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A7RIII Focus Magnifier issue in Movie mode


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Hi

I'm not sure if this an actual issue or just the way it is. I can't get the Focus Magnifier (will be referred to as FM) to work in Move mode.

I have it set for the Center button (can't remember if that's the default or not). Here's a video showing the problem (sorry it's a bit dark and shaky).

https://youtu.be/nq08U0ZVExY

1. Showing FM works in M mode and AFS.

2. Changing to MF, FM still works fine.

3. Changing to Movie mode, still in MF, I get this message:

This operation or setting not available as follows
Focus Mode
Manual Focus
 
It's not clear whether it needs to be in MF to work, or doesn't work in MF, but as shown in 2 and 2, when I'm in M mode, it works both in AFS and MF.
 
4. Changing to the only other focus mode that works in Movie mode, which is AFC, I get something different when using the Center button, Lock-On On/Off.
 
I really hope I'm just missing something...?
 
Thanks
 
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I think it's just the way it is.  If you think about it, in video mode you are presumably shooting a moving subject.  When would you have the chance to use the magnifier to achieve the extra precise focus of the subject?  By the time you do get the subject finely focused, he she or it may have moved out of the frame, moved forwards or backwards, etc.  Which means you will have to refocus all over again. 

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Thanks, but even if that was true, it doesn't really make sense. Why disable it? You can always just... not use it. In reality, it's not true. More than a few times I have the camera on a tripod and take a video with the focus remaining the same. For example a frame of a full stage with performers staying in the same places throughout. This is just one example, and the one I had when I discovered this issue. In some of those cases I could even do with AFS, but that is also disabled in Movie mode for some weird reason, so there's the annoying workaround of framing in Movie mode, changing to M mode, focusing, then back to Movie mode. I'd still prefer manual focus with magnifier in most of those situations, which requires the same workaround.

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I hear you.  Even though I am not a video shooter I can see situations where magnified accurate focus can be beneficial to have but since it's Sony who has decided to disable this feature in video mode there isn't much consumers can do.  What about other manufacturers, does any of them have magnifier focus feature in video mode?

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Problems solved! I'm not sure why it took so long to figure out, and how no one in any Sony forum or group thought of it... but the problem was the custom key for the Center button was different from the stills. I don't know why, maybe it's the default, or maybe I changed it by accident and didn't notice. All the video custom keys were set to "follow stills", except this one for some reason, which was set to Lock-On, which obviously doesn't work in manual focus and this is why it gave the message.

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