fucus area with A7II

[oneeye]

I have an issue with the software in my A7II.  I understand that when you need to take a quick photo without setting A or S priorities, such as in photojournalism, etc.  But since focus cannot be corrected in lightroom, elements, etc. why not be able to set focus area in auto mode?  When you don't have the time for other corrections/settings, the camera will still auto focus, but at the specific area you choose regardless of the other settings (where most corrections can be made via Adobe, etc.)

 

Yet this function is not available in auto where the focus area as well as A, S & ISO are set by the software.  I believe that this should be corrected so that in auto, you have the choice of leaving everything in auto mode, but also have the option of controlling the focus area.  That way you can still shoot quickly but with only the focus area to be concerned with.

 

I think this should be an option, so what do you think?  Is this relevant?  Should Sony look into this change?

[Guest Jaf-Photo]

There are two options.

 

Eye-Start AF means that the camera starts focusing already when you put your eye to the viewfinder. That means focus will be ready or almost ready when you push the shutter button. I think it's not available with native lenses on Sony mirrorlens systems, only if you use adapted A-Mount lenses. (I don't use the feature so I haven't tested it on my E-Mount cameras).

 

Hyperfocus is the oldest trick for photojournalists. That means you set the aperture and focus manually to give you a certain depth of focus. Then you can shoot without focusing at all because the lens is prefocused. This is the fastest method. Some cameras have digital settings for hyperfocus, like the Ricoh GRII, but normally you have to set it on the lens. Manual focus lenses with focus depth markings are excellent for this.

 

I use hyperfocus a lot because it's instantaneous, no lag whatsoever. The drawbacks are that you need quite a high f-stop, say f9-11, which means you need good light. The other drawback is that close objects will be out of focus, so you need to keep a distance of a couple of meters at least.

[Username]

I have an issue with the software in my A7II. 

    

[  ..... bunch of typical "get a life" concerns .... ]

 

 

I think this should be an option, so what do you think? 

Is this relevant?  Should Sony look into this change?

  

Not relevant for Sony. If relevant for you and 

150,000 of your friends, than start your own 

camera company. 

[Guest Jaf-Photo]

Reading the OP again, I realised that the question is more why all autofocus settings aren't available in auto mode. That is more a question of expectations versus reality. In auto mode the camera takes over and tries to figure out what type of picture you want to take. That means the camera is in control of all the settings. Using auto is not really quicker, if you're used to making settings, all that happens is you lose control.

 

You mention fast shooting and photojournalism but it's a misconception that they shoot on auto mode. They typically use A S P or M depending on the circumstances and they know which settings to use in different circumstances. They also tend to use DSLRs with very fast AF. For split-second action, prefocus or hyperfocus may be the only option. It's a lot about reading a scene and predicting when something will happen. There is no time to react to events, you have to be ahead of them. It's also about knowing your camera and changing settings on the fly to suit a changing environment. But there's no one way to do it; everyone has their preferred way of shooting, depending on how they trained and what sort of photos they take.

 

Photojournalism is also about psychology. In a group of people, you pick out who the leader is, who is agitated or erratic and then you follow what they do, making the settings you need to capture any action. If you get surprised by an event, you won't get any pictures.

 

It may not be the response you were looking for but if you spent a lot of money on a photographic tool, you shouldn't be on auto mode, you should be practicing to be in control of the camera.

[oneeye]

The photojournalism example may not have been be the one to use.  I just thought of it as an example. 

 

I have the E 70-300 zoom and I tried to shoot a hummingbird at 300 by focusing manually (with magnifier) on the feeder and then shooting when the bird came as close as possible - at 1600 speed which slightly blurred the wings.  This worked very well. But if I did not have the time and had to shoot in a hurry, I would want to focus just on his head using spot focus - the only still part of his small body regardless of depth of field (doesn't matter in this situation) and speed (his head is stationary for a moment.)  Hope this is one example where this option would be of use - considering the almost hundred options with this camera most of us never use.

 

Incidentally, I use A or S most of the time and the manual magnifier almost always over 200. This seems to get the sharpest pictures.  But there are those times when you just need to focus ASAP and let the camera choose the A & S.

 

The digital camera is very new to me as I have only had this camera for slightly over a year.  Used to shoot with my old Canon FD with one zoom and five primes, so I am used to changing A & S with every shot.

[Guest Jaf-Photo]

How does flexible spot work for you? You can set it a bit off center high and then train the spot on the bird's head. It's quicker than first composing and then trying to move the focus spot.

[Username]

How does flexible spot work for you? You can set it a bit off

center high and then train the spot on the bird's head. It's

quicker than first composing and then trying to move the

focus spot.

   

+1   

   

Never thought of any other practical ways of using it. 

The idea that you chase the subject with the spot has 

never seemed like anything more than a gear-headed

silly game. 

   

Unless I need to use the center location due to its focus  

advantage in verrrry low light, I standardize on an away  

from center location [rather than on-center] as default,  

cuz I believe that helps allow for curvature of field. I'm 

talking about maybe 6mm away from center. 

[oneeye]

Sometimes I push down the shutter halfway which locks in the focus - as well as A & S.  If the light doesn't change too much, i can follow by moving the camera keeping the spot focus area in the center as my focus point and just push down further to get the picture.  If the subject moves I can release the shutter and push halfway, again, to lock in another focus area, with changes in exposure.  I haven't yet tried to move the spot area using the control wheel. 

 

I guess I have played too long with 35mm film cameras, so I don't take a hundred poor shots as some I know of do with digital cameras

 - and then have to go through all of them.

 

As for the bird, moving the spot with the wheel I would think takes too much time.  Does it matter where the bird is in the frame since cropping will fix that?

 

Differences in exposure can be corrected, but not the sharpness of the subject. Also, I can lock in an area I feel is the best exposure and move slightly back to my subject, as when there are bright and shadowed areas as long as the subject distance is the same, the focus should remain the same.  Faster than resetting for exposure.  Strange as it sounds, it works for me.

[Guest Jaf-Photo]

The point of flexible spot is that you can achieve a better composition by not relying on the center spot. If you have the time, i.e. shooting static scenes, you can compose the shot and then move the spot to where you want focus. For fast chaning scenes, that's no option. That means that you preset the flexible spot to where you typically want focus; like a bit to the side and above the center spot if there's a face in the picture. Then you point the lens so that the flexible spot covers the eye and press the button. You can always crop it if the composition isn't perfect. This also saves you from using focus and recompose, as you mention in your last sentence, as this always throws the focus off a bit.

 

All these are just basic DSLR techniques. Some of the point with the AF system on recent Sony cameras is that you can get away from the old techniques. For instance you can use eye focus instead of the flexible spot or focus and recompose when shooting portraits. But sometimes you have to place focus in a spot that the auto af won't pick up, so the manual techniques still have a place. One example is the one you gave, if you shoot birds surrounded by vegetation. The auto af will often catch a leaf, a branch or the wing instead of the head. That's where the flexible spot comes into the picture.