FE 2.8/90 Macro G OSS operation

[BillJ]

I am new to this camera (A7RV) and lens.  I have figured out how to use the lens in macro, but I read it can also be used as a long lens. When in manual, if I focus say on a bird and zoom in, when I half press the shutter, the lens jumps out of zoom and changes my focus.  I have tried different settings, manual & auto but can't figure it out.  It zooms and focuses great, then goes nuts when I depress the shutter.  Thank you in advance for any help.

[tadwil]

You cannot zoom with a fixed focal length lens.  It's a 90mm lens and you are just focusing.  I don't have this lens but it says this lens has a focus hold button.  Could it be your focus hold button is somehow stuck and the lens wants to return to the focus to where it was originally set at?  All macro lenses have a long focus throw and if you are using at as a short telephoto lens, you should put the focus limiter switch to 0.5m ~ infinity and if shooting as a macro lens, set the switch to 0.28m to 05m.

[BillJ]

thank you, I will take a look and see what I can do.

 

[Pieter]

On 4/9/2024 at 7:25 PM, BillJ said:

When in manual, if I focus say on a bird and zoom in, when I half press the shutter, the lens jumps out of zoom and changes my focus.

What you're experiencing is 'manual focus aid': whenever you turn the focus ring while in manual focus mode, the view is enlarged (i.e. digitally zoomed in) to help you to put the focus plane exactly where you want it. Then when you half-press the shutter button, the view is reverted back to normal so you can verify your overall composition. You can't physically zoom with this lens, but if you really want to there's the option to use (digital) 'clear image zoom'. Look it up in your manual.

[BillJ]

Pieter that is great thank you. Really helps my understanding. 

[FunWithCameras]

This lens has an unusual manual focus switch (there is at least one other Sony lens with the same trick - the 28-135mm PZ lens) - the focus ring can be pushed forwards and back - in one position, the lens is manual focus; in the other, it's autofocus. (Sorry, I forget whether it's forward for MF, back for AF or the other way around - it is marked on the lens, though).

In manual focus mode, the camera defaults to focus magnify - when you start to turn the focus ring it will magnify the view to make manual focus easier. This is magnification of what you see in the viewfinder (or on the back screen) - it is not changing the image that is recorded.

If you don't like the magnify feature, you can turn it off, but I find it quite handy. 

If you weren't aware of the MF/AF switch I thought you might be wondering why it magnified sometimes, and not others.

[BillJ]

I did figure out mf / af ring. The focus jumping in and out is where I was having an issue. I was getting crazy trying to make magnification stick lol. Now I understand what it is doing and why. Have been working with that for much better results. I appreciate the comments on this thread. All have really helped me.