24-70 GM infinity focus? (failed fireworks shooting)

[jucytec]

Anyone tried shooting fireworks shooting yesterday with their 24-70 GM?

 

I was in F8 - F11 shooting anywhere from 1s - 2.5s.  all the light traces were out of focus.  I manually focused and automatically...  neither shown good results.

 

I also used my 85 GM, and that one i shot auto focus at a carnival couple weeks back which turned out fine.

https://goo.gl/photos/SSGcTu33NYBbqezE9

 

did anyone have issues focusing on a star or fireworks with their 24-70 GM? please let me know!

 

Weather permitting i'll take some pictures of stars tonight.

 

 

 

 

[yali]

So I shot some fireworks a couple of days ago with the FE 70-300mm as I was shooting from quite far away.

 

What I can tell you: None of my Sony cameras (RX100, a6000, A7RII) and some others have been able to reliably focus onto pure light. With that I mean water reflections, fireworks, strong light sources. Somehow very strong light will confuse the AF system. If you want to photograph fireworks you need to focus onto something very far away and not on the firework itself.

 

If the pictures you focused manually also aren't good then you messed up not the camera With MF you can actually focus on the fireworks if you want to.

 

But with the GM 24-70 I don't have any experience, sorry.

[Golem]

Re: OP

 

If manual focus means you used those damnt peaking stripes,

then acoarst you're off focus. Those detect edge contrast, not

actual focus. Any hotspots, such as fireworks or sky-thru-trees

will have a contrasty hard edge even when out of focus. This

will fool both peaking and AF. Last time I shot any fireworks I

used an ancient lens with a hard stop at infinity focus. Having

already confirmed that the adapter for the lens was ded-on as

to flange distance, 'life was good'.

   

Zoom lenses present an array of variables, including possible

accidental shifts from handling, which may be too small to see

in the viewing system unless you use the MF Aid magnifier.

 

You shot at f/8 or f/11. Did you focus wide open ? Depending

on which camera and which mode you used, you could have

been viewing or focusing at working aperture instead. Sony is

not especially forthcoming about this in their documentation. 

  

Bottom line is that the only near-absolute arbiter of accurate

focus is the MF Aid magnifier. All else is smoke and mirrors.

[jucytec]

I got to the bottom of it by testing on some stars last night.

 

So any non-focus by wire lenses, between a distant fireworks to astro photography, i've been manually setting the focus point to ∞ infinity or right before infinity.

 

Almost all lenses go beyond infinity a little, I'm finding out that 24-70 GM go infinity and WAY beyond.

 

the distance scale is completely inaccurate.  I put my camera on a tripod, and going to infinity the north star was just a bokeh ball.  I went back and forth on the focus ring to get the star in focus and each time the distance reading was off by quite a bit. 

 

focusing all the way out and in at times I had the star in focus while the distance scale still showing ∞ but not all the way out.

other times i got star to focus when the scale on screen read 50m! 

 

note to self.  just use the screen and the subject, and not the digital scale as it is not reliable/accurate.

[Golem]

So ... when you said that you "manually focused" you

really meant "I scale focused". Well if this is your first

zoom lens, now you know the deal. Some users b*tch

about the absence of focusing scales on many lenses,

but apparently that could sometimes be a "blessing in

disguise", as no one would be tempted to scale focus.

[VTC]

Didn't use the 2470 but did use a 70-200 f4 and got focus nailed. Both in auto focus as well as manual using peaking function. Was able to throw focus manually from blur to sharp just fine and get crisp captures. All this in 4K using rear screen instead of exterior monitor I usually use. I never focus via lens markings.