Sony A7iii focus issues (again): user error or camera fault?

[simpix]

To the OP,

Here is a link to a Mark Galer video which explains how to set up the A7iii for action shots on the camera. In the video, he is using an A7Riii but all the settings are the same, except that camera is 42Mpx as opposed to 24mpx on the A7iii. Although your posted subjects are not sports or action, the same settings will work for you.

 

[PicturedWithin]

Another thought....in your menu (Camera1/5/14) what is your Priority Set in AF-C?

If I recall, by default it is set to Balanced Emphasis but for me, setting AF is better as the camera shouldn't release until focus is achieved accurately when pressing the shutter button.

That's indeed set to Balanced Emphasis in my case... Will give it a try, thanks for the hint!

that setting changes whether or not the photo is actually taken, depending how the camera defines proper focus, but i don't think that it has much if any effect on how the af works?

with sports on the a9, i'm set to "release", so it maintains the highest framerate regardless of whether or not the camera thinks that the shot is in focus... of course it's more work in post, having to sort out the occasional mis-focused pics :-/ but i'd rather do that than depend on the camera to decide what's in focus and what isn't.

the setting to look at is af track sensitivity... i'm usually at 1(locked on) with the a9, for everything including portraits, but sony has a dedicated af settings guide for how they think it should be done, here it is with eyeaf: ILCE-9 Focus Setting Guide | Focusing on a person’s face or eyes | SONY

some of that could be applicable to the a7iii, although you won't have real-time tracking capability, you'll be doing it with real-time eyeaf.

Yes, what I'm doing is exactly what is described in p.2 in the above link:

They don't recommend to take the AF entirely off the shutter button (as well as Mark Galer does not), but I will still try it, just to be sure I tried everything

I will also try setting Tracking Sensitivity to Responsive.

see the video for an explanation of what real-time tracking is.

 

[PicturedWithin]

A couple of things of note:

Are you using silent shutter, EFCS, or mechanical? Especially with the silent shutter, you may get issues due to the length of time it takes for the sensor readout. EFCS less so, but won't happen with full mechanical.

In my case, silent shutter was off, but EFCS was on. I'll try to switch it off as well and see if there's any difference. However, I guess we are talking here about cases where a really high-speed performance is required, and not about 1-2 shots per second like I do.

Also interesting is that in Mark Galer's video on action shooting, he claims that EFCS should stay on, because it slows down continuous shooting otherwise:

 

[PicturedWithin]

To the OP,

Here is a link to a Mark Galer video which explains how to set up the A7iii for action shots on the camera. In the video, he is using an A7Riii but all the settings are the same, except that camera is 42Mpx as opposed to 24mpx on the A7iii. Although your posted subjects are not sports or action, the same settings will work for you.

Hey, that's one of the videos which I found already saved my Favourites So, actually I am already using his suggestions, namely:

-AF-C Balanced Emphasis (to the above discussion...)
- AF-C, continuous mode
- Focus Area Lock-on AF Expand Flexible Spot / Wide (when it's not portraits)
- Face Prio on
- Eye AF on a separate button (overrides other focus area settings)
- EFCS on

I've just remembered another sad story: after watching Mark Galer's videos I got inspired with *finally understanding how to set up my camera for tracking* , and went to the park to take some pics of my kid on a swing. NONE of them were sharp. See one example below. I used Lock-on AF Expand Flexible Spot, the green circles were dancing on her clothes, so the camera thought it had her in focus, but in practice I have no idea where the focus here is. Looks like some motion blur is involved here, too...

But I'm still curious: how would you set up your camera for such kind of shots? (Shutter speed, aperture, focus area, maybe I should have also tried to enforce eye AF here?)

 

[Nokiron]

If you have a RAW-file to share I can check where the focus points have been at the time of the shot (using A7info).

I always have flawless eye autofocus with my RIII and RIV so I'm not sure I can assist with much else. The DPreview video and other sources linked in the thread should have the settings you need.

 

[simpix]

To the OP,

Here is a link to a Mark Galer video which explains how to set up the A7iii for action shots on the camera. In the video, he is using an A7Riii but all the settings are the same, except that camera is 42Mpx as opposed to 24mpx on the A7iii. Although your posted subjects are not sports or action, the same settings will work for you.

Hey, that's one of the videos which I found already saved my Favourites So, actually I am already using his suggestions, namely:

-AF-C Balanced Emphasis (to the above discussion...)
- AF-C, continuous mode
- Focus Area Lock-on AF Expand Flexible Spot / Wide (when it's not portraits)
- Face Prio on
- Eye AF on a separate button (overrides other focus area settings)
- EFCS on

I've just remembered another sad story: after watching Mark Galer's videos I got inspired with *finally understanding how to set up my camera for tracking* , and went to the park to take some pics of my kid on a swing. NONE of them were sharp. See one example below. I used Lock-on AF Expand Flexible Spot, the green circles were dancing on her clothes, so the camera thought it had her in focus, but in practice I have no idea where the focus here is. Looks like some motion blur is involved here, too...

But I'm still curious: how would you set up your camera for such kind of shots? (Shutter speed, aperture, focus area, maybe I should have also tried to enforce eye AF here?)

I use the settings you described except for "Priority Set in AF-C"... AF.

Also "AF Track Sens" 1(Locked on).

I generally use a smaller aperture as well...(f5.6).

I wait until until the camera is locked on the face (dancing squares), press my assigned custom button for eye AF and then shoot a Hi speed burst of 5-6 shots.

See below:

It may not be perfect at Pixel Peep level but it's good enough for me.

 

[PicturedWithin]

A7info: Very interesting that such a program exists - thanks a lot for the hint! I'll try to get it myself, since there are a lot of raw files I'd like to check.

 

[MILC man]

those camera settings are not eliminating the variables.

1/400th shutter speed is too slow for a fast target, use 1/800th minimum, aperture wide open, float the iso.

use "AF Track Sens" 1(Locked on), and eyeaf, with af disabled on the shutter button.

 

[A-Marc]

i think you are asking too much.

1.

within this distance f1.8 on the 55mm dof is tiny thin. if you close down the aperture to f2.8 or f4 you will get better results and also the whole eye in focus.

2.

next thing to consider is the way autofocus works. it will lock on high contrast areas. bright blonde air hanging in front of the air for example. or it will grab eye lashes instead of the pupil.

3.

if the eye is in the shade, or there are brigther areas around the eye, eye af will struggle because of low contrast.

use tip 1. to get constant better results, thats what i do. i only go for f1.8 if i dont have enough light and cant compensate with iso.

--

Marc R. A.

Explore Marc R. A.’s 746 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

www.marcalter.com

 

[PicturedWithin]

i think you are asking too much.

1.

within this distance f1.8 on the 55mm dof is tiny thin. if you close down the aperture to f2.8 or f4 you will get better results and also the whole eye in focus.

2.

next thing to consider is the way autofocus works. it will lock on high contrast areas. bright blonde air hanging in front of the air for example. or it will grab eye lashes instead of the pupil.

3.

if the eye is in the shade, or there are brigther areas around the eye, eye af will struggle because of low contrast.

use tip 1. to get constant better results, thats what i do. i only go for f1.8 if i dont have enough light and cant compensate with iso.

--

https://www.flickr.com/photos/146973265@N06/
www.marcalter.com

Honestly, I've been waiting (hoping?) for someone to tell me that! And this is definitely what I'm going to do if everything else fails to improve the results.

 

[vevephotography]

Hi Olga, have you found a solution to this issue. I am highly disappointed with the A7riii autofocus issues, and I do fashion photography I have had so many countless problems with clients due to lots of images having focus elsewhere, I use mainly the 35mm Zeiss but I also use canon lenses with an adaptor (way worse!) I think the 7riii and 7iii cameras lots of them came defective. It is a huge disappointment. I like how the camera feels and looks but it performs bad. Do you think we have defective copies? Maybe we should approach Sony about this.

Regards,

Vero

 

[Nokiron]

Hi Olga, have you found a solution to this issue. I am highly disappointed with the A7riii autofocus issues, and I do fashion photography I have had so many countless problems with clients due to lots of images having focus elsewhere, I use mainly the 35mm Zeiss but I also use canon lenses with an adaptor (way worse!) I think the 7riii and 7iii cameras lots of them came defective. It is a huge disappointment. I like how the camera feels and looks but it performs bad. Do you think we have defective copies? Maybe we should approach Sony about this.
Regards,

Vero

I had the A7RIII since it was released, and I never had any issues with autofocus. No matter the environment.

What settings are you using and how are you focusing? It would definitely help if you had any samples that you are willing to share to show the problem.

You can also use A7info to dig further and see exactly where the camera focused. You are welcome to share a raw file too if you have one available (raw is needed for the program to see the proper EXIF).

I have an extremely hard time believing that it's anything other than user error, no offense.