Focus hunting issues with FE 20mm F1.8 G on Alpha 7Rii

[Mo Athar]

Hello all. I have just bought an FE 20mm F1.8 G lens to use with my Alpha 7Rii. Having put the lens on, I noticed that the camera was hunting even when I wasn't composing a shot. This surprised me. I normally use single-shot Auto Focus (not continuous) so I don't understand why this was happening.  Thankfully, the lens works fine when you have composed the scene and pressed the shutter halfway. 

I didn't notice this hunting during a test video either. 

This hunting (or focus breathing?) seems to happen regardless of the amount of light. I noticed it both indoors and outdoors. I have tried different aperture settings, but no change. 

I have used a few other lenses (Canons, Sigmas) with this camera (through an adaptor) in the past and never had this issue. 

Look forward to any suggestions here before I contact the outlet where I bought the lens from. 

[Cameratose]

Sony has a feature called 'pre-focus' or something like that, it keeps the camera focusing so it's ready when you push the button check through your menu and see if it is somehow activated. I don't know anyone who uses it, perhaps it's helpful in some cases.

Here's a link to the online help guide for your camera, which is searchable.

Help Guide | Top

BTW, not focus breathing. Focus breathing is a reference to the image appearing to be zooming in and out as the camera focuses. Sometimes it can be quite noticeable. 

[Mo Athar]

1 hour ago, Cameratose said:

Sony has a feature called 'pre-focus' or something like that, it keeps the camera focusing so it's ready when you push the button check through your menu and see if it is somehow activated. I don't know anyone who uses it, perhaps it's helpful in some cases.

Here's a link to the online help guide for your camera, which is searchable.

Help Guide | Top

BTW, not focus breathing. Focus breathing is a reference to the image appearing to be zooming in and out as the camera focuses. Sometimes it can be quite noticeable. 

Hi, thanks for the tip. There is a Pre-AF setting which was turned on. This clearly didn't have much impact on my other (non-Sony) lenses, so I never noticed it before. Have turned it off, and the camera is no longer trying to focus on random things 🙂 

Also, thanks for explaining what focus breathing is. 

BTW, FE 20mm F1.8G is a cracking lens, really impressive optics.