Focus problem with a6500

[Dick Barbour]

I have both the a6500 and the a6700. I normally use the "focus and recompose" method of shooting, particularly for landscapes. I keep the 16-70 on the a6500 mainly for this kind of shot. One problem though, is that I can't get the focus to hold when I recompose with the a6500; it re-focuses no matter what I do. It works fine with the same lens on the a6700, just like you would expect. I've checked all the settings on the a6500 and as far as possible they are the same on both cameras. Is this just a characteristic of the a6500 or am I overlooking something?

Thanks for any suggetions.

****

 

[lehill]

I have both the a6500 and the a6700. I normally use the "focus and recompose" method of shooting, particularly for landscapes. I keep the 16-70 on the a6500 mainly for this kind of shot. One problem though, is that I can't get the focus to hold when I recompose with the a6500; it re-focuses no matter what I do. It works fine with the same lens on the a6700, just like you would expect. I've checked all the settings on the a6500 and as far as possible they are the same on both cameras. Is this just a characteristic of the a6500 or am I overlooking something?

Thanks for any suggetions.

****

Using AF-S (AF Single or single-shot) mode is probably the easiest way to do what you want. Go into AF-S, focus on the subject with a half-press of the shutter button, do not release the button while recomposing, then press the shutter button fully to take the shot.

The AEL button can be customized to Focus Hold too.

--
Lance H

 

[Dick Barbour]

I have both the a6500 and the a6700. I normally use the "focus and recompose" method of shooting, particularly for landscapes. I keep the 16-70 on the a6500 mainly for this kind of shot. One problem though, is that I can't get the focus to hold when I recompose with the a6500; it re-focuses no matter what I do. It works fine with the same lens on the a6700, just like you would expect. I've checked all the settings on the a6500 and as far as possible they are the same on both cameras. Is this just a characteristic of the a6500 or am I overlooking something?

Thanks for any suggetions.

****

Using AF-S (AF Single or single-shot) mode is probably the easiest way to do what you want. Go into AF-S, focus on the subject with a half-press of the shutter button, do not release the button while recomposing, then press the shutter button fully to take the shot.

The AEL button can be customized to Focus Hold too.

Thanks for your comment, but that is exactly what does not work correctly on the a6500, but does as expected on the a6700. But if I configure the AEL button for "AF On", that works correctly. So I'm thinking something is wrong with the normal shutter button focusing.

 

[Willy81]

I have both the a6500 and the a6700. I normally use the "focus and recompose" method of shooting, particularly for landscapes. I keep the 16-70 on the a6500 mainly for this kind of shot. One problem though, is that I can't get the focus to hold when I recompose with the a6500; it re-focuses no matter what I do. It works fine with the same lens on the a6700, just like you would expect. I've checked all the settings on the a6500 and as far as possible they are the same on both cameras. Is this just a characteristic of the a6500 or am I overlooking something?

Thanks for any suggetions.

****

Using AF-S (AF Single or single-shot) mode is probably the easiest way to do what you want. Go into AF-S, focus on the subject with a half-press of the shutter button, do not release the button while recomposing, then press the shutter button fully to take the shot.

The AEL button can be customized to Focus Hold too.

Thanks for your comment, but that is exactly what does not work correctly on the a6500, but does as expected on the a6700. But if I configure the AEL button for "AF On", that works correctly. So I'm thinking something is wrong with the normal shutter button focusing.

My A6500 Focus Hold with AF-S setting works exactly as described by lehill on the previous post.

Good Luck

 

[Dick Barbour]

I have both the a6500 and the a6700. I normally use the "focus and recompose" method of shooting, particularly for landscapes. I keep the 16-70 on the a6500 mainly for this kind of shot. One problem though, is that I can't get the focus to hold when I recompose with the a6500; it re-focuses no matter what I do. It works fine with the same lens on the a6700, just like you would expect. I've checked all the settings on the a6500 and as far as possible they are the same on both cameras. Is this just a characteristic of the a6500 or am I overlooking something?

Thanks for any suggetions.

****

Using AF-S (AF Single or single-shot) mode is probably the easiest way to do what you want. Go into AF-S, focus on the subject with a half-press of the shutter button, do not release the button while recomposing, then press the shutter button fully to take the shot.

The AEL button can be customized to Focus Hold too.

Thanks for your comment, but that is exactly what does not work correctly on the a6500, but does as expected on the a6700. But if I configure the AEL button for "AF On", that works correctly. So I'm thinking something is wrong with the normal shutter button focusing.

My A6500 Focus Hold with AF-S setting works exactly as described by lehill on the previous post.

Good Luck

Thanks for the confirmation; I'm pretty sure there is a problem with mine. I contacted MPB and since it was still in their warranty period they set up a return.

 

[Meh007]

I think you need to setup back button focus. Then you can use focus with recompose even with AFC. This is how I used my a6500 and even now I use this method occasionally with a7cr. You will need to change 2 settings. Please google it. It should not take you more than a few minutes.

 

[Michael Fritzen]

I think you need to setup back button focus. Then you can use focus with recompose even with AFC. This is how I used my a6500 and even now I use this method occasionally with a7cr. You will need to change 2 settings. Please google it. It should not take you more than a few minutes.

The above or IIRC there's a menu setting for "focus on shutter release" which means a final AF correction / control on releasing shutter - or this function off so AF stays on where it was previously set.

Likely available on both but set differently hence working differently.

Not with my cams at the moment (a6400 and a6700) so I can't check it.

 

[DutchMM]

From Sony's a6500 help guide (I don't own the camera, so had to look it up with Google)

Priority Set in AF-S

Sets whether to release the shutter even if the subject is not in focus when [Focus Mode] is set to [Single-shot AF], [DMF] or [Automatic AF] and the subject is remaining still.

1. MENU →
   
   
   
   (Camera Settings1) → [Priority Set in AF-S] → desired setting.

The settings available are:

• AFrioritizes focusing. The shutter will not be released until the subject is in focus.
• Releaserioritizes the shutter's release. The shutter will be released even if the subject is out of focus.
• Balanced Emphasis:Shoots with a balanced emphasis on both focusing and shutter release.

These are the same names, incidentally, on my a6600 and a6700. Maybe even (don't remember) on the a77ii too.

Hope this helps.

MM

 

[Dick Barbour]

I think you need to setup back button focus. Then you can use focus with recompose even with AFC. This is how I used my a6500 and even now I use this method occasionally with a7cr. You will need to change 2 settings. Please google it. It should not take you more than a few minutes.

Yes, it works correctly with back-button focus but that's not my preferred way to shoot, which is with half-press of the shutter button. That doesn't work, so it's on the way back to MPB and we'll see what they say.

Thanks for the suggestion, though.

 

[Dick Barbour]

From Sony's a6500 help guide (I don't own the camera, so had to look it up with Google)

Priority Set in AF-S

Sets whether to release the shutter even if the subject is not in focus when [Focus Mode] is set to [Single-shot AF], [DMF] or [Automatic AF] and the subject is remaining still.

1. MENU →
   
   
   
   (Camera Settings1) → [Priority Set in AF-S] → desired setting.

The settings available are:

• AFrioritizes focusing. The shutter will not be released until the subject is in focus.
• Releaserioritizes the shutter's release. The shutter will be released even if the subject is out of focus.
• Balanced Emphasis:Shoots with a balanced emphasis on both focusing and shutter release.

These are the same names, incidentally, on my a6600 and a6700. Maybe even (don't remember) on the a77ii too.

Hope this helps.

MM

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't think you are correct. I have always set the AF priority to "AF" so I can't take a shot that isn't focused. That's the way the a6700 is set up and when I holld the half-press and recompose, the subject is not in focus, but there is a little green rectangle on the screen from when I first half-pressed the shutter. So in fact the camera is focused, and a full shutter press will take the shot without re-focusing. That's the way the a6500 was set up and it didn't work, so it is on the way back to MPB. We'll see what they say.

 

[GaryW]

I think you need to setup back button focus. Then you can use focus with recompose even with AFC. This is how I used my a6500 and even now I use this method occasionally with a7cr. You will need to change 2 settings. Please google it. It should not take you more than a few minutes.

Yes, it works correctly with back-button focus but that's not my preferred way to shoot, which is with half-press of the shutter button. That doesn't work, so it's on the way back to MPB and we'll see what they say.

Thanks for the suggestion, though.

Half-press shutter and recompose works for me.

Since you're planning to send it back, why not do a factory reset of settings, make sure it's in AF-S, and try again? Maybe it's some other setting we don't know about that makes the difference.

 

[GaryW]

From Sony's a6500 help guide (I don't own the camera, so had to look it up with Google)

Priority Set in AF-S

Sets whether to release the shutter even if the subject is not in focus when [Focus Mode] is set to [Single-shot AF], [DMF] or [Automatic AF] and the subject is remaining still.

1. MENU →
   
   
   
   (Camera Settings1) → [Priority Set in AF-S] → desired setting.

The settings available are:

• AFrioritizes focusing. The shutter will not be released until the subject is in focus.
• Releaserioritizes the shutter's release. The shutter will be released even if the subject is out of focus.
• Balanced Emphasis:Shoots with a balanced emphasis on both focusing and shutter release.

These are the same names, incidentally, on my a6600 and a6700. Maybe even (don't remember) on the a77ii too.

Hope this helps.

MM

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't think you are correct. I have always set the AF priority to "AF" so I can't take a shot that isn't focused. That's the way the a6700 is set up and when I holld the half-press and recompose, the subject is not in focus, but there is a little green rectangle on the screen from when I first half-pressed the shutter. So in fact the camera is focused, and a full shutter press will take the shot without re-focusing. That's the way the a6500 was set up and it didn't work, so it is on the way back to MPB. We'll see what they say.

Yeah, I think the AF setting is only for the initial lock. I have it set to AF for AF-S, and with the half-shutter, it holds that focus. I can recompose to something completely different and get a blurry dark photo, because it remembered the old focus and exposure.

--
Gary W.

 

[Dick Barbour]

I think you need to setup back button focus. Then you can use focus with recompose even with AFC. This is how I used my a6500 and even now I use this method occasionally with a7cr. You will need to change 2 settings. Please google it. It should not take you more than a few minutes.

Yes, it works correctly with back-button focus but that's not my preferred way to shoot, which is with half-press of the shutter button. That doesn't work, so it's on the way back to MPB and we'll see what they say.

Thanks for the suggestion, though.

Half-press shutter and recompose works for me.
Since you're planning to send it back, why not do a factory reset of settings, make sure it's in AF-S, and try again? Maybe it's some other setting we don't know about that makes the difference.

You're right, I should have done that, but too late, it's on the way back. MPB will either confirm there is a problem and give me a full refund, or tell me it's OK and send it back with info on why I couldn't get it to work. Either way is OK with me.