a99ii hybrid AF and lens compatibility

I'm absolutely happy with the sharpness of Sigma 24-105mm F4. So far I used it only in combination with my A77II and my A7II (using the LA-EA3 adapter) as I received my new A99II only last friday...

Sample photos can be found in my Santorini album on my flickr account:
https://flic.kr/s/aHskJZQvdq

Or check my latest photos in my photostream:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/andip66

AndiP said:

I'm absolutely happy with the sharpness of Sigma 24-105mm F4. So far I used it only in combination with my A77II and my A7II (using the LA-EA3 adapter) as I received my new A99II only last friday...

Sample photos can be found in my Santorini album on my flickr account:
https://flic.kr/s/aHskJZQvdq

Or check my latest photos in my photostream:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/andip66

Click to expand...

Some very nice photos you've got there.

AndiP said:

I'm absolutely happy with the sharpness of Sigma 24-105mm F4. So far I used it only in combination with my A77II and my A7II (using the LA-EA3 adapter) as I received my new A99II only last friday...

Sample photos can be found in my Santorini album on my flickr account:
https://flic.kr/s/aHskJZQvdq

Or check my latest photos in my photostream:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/andip66

Click to expand...

thanks for the comments, looks like a perfect match for a99m2

can't access flic from ChinaMainland, ...

Just tested the Tamron SP 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di USD on my A99 II.

Hybrid AF works!

MfG L.E.

Oswald74 said:

Just tested the Tamron SP 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di USD on my A99 II.

Hybrid AF works!

MfG L.E.

Click to expand...

Wow that is surprising. However, I can only assume it works because it shares the ID with a Sony lens. So the question then becomes what Sony lens does the camera THINK is attached and is the camera making some AF assumptions based on data about that Sony lens, and if so, will that impact the performance of hybrid AF with the Tamron. Does it, for example, think the lens is the Sony 70-300 G lens or the cheap 'kit' Sony 70-300 variable aperture lens? Imagine if the a99ii thinks the lens is a prime or something of a completely different focal length? Should be a good test of the debates that have been raging here about whether the camera contains any profile data about the performance of a lens or whether the camera simply looks to see if the lens ID is a recognised one.

that sounds very strange to me because - as far as I know - no third party lenses are supported at all. How did you test that?

AndiP said:

How did you test that?

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Put the lens on the A99II and see 399 + 79 focus points in the EVF.

MfG L.E. ;-)

AndiP said:

that sounds very strange to me because - as far as I know - no third party lenses are supported at all. How did you test that?

Click to expand...

as I said, this happens 'by accident' and not by Sony design, if an attached lens reports the same lens ID to the camera as a Sony lens. In another forum someone reported this happened with a Tamron prime, but they reported the hybrid AF points did not work well, leading to conjecture about whether you should use/trust hybrid AF in these circumstances

Marco Cinnirella said:

AndiP said:

that sounds very strange to me because - as far as I know - no third party lenses are supported at all. How did you test that?

Click to expand...

as I said, this happens 'by accident' and not by Sony design, if an attached lens reports the same lens ID to the camera as a Sony lens. In another forum someone reported this happened with a Tamron prime, but they reported the hybrid AF points did not work well, leading to conjecture about whether you should use/trust hybrid AF in these circumstances

Click to expand...

I believe the report regarding outer OSPDAF points not performing well, leading to hunting behaviour. I am not surprised by this due to the dark and soft corners of many macro lenses which are often optimized for sharpness at f8, combined with the lower sensitivity of OSPDAF points. I do not believe the original AFD points to be particularly sensitive, and this may explain the odd kidney shaped clustering of those points to keep them in the bright centre of the image circle.

Speculating, based on previous reports of AFD functionality the Tamron 70-300 USD is using the same lens id as the SAL70300G, and will work with HPD just fine as a result.