a6300: C-AF tracking capabilities a wake-up call for mFT?

[sderdiarian]

mFT provides numerous benefits, for myself the most important being a compact body size and a full range of small/light high quality lenses to go with it. Being able to easily carry a camera/lens combination all day with an additional few lenses literally in my pockets still carries the day for me.

But I've been surprised how long it's taking Olympus in particular to develop credible C-AF tracking ability in their E-M10 and E-M5 series bodies that matches even mid-range DSLR's. For years this has struck me as the one major performance gap that remains.

The a6300 lays any excuses for this lapse bare. While I will not be running out and buying one due to Sony's stubborn failure to develop a range of quality small lenses, apparently plenty of others have been (from DPR's article):

"The Sony a6000 was a massive hit. Not only is it the best selling mirrorless camera of all time, but also the best selling digital interchangeable lens camera of all time (according to Sony's data)."

Onto it's performance (from the ongoing Camerlabs review):

"The new AF system is where the A6300 really impresses, which is itself an achievement given the two year old A6000 still out-performs most rivals today. Enable AFC and you'll see a cluster of tiny AF points buzzing around the subject, but if you're familiar with the A6000 you'll notice the acquisition is now faster and the system follows the desired subject with improved confidence and accuracy. You'll also notice the density of AF points increases around the subject being tracked and it's fascinating to see how well it works in practice - I tried it with two boxers sparring with each other, dancing unpredictably, and the A6300 stayed on the target wherever they went on the frame. And across the frame it went too - the old A6000's AF array was already pretty broad, but the new A6300's AF coverage essentially covers the entire frame area. It's extremely impressive."

and,

"I've used the earlier A6000 at two Tour de France races and while its AF system and burst shooting coped admirably with the fast-moving cyclists, I still had to anticipate the movement due to the absence of a live update. This has traditionally been an area where mirrorless cameras have fallen behind the optical viewfinders of DSLRs, but Sony's put some work in here and used its speedy processing to provide a new 8fps mode that delivers a genuine live update between frames with minimal blackout. In practice it looks a lot like what you'd see through a traditional optical viewfinder on a DSLR, except with the benefit of an AF array that covers the entire frame. This is big news in the mirrorless world and erodes one of the few benefits of a DSLR."

And it also shoots 4K video and provides a mic input, pretty much the new standard for all but Olympus.

As I noted earlier, mFT's smaller size/weight of body/lens combinations still wins the day for me, especially when combined with Olympus IBIS. But it seems long overdue that mFT took C-AF tracking ability seriously, especially as they unveil the 300mm f4 clearly targeting birders among others.

Time to move on from creating "pretty" styling exercises in their cameras (Pen F) to providing greater substance in areas of interest to consumers. My opinion.

Links to the articles for those interested:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/7832469254/keeping-up-with-the-action-shooting-the-sony-a6300-in-miami

http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Sony_Alpha_A6300/

--
Sailin' Steve

 

[OzRay]

Ho hum, here comes another one.

 

[Martin.au]

We're less than a year away (assuming rumours hold), from the E-M1 II.

Wait till that is released before passing any judgement on Olympus.

And Panasonic apparently has pretty robust tracking now.

 

[isinadinos]

I hope Olympus is watching SONY's products and innovations... GX8 didn't even have pdaf and it can't be used for sports / wildlife. Yes, the af was improved but not that much. Panasonic's CAF can't still compare to SONY's a6300.

If you pay for 1500+ for a body then you expect to be better than 1000 € a6300.

 

[tt321]

Other systems doing well in this aspect does not affect mFT at all. Nikon One has done this from years back and had zero effect on mFT design philosophy. Why would Sony affect the lethargic Panasonic and Olympus more than Nikon? With a loyal customer base that invokes the complete lens line argument every time there is anything positive about any other system, P and O are well advised to continue replenish the lens line and ignore everything else.

 

[Chris R-UK]

For me the real test of C-AF is BIF photography. Wait until serious BIF photographers have really given it a work out over several months, then we will know how well it works.

I am still waiting for some really good feedback on how well DFD works for BIF with the 100-400mm, but it is a but early for that too.

It took me 4-5 months after getting my E-M1 to really learn how to shoot BIF with it.

Also note that no other mirrorless camera has yet come close to the Nikon 1 series for C-AF.

 

[Jon555]

We're less than a year away (assuming rumours hold), from the E-M1 II.

Wait till that is released before passing any judgement on Olympus.

And Panasonic apparently has pretty robust tracking now.

I wouldn't describe the tracking on my GH4 as "robust", more "average", assuming we aren't including the higher-end DSLRs in the mix, just the low-end ones.

 

[Jon555]

For me the real test of C-AF is BIF photography. Wait until serious BIF photographers have really given it a work out over several months, then we will know how well it works.

I am still waiting for some really good feedback on how well DFD works for BIF with the 100-400mm, but it is a but early for that too.

It took me 4-5 months after getting my E-M1 to really learn how to shoot BIF with it.

Also note that no other mirrorless camera has yet come close to the Nikon 1 series for C-AF.

 

[Chris R-UK]

For me the real test of C-AF is BIF photography. Wait until serious BIF photographers have really given it a work out over several months, then we will know how well it works.

I am still waiting for some really good feedback on how well DFD works for BIF with the 100-400mm, but it is a but early for that too.

It took me 4-5 months after getting my E-M1 to really learn how to shoot BIF with it.

Also note that no other mirrorless camera has yet come close to the Nikon 1 series for C-AF.

 

[Trevor Carpenter]

What is surprising in how many good BIF pictures are posted on this forum. Still not as good as some of the top DSLR/lens combinations but I am optimistic that is about to change with our two new lenses. Decent glass is 10 times more important than CAF. CAF has it's place I'm sure but it doesn't guarantee good pictures

 

[Chris R-UK]

What is surprising in how many good BIF pictures are posted on this forum. Still not as good as some of the top DSLR/lens combinations but I am optimistic that is about to change with our two new lenses. Decent glass is 10 times more important than CAF. CAF has it's place I'm sure but it doesn't guarantee good pictures.

I think that that is due to the E-M1, especially since firmware 4.0 about a year ago which allowed full PDAF focusing with M4/3 lenses and the release of the EE-1 red dot sight. The number of BIF threads has gone up considerably in the last year.

As I have said above, I think that at last the Panasonic 100-400mm will give us the chance to learn how well DFD works for BIF. The 300mm f/4 isn't quite so important because BIF photographers are already using the 40-150 f/2.8 with 1.4x TC and the 50-200mm f/2.8-4.0.

 

[glassoholic]

The performance of the Sony 6300 reminds me again to have money saved for the EM1 replacement late this year!

I think Oly will come up with something good as the tech and processing power is available unless Sony or others are not going to share for a period of exclusivity.

The EP5 and EM5 seemed to be test beds for the EM1 so I think we can expect a similarly more advanced EM2 than the rest of the range when the time comes. Focus performance is the number one thing I am hoping to see a major advance in.

 

[Henry Richardson]

I've never used CAF with any DSLR, SLR, or mirrorless I've ever owned. Also, never used anything other than single shot mode so 1fps is fine for me. Some people like this stuff and I suppose Olympus will get better, but I don't care about it at all.

 

[Rusk]

Sorry to break it for you, but check the Tony Northrup's presentation of it and you see it isn't magical for C-AF or tracking at all. He ranks it below 7D MK2 and more like original 7D.

 

[TomFid]

I've never used CAF with any DSLR, SLR, or mirrorless I've ever owned. Also, never used anything other than single shot mode so 1fps is fine for me. Some people like this stuff and I suppose Olympus will get better, but I don't care about it at all.

I don't use it either, because I mostly shoot landscapes. But when I do want it, for wildlife, I still don't use it, because expect it to be fairly worthless. Therefore I haven't spent much time figuring out what the limits of C-AF really are.

Better C-AF, or even a decent tracking of the AF point in S-AF, would be a real benefit. My old GH2 had some ability in that respect, but my EM5ii is hopeless. I'll take a good lens portfolio over good AF with no lenses any day, but this is definitely a gap in the platform. Who cares if your lenses are sharp, stabilized and free of SS if you can't focus?

 

[Jon555]

For me the real test of C-AF is BIF photography. Wait until serious BIF photographers have really given it a work out over several months, then we will know how well it works.

I am still waiting for some really good feedback on how well DFD works for BIF with the 100-400mm, but it is a but early for that too.

It took me 4-5 months after getting my E-M1 to really learn how to shoot BIF with it.

Also note that no other mirrorless camera has yet come close to the Nikon 1 series for C-AF.

 

[webber15]

My em5 was (by a large margin) the worst camera I've ever owned for moving subjects...which was a shame because I really liked the 75-300 mark ll...I liked the non moving subjects shots I took,,em5 was good in this respect...

In summary,,there was a lot to like with my em5,,even with dials falling off (we'll call that character!!),,but anything that moved was unnecessary hard work...

Top marks for oly on the lens front...oly bodies on the other hand need to improve...

Dave...

 

[Jorginho]

Because a wake up call is for someone who fell asleep long time ago. That is simply not the case. G7, GH4 and GX8 too do fine. May be not as good as Sony A6300, but also not bad at all.

Can it be improved and does Sony have very good tech for it, can it inspire mFTs? That is not so clearcut to me. DFD simply works as an CDAF system. So the CDAF from Panny is Always excellent and seems to be easily the best out there for single shots and especially when the lights are not so good. May be Sony caught up btw.To

For EM1 Mark II it might be a worth to take good look for sure but again EM1 with FW 4.x seems to be really good already.

Wake up calls should be directed to some other systems and in particular their S-AF in lower light. Again: most if not all have improved over years too so a wake up call is not in place there either....

My conclusions is therefor that all systems are working at all features of their cams, they are all awake and aware of where they could improve. All take their own way to a better performance. I actually like the diversity here too....

 

[pede59]

Other systems doing well in this aspect does not affect mFT at all. Nikon One has done this from years back and had zero effect on mFT design philosophy. Why would Sony affect the lethargic Panasonic and Olympus more than Nikon? With a loyal customer base that invokes the complete lens line argument every time there is anything positive about any other system, P and O are well advised to continue replenish the lens line and ignore everything else.

 

[mujana]

mFT provides numerous benefits, for myself the most important being a compact body size and a full range of small/light high quality lenses to go with it. Being able to easily carry a camera/lens combination all day with an additional few lenses literally in my pockets still carries the day for me.

But I've been surprised how long it's taking Olympus in particular to develop credible C-AF tracking ability in their E-M10 and E-M5 series bodies that matches even mid-range DSLR's. For years this has struck me as the one major performance gap that remains.

The a6300 lays any excuses for this lapse bare. While I will not be running out and buying one due to Sony's stubborn failure to develop a range of quality small lenses, apparently plenty of others have been (from DPR's article):

"The Sony a6000 was a massive hit. Not only is it the best selling mirrorless camera of all time, but also the best selling digital interchangeable lens camera of all time (according to Sony's data)."

Onto it's performance (from the ongoing Camerlabs review):

"The new AF system is where the A6300 really impresses, which is itself an achievement given the two year old A6000 still out-performs most rivals today. Enable AFC and you'll see a cluster of tiny AF points buzzing around the subject, but if you're familiar with the A6000 you'll notice the acquisition is now faster and the system follows the desired subject with improved confidence and accuracy. You'll also notice the density of AF points increases around the subject being tracked and it's fascinating to see how well it works in practice - I tried it with two boxers sparring with each other, dancing unpredictably, and the A6300 stayed on the target wherever they went on the frame. And across the frame it went too - the old A6000's AF array was already pretty broad, but the new A6300's AF coverage essentially covers the entire frame area. It's extremely impressive."

and,

"I've used the earlier A6000 at two Tour de France races and while its AF system and burst shooting coped admirably with the fast-moving cyclists, I still had to anticipate the movement due to the absence of a live update. This has traditionally been an area where mirrorless cameras have fallen behind the optical viewfinders of DSLRs, but Sony's put some work in here and used its speedy processing to provide a new 8fps mode that delivers a genuine live update between frames with minimal blackout. In practice it looks a lot like what you'd see through a traditional optical viewfinder on a DSLR, except with the benefit of an AF array that covers the entire frame. This is big news in the mirrorless world and erodes one of the few benefits of a DSLR."

And it also shoots 4K video and provides a mic input, pretty much the new standard for all but Olympus.

As I noted earlier, mFT's smaller size/weight of body/lens combinations still wins the day for me, especially when combined with Olympus IBIS. But it seems long overdue that mFT took C-AF tracking ability seriously, especially as they unveil the 300mm f4 clearly targeting birders among others.

Time to move on from creating "pretty" styling exercises in their cameras (Pen F) to providing greater substance in areas of interest to consumers. My opinion.

Links to the articles for those interested:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/7832469254/keeping-up-with-the-action-shooting-the-sony-a6300-in-miami

http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Sony_Alpha_A6300/

--
Sailin' Steve

I'm not sure it's a "wake-up call for mFT", but C-AF tracking capabilities like those of the a6300 are certainly VERY welcome! I don't care what Tony says.