared towards beginners. The modes that you should rather not choose are:

a. Superior Auto and Intelligent Auto

In these two modes, the camera decides what scene the camera is pointing at and then automatically adjust everything for you. There's a lot of "you can't" in these two modes. For instance, you can't change the ISO, the White Balance, control the focus point, change the aperture, and many more. Not to mention that it seems that all the settings are adjusted for the kit lens. This mode is better reserved just for your phones and your point and shoot cameras.

b. Scene Modes

This is exactly the same as the other auto modes. The only difference here is that you decide what scene it actually is. The rest is exactly the same.

c. Sweep Panorama

The Sweep Panorama on the a6000 does not work that well. It is unreliable and quite sluggish. For me, it is miles better to just take a couple of pictures manually and stitch it via a computer software later.

d. The "P" mode

The P mode gives you much more freedom than the auto modes. It gives you the freedom of changing everything (including the ISO, focus mode, drive mode, etc). But it does not individually adjust the shutter speed and aperture. This, in my opinion, is a bit cumbersome to deal with because there isn't anything to "cling" to.

Personally, I would use either the "A" or the "S" mode because I can clearly see what is being manually changed and what is being automatically changed. There is simply no reason to use both (which essentially is the "P" mode) as you will likely never change between the two in rapid successions. Using the P mode just adds to the confusion even more.

e. Movie Mode

Since I assume that you take both pictures and videos, I find it unnecessary to dedicate a mode just to "preview" the footage. All it does it just crop the image to the proper widescreen ratio. Though, if you only shoot videos this could be where you should stay all the time.

What you should actually use instead

a. The "A" mode

Here the Aperture is dialed by you, and the shutter speed is automatically adjusted by the camera. Personally, I find this to be the best settings to use with every interchangeable lens camera. The aperture is very simple to adjust, and most of the time it's the only thing that needs changing to get the desired effect. But be aware that this depends on the type of shots you're doing often.

b. The "S" mode

Just like the "A" mode, but the shutter speed is dialed and the aperture is automatically adjusted instead. You can use this mode instead of the "A" mode when shutter speed counts more than the aperture. I use this when I'm trying to get either motion blur or pinpoint sharpness on a fast-moving object, where the aperture can be ignored.

c. The "M" mode

Here, both the aperture and the shutter speed is manually dialed. This mode, in my opinion, is going to only be needed when you somehow can't get the right exposure dialed in. The only time that I ever used this mode was when I shoot bulb mode, where you use a remote shutter to get shutter speeds longer than 30 seconds (usually for night landscape photography). Aside from that, I found the A and the S mode adequate in terms of customizability.

d. The "MR" mode

Literally the best of all the modes. Here, you can assign specific modes and settings that you can save. You can save up to 3 completely different settings. To save the modes and settings, set everything as you want to save it, and then go to the menu. In the menu, go to the seventh page of the first tab. Choose "Memory" and choose the space where you want to store the configuration.

To load your settings, just turn the mode dial into "MR" and with the arrow buttons choose the particular setting. Personally, to change between modes I do it through "MR". I found out that changing, let's say from A to S requires additional changes that I need to do, namely the drive mode, the focus mode and the quality. It is much quicker to do it using the "MR" function as you don't have to individually change your settings.

I will describe this mode in more details later on the page.

The basic settings

There are a lot of modes for each setting, but I only use a few of them. I'll only describe the ones that I used. You can quickly access these by pressing the "Fn button"

a. The Drive Modes

Single Shooting: Where my camera is most of the time, here the camera shoots one picture per shutter release just as you normally would.

Continous Shooting (Lo, Mid, Hi): Also called "Burst Mode". If the shutter is pressed, the camera will shoot up to 11 pictures per second and will continue at that rate until the memory buffer is full. Memory buffer depends on the speed of your memory card. Useful for fast-paced action.

Self Timer (2s, 10s): There will be a delay between the pressing of the shutter button and the actual shutter release. I use this to minimize shake when on a tripod, especially for long exposures without a remote shutter.

Self Timer (Cont., Many Options): This is a combination of the two modes above. The camera will shoot the number of images chosen by you continuously after a delay. This is useful for me when I shoot a couple of pictures on a tripod that I will later combine to a multiple-exposure blending photograph.

Continous Bracket (Many Options): Like the continuous mode, but does so with a particular number of pictures and each having different exposure (brightness) levels. I use this if I need high dynamic range pictures that I will manually process later.

b. Flash and Flash Comp

I rarely use the small pop-off flash. So I leave these as it were when they came out of the box.

c. Focus Mode

AF-S: Only focuses once after the shutter button is half-pressed. Used if I'm guaranteed to shoot static objects.

AF-A: The camera decides to use either AF-S or AF-C. I left it here most of the time.

AF-C: Tries to focus continuously when the shutter button is continuously half-pressed. Used if I'm guaranteed to shoot moving objects.

DMF: Manual focusing right after the camera does AF-S. I use this mode instead of the MF mode if I really have to use MF (which is really rare).

d. Focus Area

Flexible Spot (M or L): You can assign where the camera should focus. This gives me a lot of freedom and lets me aim more precisely. The way you change the location is pretty simple. Just click on the middle front dial button and use the arrows to assign the focus point. When you're done, click the middle button again. The other modes do not work that well for me.

e. Exposure compensation

This setting is handy if you feel like you need to "fine-tune" the exposure a bit. The camera will compensate either the shutter speed or the aperture (depends on whether you're using the "A" or the "S" mode) for that desired exposure. Change this using the bottom arrow button (by default) or the top dial if you need to change the exposure. I prefer using the top dial. More on this on the custom button customization part.

f. ISO

Most of the time, I set this one on Auto. You can change the range of ISOs by pressing the right arrow while on the "Auto" selection. The minimum should always be 100. The maximum depends on personal preference. I set it on 3200 because above that, the amount of grain is unacceptable (for me). Reduce that if you think 3200 is too grainy, and increase if you think that higher settings are fine.

You can select a particular ISO. However, I do not recommend this unless you want to lock it at 100. There are a few instances when I set it at 1600 and forgot to change it back to auto. My landscape shots the next day was on ISO 1600 before I noticed and changed it back. If you really want to set a particular ISO, it is better to just use the "A/S/M" mode and dial in the exposure compensation.

g. Metering

The shots I took mostly had the metering mode set at "multi". There are a few instances where I used the "spot" mode, usually silhouette. I don't really use the "center" mode anymore.

h. White Balance and Creative Style

I prefer to leave these as they are because they make no meaningful differences. But the creative style options can be handy if you prefer to shoot JPEG.

i. Quality

Almost all the time I set this on RAW. The reason being is that they're much better to post process, and I almost always post process my photo before sharing/publishing it. However, if I don't see the need for post-processing, then I would change it to JPEG Fine. But the problem with that is I often forgot to change it back to RAW.

Other menu options: 

a. First tab

Aspect ratio: Always set this to 3:2 unless you want your pictures to be cropped.

Video file format: XAVC S if compatible, if not then AVCHD.

Video Record Setting: The highest bitrate (50p 50M for XAVC, 28M for AVCHD)

Red Eye Reduction: On

AF Illuminator: I turn this one off. Personally, I never shot in an environment so dark that the camera struggles to focus. Also, it's annoying for my subjects (or other people) to have to see AF assist lights all the time. If I'm doing night landscape photography the illuminator is not so useful either. 

Video AF drive speed: Normal. Slow is too slow and Fast is a tad unnatural to my liking.

AF Track duration: High. Does not make any meaningful difference in my experience.

Exposure Step: 0.3 EV. You want the increment to be as small as possible to allow finer tuning.

Long exposure NR: On. This is quite a very controversial matter. Some a6000 (not sure which kind exactly) owners found out that the picture quality they get is better with this setting turned off. That shouldn't happen, because this setting only activates when you are shooting long exposures. Personally, I found that (even though I never did any rigorous testing on this) it boils down to your firmware and the lens you are using. If you are using an older firmware and happen to use the kit lens, you might want to turn this off.

High ISO NR: Low. The "normal" setting makes the pictures too soft in my opinion.

Lock On AF: On.

Smile/Face Detection: Off.

SteadyShot: On. In my experience, you don't ever have to turn this off, even when on a tripod this makes no difference.

Colour Space: AdobeRGB. I don't think using sRGB would help anything at all.

Auto Slow Shutter Speed: On. Having a good exposure is more important than achieving 50fps (or 60fps on NTSC)

Audio Recording: On, even though you're using an external sound recorder this is needed to sync your audio.

Wind noise reduction: Doesn't matter really, leave it on.

b. Second Tab

Zebra: 100+. Shows you certain exposure (brightness) level on the live view. I set this one on 100+. In my experience, the other zebra settings do not provide a lot of information, whereas the 100+ setting can help me detect clipped highlights easily (and if exposure compensation is necessary or not).

MF Assist: On.

Focus Magnification Time: 2 Sec.

Grid Line: Off by default. I can place objects on the frame without the help of the grid line for most of the time. I assigned the bottom arrow button for this function (more on custom button customization). For beginners, leaving this on by default is a good option as it builds the habit of placing objects correctly.

Auto Review: 2 Sec

DISP button

Monitor: Display All Info, For Viewfinder, No Disp Info

Finder: Histogram, No Disp Info

Peaking Level: Mid works best for me.

Peaking Colour: Red works best for me.

Exposure set guide: Off. I find the moving banner thing ugly and unnecessary.

Live view: Setting effect On to see the exposures better.

Display continuous AF Area: On, you still want to see where the point actually is when shooting.

Pre-AF: On.

Zoom setting: Optical Zoom only. I think digital zooming is just plain silly.

Finder/Monitor: Auto. Why would you want to disable one of them?

Release w/o Lens: Disable. You likely won't need this.

AF w/ shutter: On.

AEL w/ shutter: Auto.

e-Front Curtain Shutter: On

Exposure Compensation Setting: Ambient and Flash

Bracket Order: Minus, Neutral, Plus

Face Registration, AF Micro Adjustment: Never actually touched these

Lens Compensation: Auto on all of them.

Function Button Menu Set:

1. Drive Mode*

2. Flash**
3. Flash Compensation**
4. Focus Mode*
5. Focus Area
6. Exposure Compensation*
7. ISO*
8. Metering
9. White Balance
10. Memory Recall
11. Creative Style**
12. Quality

*Can be replaced as there is a more convenient way available to access
**Can be replaced as I never used these

Custom Key Settings
AEL Button: Lock-on AF (extremely handy)
C1: Focus Mode
C2: Zebra
Bottom: Grid Line
Leave the rest

Dial/Wheel Setup: Front dial F/no, Top dial SS

Dial/Wheel Ev Comp: Top Dial. Here I prefer to use the top dial as an exposure compensation dial as it is faster. In this way, I can change the bottom arrow button to change enable/disable the grid line.

Movie Button: Always

Dial/Wheel Lock: Unlock

My Memory Recall Settings

Note that if a particular setting is left out here, it means that it is the same throughout all the MR settings.

MR1: Default mode

Drive Mode: Single Shot

Metering Mode: Multi, or Spot when shooting silhouette

ISO: Auto, 100 Minimum, 3200 Maximum

Focus Mode: AF-A

Quality: RAW

Camera Mode: A

MR2: Shooting fast action

Drive Mode: Continous Shooting, Hi

Metering Mode: Multi

ISO: Auto, 100 Minimum, 1600 Maximum

Focus Mode: AF-C

Quality: RAW/JPEG Fine

Camera Mode: S

Use that AEL button for tracking!

MR3: In a tripod

Drive Mode: Self-timer: 10 Sec

Metering Mode: Doesn't matter, I leave it on Multi

ISO: Manual (100)

Focus Mode: AF-S

Quality: RAW

Camera Mode: M

The Rest of the Menu

I prefer to put it as it came out of the box.