focus changes with new firmware

[Nephi]

Stopped-down autofocus (past f8) seems significantly improved by the new firmware, at least in single focus mode. Faster, more definite and more precise. It may be that, compared to before, there's more PDAF being performed as the lens stops down. This, along with the new manual focus behavior, are both welcome.

On the other hand, continuous autofocus still seems poor when stopped down, since the aperture stays fully closed to taking aperture after initial acquisition. I don't understand why Sony isn't giving us the option of focusing wide open, or even at f5.6, as with manual focus.

The problem was in AF-C mode.

 

[lattesweden]

so you can look into the lens, and see the aperture actually closing down? that would be a good sign, but i don't know if that's the end of it.

Yes, if you hold that button, the lens closes to the working aperture making you see the correct DOF. This was already a feature on the very first M43 camera, the Panasonic G1 from 2008, but under the menu name: "Shutter speed effect", which is somewhat confusing but did exactly this.

here are examples of how the olympus evf fails to display the correct darkness, to match the ambient lighting... this is not wysiwyg behavior, and i don't know if the dof button changes it:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3941170

https://www.mu-43.com/threads/em1-lcd-evf-not-displaying-true-exposure.58936/

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4085566#forum-post-58729587

Olympus has some additional setting you can turn on: Live View Boost and Simulated OVF that changes the wysiwyg behaviour and brightness of the EVF and LCD. Live View Boost does like the name says, boost the brightness. Good for night shots for instance as it acts more is less like night vision goggles and brightens the image up so it is easier to see. Simulated OVF just ignores how you turn the exposure compensation dial or how wrong the camera measures, it stops giving wysisyg output just like an OVF does, hence the name for that function. A lot of people gets confused by these functions and accidentally enables them and then posts threads like the ones you linked to.

 

[osv]

live boost sounds like "setting effect: OFF", which is not wysiwyg.

i can see how it could be an issue in general, but i think that it was ruled out as factor in all of the threads that i linked to.

--
dan

 

[lattesweden]

live boost sounds like "setting effect: OFF", which is not wysiwyg.

i can see how it could be an issue in general, but i think that it was ruled out as factor in all of the threads that i linked to.

There are even several different live view boost strengths you can set. Live View Boost and S-OVF only affects brightness behaviour of the EVF and LCD. The button at the side of the lens mount decides if you should see the DOF wide open or stopped down, just like the old film SLR cameras did it. But the brightness when stopped down is boosted to show the correct exposure so the image doesn't get darker as with old OVFs when you stopped the lens down.

Live View Boost is very handy in dark situations where you actually see a brighter image than what your exposure would normally give you. For instance in a studio where you have set 1/250 and f8 and only have lamps as the lighting source when framing, but flash once you press the trigger. Not having Live View Boost seems to be a problem with Sonys implementation according to what some have reported here. I don't shot in studio so I have no own experience of that.

The S-OVF setting is handy when you for instance shot outdoors with the sun in the image and set -2 exposure compensation to not blow the highlights (the sun) as the EVF in the S-OVF mode continues to be bright, making framing easier. Switching from normal EVF which shows exposure wysiwyg and see that the exposure looks good (meaning that I don't burn out the sun to much) and then toggle to S-OVF to be able to frame well is really nice. I wish Sony would incorporate this as this has been a problem for me on the A7RII in these situations.

Is the Olympus way of doing this perfect? No, as the texts you linked to also says, they never show more than +/- 3 steps visually in the EVF/LCD even if your settings would be more off than that. Probably a design decision since you will always see an image and not just a black or white screen. I can live with that, have never had any problems with exposure or DOF control on my Olympuses (E-M1mk1 and E-M5mkII) other than that they have no exposure compensation control in Auto-ISO in M (newer models have this feature and on mine there are some ways around that so not the end of the world) and also Olympus Auto EVF/LCD and manual EVF or LCD screen setting is totally wrongly made where if I for instance set that I want the EVF as the screen and press playback the image comes up on the LCD (what did they smoke to come up with that idea I wonder). In this regard Sony has gotten everything fully right on my A7RII.

In one year I shot 45000 nature images in more than 100 trips in a project I did. My A7RII did about 15000 of those so my two Olympus bodies did the rest. I always had all three with me, never changed lenses, one camera for wide angle, one for tele and one for macro. They all worked fine but none of them is perfect and what one camera has, the other one doesn't etc. That's life. And now time to power down and sleep.

--

Best regards
/Anders
----------------------------------------------------
You don't have to like my pictures, but here they are: http://www.lattermann.com/gallery

 

[braveheart0707]

on my 2470 GM, I can report that the new firmware has not changed the focusing behavior.

after all, this is not a lens firmware update.

 

[OFremen]

on my 2470 GM, I can report that the new firmware has not changed the focusing behavior.

after all, this is not a lens firmware update.

But it was the 3.30 camera firmware that caused the change in the first place....remember?? people wanted to go back but couldn't.

 

[Nephi]

on my 2470 GM, I can report that the new firmware has not changed the focusing behavior.

after all, this is not a lens firmware update.

But it was the 3.30 camera firmware that caused the change in the first place....remember?? people wanted to go back but couldn't.

Correct. It was a body firmware that created the issue. Like I thought... no changes to focusing behavior. C'mon Sony!

 

[davidstock]

on my 2470 GM, I can report that the new firmware has not changed the focusing behavior.

after all, this is not a lens firmware update.

But it was the 3.30 camera firmware that caused the change in the first place....remember?? people wanted to go back but couldn't.

Correct. It was a body firmware that created the issue. Like I thought... no changes to focusing behavior. C'mon Sony!

I am seeing some changes to focus behavior, although not what I hoped for most.

First of all, single focus when stopped down past f8 seems much better. Maybe this has something to do with changes in how the aperture opens and closes, which looks a bit different to me. Either PDAF is active for part of the focus process, or CDAF has been improved, IMO.

Second of all, at smaller apertures, manual focus is now done partially stopped down (with setting effects OFF). Focus shift should be virtually eliminated in that mode.

Continuous focus is still poor when stopped down, in any mode.

 

[PVCdroid]

on my 2470 GM, I can report that the new firmware has not changed the focusing behavior.

after all, this is not a lens firmware update.

But it was the 3.30 camera firmware that caused the change in the first place....remember?? people wanted to go back but couldn't.

Correct. It was a body firmware that created the issue. Like I thought... no changes to focusing behavior. C'mon Sony!

I am seeing some changes to focus behavior, although not what I hoped for most.

First of all, single focus when stopped down past f8 seems much better. Maybe this has something to do with changes in how the aperture opens and closes, which looks a bit different to me. Either PDAF is active for part of the focus process, or CDAF has been improved, IMO.

Second of all, at smaller apertures, manual focus is now done partially stopped down (with setting effects OFF). Focus shift should be virtually eliminated in that mode.

Continuous focus is still poor when stopped down, in any mode.

Continuous focus with SE OFF is wide open until shutter half press. So, in very low studio light that would be the recommended setting for AF-C. Once half pressed the aperture is at desired setting. Any change from that state if recommended would result in a lag when hitting the shutter button imo.

 

[FOTONOTO]

umm they did.
I have the Batis 85mm lens and i tested this last night in very dim light shooting at f8-f11 and it opened up the lens and grabbed focus.

I am going to do more testing tomorrow in my studio in a real world setting but from my test last night in similar conditions, at f8-f11 on AF-C PDAF was initialised and so was the lens opening up to get AF and then close down to my F8 settings fine

That's not fine in my opinion. My FE3514Z performs exactly the same. But in AFC, after the initial aquisition it stops down to the setting aperture, which makes it almost impossible to stay focus on moving subjects.