Sony RX10 - Setting Manual Focus (MF) To Infinity

image165 · Aug 31, 2014

I've got a strange problem with my Sony RX10...

I put it into Manual Focus (MF) mode, and turned the Manual ring anti-clockwise again and again and again, so that the focus level on the Monitor was all the way to the right (so on infinity). And I took a whole bunch of photos of landscapes/trees.

Despite the focus being on infinity, and the objects being in the distance, everything in the photos was out-of-focus.

Any idea what's happening?

edform · Aug 31, 2014

image165 said:
I've got a strange problem with my Sony RX10...

I put it into Manual Focus (MF) mode, and turned the Manual ring anti-clockwise again and again and again, so that the focus level on the Monitor was all the way to the right (so on infinity). And I took a whole bunch of photos of landscapes/trees.

Despite the focus being on infinity, and the objects being in the distance, everything in the photos was out-of-focus.

Any idea what's happening?

Viewed from the screen and viewfinder side, focus to infinity is clockwise.

--
Ed Form

lancespring · Aug 31, 2014

image165 said:
I've got a strange problem with my Sony RX10...

I put it into Manual Focus (MF) mode, and turned the Manual ring anti-clockwise again and again and again, so that the focus level on the Monitor was all the way to the right (so on infinity). And I took a whole bunch of photos of landscapes/trees.

Despite the focus being on infinity, and the objects being in the distance, everything in the photos was out-of-focus.

Any idea what's happening?

.

You are clearly not using an aperture that is appropriate for landscape photography. The RX10 often defaults to using a f/2.8 aperture, which is the worst possible setting to use for landscapes. You need to take control of your aperture setting, and set it to something more appropriate, such as f/5.6

This is a Photography 101 type user error on your part. This is one of the most basic and crucial things to do when shooting landscape photos.

If you do use manual focusing on your RX10, then you should also check focus peaking to get confirmation that your subject is indeed in focus. That is why the focus peaking feature is in the camera: to prevent situations exactly like this from happening.

Another possibility would be that you used way too slow of a shutter speed, and that caused the photo to be blurred and out of focus. But that would also be an error on your part.

It is very doubtful that your RX10 let you down.

.

image165 · Aug 31, 2014

edform said:
Viewed from the screen and viewfinder side, focus to infinity is clockwise.

image165 · Aug 31, 2014

lancespring said:
You are clearly not using an aperture that is appropriate for landscape photography. The RX10 often defaults to using a f/2.8 aperture, which is the worst possible setting to use for landscapes. You need to take control of your aperture setting, and set it to something more appropriate, such as f/5.6

This is a Photography 101 type user error on your part. This is one of the most basic and crucial things to do when shooting landscape photos.

If you do use manual focusing on your RX10, then you should also check focus peaking to get confirmation that your subject is indeed in focus. That is why the focus peaking feature is in the camera: to prevent situations exactly like this from happening.

Another possibility would be that you used way too slow of a shutter speed, and that caused the photo to be blurred and out of focus. But that would also be an error on your part.

It is very doubtful that your RX10 let you down.

Thanks for your reply.

It's true, I was in A (Aperture Priority) mode, with the aperture set to f/2.8 (as wide as it goes), which isn't ideal for landscape photography.

The shutter speed was 1/100 (sometimes 1/200), so motion blur wasn't the cause of the problem.

I often do use focus peaking, but I just assumed that if MF was set all the way to infinity, then everything in the distance would HAVE to be in focus. Clearly this is not the case.

It's interesting to note, in P (Program Auto) mode, the RX10 often chooses f/2.8 automatically, and takes landscape photos that are very sharp indeed.

Bill Borne · Aug 31, 2014

image165 said:
I've got a strange problem with my Sony RX10...

I put it into Manual Focus (MF) mode, and turned the Manual ring anti-clockwise again and again and again, so that the focus level on the Monitor was all the way to the right (so on infinity). And I took a whole bunch of photos of landscapes/trees.

Despite the focus being on infinity, and the objects being in the distance, everything in the photos was out-of-focus.

Any idea what's happening?

Next time zoom in as far as possible and look thru viewfinder when focusing and see what you get? I know some film slr cams can focus past infinity which is not a good place to be

Post am example with exif file in it

--
Bill
Bill's Photos

jonl9 · Aug 31, 2014

I have had cameras in the past where the focus ring push to a physical bound was focused someplace beyond infinity, indeed, even when the scale was exactly on infinity, it still was not correctly focused.

Focus to the sharpest image you see in the viewfinder is always the safest thing.

Jon

image165 · Sep 1, 2014

So, I did a few more Infinity focus tests with my RX10.

In Aperture Priority mode, with MF set all the way to infinity, I shot four photos:

• F/2.8 - Focal Length 8.8 - Out of focus
• F/2.8 - Focal Length 73.3 - Out of focus
• F/16 - Focal Length 8.8 - In focus (almost)
• F/16 - Focal Length 73.3 - In focus (almost)

So what does this prove? Well, in my experience, the "infinity" symbol on the RX10 isn't very reliable. So, I really don't know how you can reliably lock the focus to infinity, without doing it by eye or using peaking.

lancespring · Sep 1, 2014

image165 said:
So, I did a few more Infinity focus tests with my RX10.

In Aperture Priority mode, with MF set all the way to infinity, I shot four photos:

• F/2.8 - Focal Length 8.8 - Out of focus
• F/2.8 - Focal Length 73.3 - Out of focus
• F/16 - Focal Length 8.8 - In focus (almost)
• F/16 - Focal Length 73.3 - In focus (almost)

So what does this prove? Well, in my experience, the "infinity" symbol on the RX10 isn't very reliable. So, I really don't know how you can reliably lock the focus to infinity, without doing it by eye or using peaking.

I certainly cannot duplicate any problem at all attempting this with my RX10. You need to either learn to live with this defect and work around it, or contact Sony service about the issue.

And you never really want to shoot a RX10 at f/16 Lens diffraction starts to set in when ones shoots at apertures beyond f/8 By f/16, your image quality will most definitely be impacted negatively. Try to not go beyond f/8, if you really want to get the best possible photos.

If you ever run into a situation where you cannot avoid using real small apertures, simply turn on Auto ND, and that will keep your aperture set larger.

.

edform · Sep 1, 2014

image165 said:
edform said:

Viewed from the screen and viewfinder side, focus to infinity is clockwise.

Click to expand...

image165 · Sep 1, 2014

That's OK. We all make mistakes. I'm quite geeky when it comes to details, so I often reference the instruction manuals before posting anything on here.

I've got a second RX10 now, so I'm going to test that out and see if it has the same Infinity focus problem.

lancespring · Sep 1, 2014

image165 said:
That's OK. We all make mistakes. I'm quite geeky when it comes to details, so I often reference the instruction manuals before posting anything on here.

I've got a second RX10 now, so I'm going to test that out and see if it has the same Infinity focus problem.

If you decide to try to propose any theory that the RX10 has an inherent flaw in manual focusing to infinity, then you will need to post some sample photos of the problem with EXIF data included.

.

mike winslow · Sep 1, 2014

image165 said:
That's OK. We all make mistakes. I'm quite geeky when it comes to details, so I often reference the instruction manuals before posting anything on here.

I've got a second RX10 now, so I'm going to test that out and see if it has the same Infinity focus problem.

If you havent upgraded to V2 - maybe you could do a more definitive test for us to see if AF seems better on V2 firmware.. eg upgrade one, and compare new to old.. In another thread - a couple of us thought it might be improved on V2

OpticsEngineer · Sep 1, 2014

"I have had cameras in the past where the focus ring push to a physical bound was focused someplace beyond infinity, indeed, even when the scale was exactly on infinity, it still was not correctly focused."

Many modern lenses, especially ones on cameras that operate with contrast detection AF, will focus "past infinity." The contrast AF algorithms do better if the optical/mechanical lens design allows for that. I would expect the RX10 is one of them.

With many older lenses, you could count on being able to just set focus all the way out, and be pretty close to infinity focus. But I do not think the RX10 is one of them.

lancespring · Sep 1, 2014

OpticsEngineer said:
"I have had cameras in the past where the focus ring push to a physical bound was focused someplace beyond infinity, indeed, even when the scale was exactly on infinity, it still was not correctly focused."

Many modern lenses, especially ones on cameras that operate with contrast detection AF, will focus "past infinity." The contrast AF algorithms do better if the optical/mechanical lens design allows for that. I would expect the RX10 is one of them.

With many older lenses, you could count on being able to just set focus all the way out, and be pretty close to infinity focus. But I do not think the RX10 is one of them.

We have yet to even see a photo documenting this alleged issue.

.

Demerzel · Sep 2, 2014

This is a guess but some cameras will focus past infinity to allow for focusing through thermals and because of internal expansion and contraction of the lens due to temperature variation. Again just a guess. I have not tried that with my RX10.

jonl9 · Sep 2, 2014

I look forward to seeing your results!!!!

I'd do the same thing, Type A retired engineer here....

Jon

image165 · Sep 2, 2014

So I've just done the same test with a SECOND completely new Sony RX10. And guess what? It has exactly the same issue as my first RX10.

I will post some photos soon, when I take the camera out somewhere less personal. But here's what I found...

In Aperture Priority mode, with the focus switch set to AF-S, pointing the RX10 at a tree way in the distance:

• AF-S, F2.8, Wide (8.8 mm) - In focus
• AF-S, F2.8, Telephoto (73.3 mm) - In focus
• AF-S, F5.6, Wide (8.8 mm) - In focus
• AF-S, F5.6, Telephoto (73.3 mm) - In focus

In Aperture Priority mode, with the focus switch set to MF, and the Manual ring turned anti-clockwise again and again, with the white square on the focus bar stopping at infinity:

• MF, F2.8, Wide (8.8 mm) - Out of focus
• MF, F2.8, Telephoto (73.3 mm) - Out of focus
• MF, F5.6, Wide (8.8 mm) - Almost in focus
• MF, F5.6, Telephoto (73.3 mm) - Out of focus

image165 · Sep 2, 2014

This answer makes a lot of sense. Thanks.

image165 · Sep 2, 2014

mike winslow said:
If you havent upgraded to V2 - maybe you could do a more definitive test for us to see if AF seems better on V2 firmware.. eg upgrade one, and compare new to old.. In another thread - a couple of us thought it might be improved on V2

Hi. Sorry, I've already upgraded both of my RX10s to firmware V2.0. Normally I would've done the tests for you, to compare AF, but I'm short on time and have to return one of my RX10s very soon. And right now, the fact that I can't get either of them to focus manually on infinity, without using focus peaking, is what I'm "focused" on.

Sony RX10 - Setting Manual Focus (MF) To Infinity

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