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From Yellowstone back in the fall.

Needs to be the dedicated SONY cable that came with the camera. I tagged mine so it doesn't get lost in the mound of USB cables and is the ONLY one that correctly identifies camera with computer,

@XKAES extensive experience with cameras and lenses dates back to the analogue age, so his advice is colored by that experience 😉 You are correct: turning the focus ring while autofocussing with this lens is no problem at all. There is no physical connection between the focus ring and the focussing mechanism.

No all USB cables provide a data connection. Male sure yours does.

There isn't a "manual" for that lens. Just a large piece of paper folded many times - that's normal for lenses, though. Here's a link to it if you don't still have it: https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/res/manuals/4479/dd872ea359967bb6142f930eddb0cf8f/44791220M.pdf There are two ways to use this lens in manual focus: set the camera to MF focus mode - that means all of the responsibility for focusing the lens falls on the user set the camera to DMF focus mode - that means the camera will do a single auto-focus (hopefully getting the lens close to focused), then the user can turn the focus ring to touch it up, if necessary. Many lenses have an AF/MF switch - looking at the diagrams on the instructions page, this lens does not appear to have an AF/MF switch. Here is the help guide for the A7 II: https://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/1450/v1/en/index.html and the information about choosing a focus mode: https://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/1450/v1/en/contents/TP0000386486.html

You need to get a user manual for your camera. It will tell you not to try to manually focus the lens while it is in auto-focus mode. That will damage the camera and or the lens. If you want to manually focus, you switch to manual-focus mode. Lenses and cameras make noise while auto-focusing. You describe it as "almost inaudible". That's normal. You need to get a user manual for your camera.

@FunWithCameras already answered that quite nicely. Apparently, they save enough or the switch would have been in all models. Thing is, some regions have a lower MSRP than others. For the same reason, different regional models only include a select set of languages. Iirc, models intended for the Chinese market for example don't include English, to prevent market undercuts in America/Europe by grey market resellers.

I think you misunderstood what I was saying. Yes, Sony makes some camera without the switch. Those cameras are intended for particular markets. They leave the switch out so they can sell the cameras at a lower price in that market, and to discourage re-selling those cameras in other markets. A grey market camera is one not intended for the market in which is being sold by an unscrupulous vendor. That unscrupulous vendor has bought the camera at a lower price, and re-sells it at a higher price (somewhat undercutting the price of a camera intended for the region in which they are selling). A grey market camera may or may not have proper warranty support. A purchaser, particularly a price-sensitive purchaser, may buy a camera from a grey market seller unintentionally, and end up with unexpected restrictions. I don't have any older models any more - my oldest model is an A1 now. All my cameras do have the ability to switch between PAL and NTSC, but I've never used it. There is no 50i marking on mine.

Pieter, you've given me another reason why I'd like to turn on SOUND when I'm taking pictures (even though I can't) -- just to annoy people so much that they will keep their distance from me -- and I can get the shot that I want. THANX

Taken at Sax-Zim Bog in northern MN with a Sony A1 and 100-400 lens.