-
Welcome to the new forums! Please read this first. For known issues we are working to resolve, click here.
FYI: Another case of A7 III eye-AF issue
- Thread starter jameszhan
- Start date
ATLshooter
Forum Enthusiast
- Messages
- 379
- Reaction score
- 434
Just saw a post on Facebook with the same issue, and someone said Sony replied this:
"Thank you for contacting The Sony Digital Imaging and Alpha Email Response Team.
I understand that you're having issues with the Eye AF function of your ILCE7M3 camera.
We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you.
We want you to know that we appreciate you bringing this to our attention. Please be advised that Sony is aware of this issue, and this has been forwarded to our engineering team in Japan already. If any update is available, it will be posted on the Sony US support website.
Sony pro level support engineers have been aware of the problem since April 13 when I first reported it and actually got somewhere with Sony.
Even though I went to the riii, I do hope there's an easy FW fix for this. I'm still waiting on my 3rd 7iii.
MxPhotos
Forum Enthusiast
- Messages
- 409
- Reaction score
- 263
I haven't experienced the issues to the extend you did, but I do have Eye AF misses, mostly but not only, when most of the frame is filled with a face. I really DO believe this issue is VERY common and effect a lot of, if not most A7III cameras, but not everything shoot like this.Sony pro level support engineers have been aware of the problem since April 13 when I first reported it and actually got somewhere with Sony.Just saw a post on Facebook with the same issue, and someone said Sony replied this:
"Thank you for contacting The Sony Digital Imaging and Alpha Email Response Team.
I understand that you're having issues with the Eye AF function of your ILCE7M3 camera.
We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you.
We want you to know that we appreciate you bringing this to our attention. Please be advised that Sony is aware of this issue, and this has been forwarded to our engineering team in Japan already. If any update is available, it will be posted on the Sony US support website.
Even though I went to the riii, I do hope there's an easy FW fix for this. I'm still waiting on my 3rd 7iii.
I really hope a firmware upgrade will be released soon.
Tristimulus
Veteran Member
See the point - good to see you having a good lens now!
Did not think otherwise. Others might not know the A7III that well...
Seems like you have been into quite a few faulty Sony products now, most likely plain old fashioned rotten luck. We are a bunch here having 100+ Sony items. One lemon so far, and that was a Sigma lens...
Crossing fingers! ;-)
Last edited:
jameszhan
Leading Member
Just talked to my sales consultant—he said Sony confirmed with him that it is a software issue and they will be fixing it! The improved eye-AF after the A7R III is a very good sign.Sony pro level support engineers have been aware of the problem since April 13 when I first reported it and actually got somewhere with Sony.Just saw a post on Facebook with the same issue, and someone said Sony replied this:
"Thank you for contacting The Sony Digital Imaging and Alpha Email Response Team.
I understand that you're having issues with the Eye AF function of your ILCE7M3 camera.
We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you.
We want you to know that we appreciate you bringing this to our attention. Please be advised that Sony is aware of this issue, and this has been forwarded to our engineering team in Japan already. If any update is available, it will be posted on the Sony US support website.
Even though I went to the riii, I do hope there's an easy FW fix for this. I'm still waiting on my 3rd 7iii.
That's GREAT news! Hopefully it will clear up the issue(s). My index finger is itching to hit the BUY button, but have been waiting for this to be resolved. Thanks to all who brought light to this!
jameszhan
Leading Member
I think you should go for it. Even not counting in eye-AF as a feature, the A7 III is an amazing camera packed with insanely helpful features.
Horacecoker
Veteran Member
- Messages
- 3,744
- Solutions
- 5
- Reaction score
- 2,285
But what about all the folk who say there's nothing wrong with the eye-AF on their copies of the A7iii? Surely if it's a software issue all cameras are affected?
ATLshooter
Forum Enthusiast
- Messages
- 379
- Reaction score
- 434
They aren't replicating the issue correctly possibly?
Horacecoker
Veteran Member
- Messages
- 3,744
- Solutions
- 5
- Reaction score
- 2,285
Exactly - I knew that!
ATLshooter
Forum Enthusiast
- Messages
- 379
- Reaction score
- 434
Seems like that would be far fetched considering sony tried replicating the problem with my exact settings. But there's really no other explanation that makes sense.
It's possible they never filled the frame the way we are, so they didn't see the issue. Who knows really.
It does feel good to know that sony is figuring it out, especially since I have another 7iii pre ordered.
Also it's good to be vindicated after being called a troll and attacked for simply pointing out an issue.....
Issue replication might help them get the fix out more quickly.
We spoke with Sony Pro support last month about the a7RIII eye autofocus issue we were having (1 out of 20 photos would be soft on the eye), and we had Sony support come back to us and confirm that they were able to replicate the issue after following our test protocol. It's possible that this firmware update fixes the issue. Fingers crossed!
--
http://www.roseandcharles.com
Last edited:
Horacecoker
Veteran Member
- Messages
- 3,744
- Solutions
- 5
- Reaction score
- 2,285
Exactly again. You have been berated and worse for bringing this issue into the open. You have proved the issue time and time again with videos but still people didn't believe the evidence of their own eyes and came out with crackpot theories of why it was happening. There are a few folk who posted who even said it was a feature of the camera! This is what you are up against on these forums.
jameszhan
Leading Member
I think a lot of the A7 III copies in people's hands have this problem to various extent, and a lot of people simple don't shoot people at large apertures.
Also, the fact that it's a software issue doesn't mean it affects all bodies. In the cell phone world, a lot of times bugs only affect some copies but not others. Hardware issues on the other hand, will mostly likely affect all models in the same batch.
I hope the next A7 III firmware update will fix this issue.
PeterK
Senior Member
I just wanted to say THANK YOU to Jameszhan and ATLShooter for bringing this issue to the forefront, and others in this forum (and FM boards) for their helpful analysis and insights.
I unequivocally confirmed a few days ago that my new A7iii has the problem, and of course Sony has now acknowledged the issue.
I, for one, would never have known about this issue until shooting a priceless family moment, or important client shoot that could not be replicated. Probably saved my Bacon in advance big time.
Thanks for sticking to your guns! I think there's plenty of people in this forum (and I've seen others reference you elsewhere) that appreciate your efforts also. I think there are probably a few who owe you an apology - but I'd rather keep this post positive, so I won't say more on that.
--
www.pkphoto.net
I unequivocally confirmed a few days ago that my new A7iii has the problem, and of course Sony has now acknowledged the issue.
I, for one, would never have known about this issue until shooting a priceless family moment, or important client shoot that could not be replicated. Probably saved my Bacon in advance big time.
Thanks for sticking to your guns! I think there's plenty of people in this forum (and I've seen others reference you elsewhere) that appreciate your efforts also. I think there are probably a few who owe you an apology - but I'd rather keep this post positive, so I won't say more on that.
--
www.pkphoto.net
Last edited:
Received the camera yesterday, and I have been reading those Posts, but now that I have my own camera... how can I check it at best?
PeterK
Senior Member
I'll go out on a limb, since I'm not the expert here (someone else please correct me if I left something out):
- Use f1.8 or wider aperture.
- Get close to the subject - fill the frame with a face as much as practical without going closer than minimum focusing distance.
- Use eye AF button (I think the center button of the main dial comes programmed as eye AF - if not, program another button)
- try to shoot at a reasonable ss for your fl so as to eliminate motion blur.
- I had most shots (~70%) focused on the forehead, NOT the eye. Eye clearly oof.
Jameszhan and ATLShooter have lots more detail in their various posts.
jameszhan
Leading Member
PeterK is pretty much correct. I will write my instructions for the test as well
Use f1.4 or f1.8 to test. Go to a well-lit place with a person without glasses (they shouldn't be squinting either), make their face to the side just a bit (about 15 degree angle), so you can tell if the focus is on the eye the green box is on (the other eye will be out of focus). See the picture below for an example. The green box was on her right eye, which is the eye in sharp focus, and the other eye is not.
Don't go way too close—definitely be mindful not to be closer than the MFD; also go have the face too far away cuz then the DOF becomes deeper so it's harder to tell.
In my test, eye-AF works in AF-S mode, but after reading around online it seems like it's supposed to work the best with AF-C, so use AF-C mode to test instead.
Make sure the shutter speed is high enough to freeze any small motions from your hand or the subject.
That should be it! It should be a very easy feature to use.
jameszhan
Leading Member
Similar threads
Keyboard shortcuts
- f
- Forum