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Author Topic: Eye AF issues  (Read 1943 times)

ski542002

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Eye AF issues
« on: June 11, 2018, 11:03:27 am »

Hello:  Overall, enjoying my new venture into the Sony system with my A7RIII, A7III and 6500.  I find the different AF modes to be most challenging.  Most challenging is the lack of accuracy using Eye AF.  Using strobes, did a tight mid-chest portrait with my 24-70 Gm @ 2.8. (Lens set to 50mm).  Eye AF, small spot focus with the green square clearly on the foreground eye.  Subject was in fairly good focus although I did need to sharpen the eyes to achieve the perception of perfect focus.  Shot the same subject, same camera settings with my 85 @ 1.8. This was a tighter headshot than the first scenario. I got a great 42mp image of a sharp nose!  Needed to apply heavy sharpening on the subjects eyes to make him look somewhat acceptable. Thankfully, they’ll be small reproductions.

My issue is, in the old days I would have used manual focus and would have easily nailed all the shots.  Using this cutting edge technology, and shooting slow & deliberate, I trusted the eye af and it failed miserably.  When shooting wide open for esthetic reasons, I don’t want to have to constantly stop down to F8 for a headshot to get acceptable focus. Was shooting with the A7RIII.  Don’t know if I’ll have the same issue with the A7III or 6500.

Maybe I have something set incorrectly in the camera?  Any input would be appreciated!
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Telecaster

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Re: Eye AF issues
« Reply #1 on: June 11, 2018, 08:26:02 pm »

The first thing I'd do is turn off Eye AF, then use the joystick to move your focus point where you want it for a particular shot or set of shots. If you get proper results by manually placing the focus point, at least you'll know your lens isn't misbehaving.

-Dave-
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Eric Brody

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Re: Eye AF issues
« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2018, 03:39:02 pm »

Sorry to hear you're having problems with the eye AF. I have used it quite a bit, even with moving toddlers and it's spot on for me. I have used it mostly with the 85 f/1.8 shooting at f/2 or f/2.8.

In his superb, highly recommended video on portrait settings for the A7RIII, Mark Galer, a Sony expert says he gets over 95% perfect focus. With no disrespect, I wonder if you're doing something incorrectly?
 
Good luck.
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fredjeang2

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Re: Eye AF issues
« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2018, 10:29:18 am »

Same here. Eye AF works very accuratly, even on the APSC model.

Go figure with electronics...
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ski542002

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Re: Eye AF issues
« Reply #4 on: June 16, 2018, 11:19:13 am »

Update for all contributors.  And someone else mentioned Mark Galer which was the driving source for solving my problem.  Apparently, I didn’t even know that, because of the way my cameras were setup, my eye focus wasn’t even enabled.  Dumbass me.   Thanks to Marks YouTube video, I enabled eye focus via the AEL button.  It’s very liberating to be able to shoot an 85mm 1.8 wide open and count every eyelash in a scene!   I used to shoot a lot of Leica (Canon before that), and I was never able to hit anything close to the 90% + in-focus imagery that I achieve now.  These forums and YouTube are a godsend for anyone getting into the Sony system.

I appreciate everyone’s input.
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