The Amazing Sony A1/A7/A9/APS-C & Anything else welcome Mega Thread!

Quick question. My A7III (actually, all 5 of them) often refocuses by itself. For example, I'll lock focus then recompose and sometimes the focus will jump without me having engaged the AF again.

I am a back-button focuser and I have Pre-AF switched off. Any idea what might be causing this to happen? It's really annoying if shooting composites.
 
decigallen said:
Quick question. My A7III (actually, all 5 of them) often refocuses by itself. For example, I'll lock focus then recompose and sometimes the focus will jump without me having engaged the AF again.

I am a back-button focuser and I have Pre-AF switched off. Any idea what might be causing this to happen? It's really annoying if shooting composites.
Click to expand...

Aperture changing perhaps? If you're adapting that can also lead to some wacky situations.
 
TGphoto said:
You seem to have missed my comment, explains clearly what you need to do.....
Click to expand...
Thanks I will have a look at the video when I’ve got a better internet connection. I’m a little confused as it seems the Sony instructions say to use cleaning mode, turn off then use a blower. Everyone else is saying use cleaning mode, use a blower (or other method) whilst leaving the camera still on. It’s the camera on or off but I’m unsure of at present.
 
Well just back from a two and a half week holiday to china, and caught up with this thread as I've been up since the 5 with jet lag.

This was my first real outing with the a73 after switching from Nikon the week before I left, I'm over all very happy with the switch after taking about 1k images.
I'm just an amateur but a few things i like and don't like.

I switched from a d750/24-70/70-200 and 85 1.4g to a a73 85.18 and tamron 28-75.

Pros for me
the weight saving has been great especially when I'm out with the kids.
the tamron I've found fantastic, the 24-70 was my most used lens and this seems as sharp if not sharper, the af also seems on par for the most part. I did miss 24mm sometimes but found I actually rather liked 28mm.
the 85 I've been blown away with the sharpness matched with the a73 AF. its in a different league compared to the d750/85 1.4g, yes it doesn't have the creamy bokeh, but nails focus 99% of the time something I never dreamed of with the Nikon.
AF over all is a dream.
silent was great for some quieter street stuff

cons for me

still getting my head around the menu and what settings are best to use. I've set it up quickly after watching a few youtube videos, but still don't know what a lot of stuff is or does...the mention of EFC earlier still didn't help me with what it actually does. so I had it off.

AF. issues.. i did notice that the AF wouldn't focus where I wanted at all when shooting through smaller gaps, it would always focus on the objects at the front, (single point/ small).its not something I ever had an issue with on my nikons.

the biggest killer was start up time, if I was on the street or saw something when traveling(car/bus) I would often miss it by the time the camera came out of standby, so found myself always trying to keep bumping the af to keep it awake which just drained the battery.

video I wanted to try with but still have no clue so looks like I will need to spend some time looking into that more.

over all I have no regrets that I switched and gave up more glass to get here.. just need to shift my Nikon 85 and see what else to buy.
will look at updating the firmware in the next few days
 
Have been finding the sensor gets dirty quick too. Haven’t used the cleaning cycle yet, just using a rocket blower and an arctic butterfly if needed so nothing to heavy.
 
pmac said:
Well just back from a two and a half week holiday to china, and caught up with this thread as I've been up since the 5 with jet lag.

This was my first real outing with the a73 after switching from Nikon the week before I left, I'm over all very happy with the switch after taking about 1k images.
I'm just an amateur but a few things i like and don't like.

I switched from a d750/24-70/70-200 and 85 1.4g to a a73 85.18 and tamron 28-75.

Pros for me
the weight saving has been great especially when I'm out with the kids.
the tamron I've found fantastic, the 24-70 was my most used lens and this seems as sharp if not sharper, the af also seems on par for the most part. I did miss 24mm sometimes but found I actually rather liked 28mm.
the 85 I've been blown away with the sharpness matched with the a73 AF. its in a different league compared to the d750/85 1.4g, yes it doesn't have the creamy bokeh, but nails focus 99% of the time something I never dreamed of with the Nikon.
AF over all is a dream.
silent was great for some quieter street stuff

cons for me

still getting my head around the menu and what settings are best to use. I've set it up quickly after watching a few youtube videos, but still don't know what a lot of stuff is or does...the mention of EFC earlier still didn't help me with what it actually does. so I had it off.

AF. issues.. i did notice that the AF wouldn't focus where I wanted at all when shooting through smaller gaps, it would always focus on the objects at the front, (single point/ small).its not something I ever had an issue with on my nikons.

the biggest killer was start up time, if I was on the street or saw something when traveling(car/bus) I would often miss it by the time the camera came out of standby, so found myself always trying to keep bumping the af to keep it awake which just drained the battery.

video I wanted to try with but still have no clue so looks like I will need to spend some time looking into that more.

over all I have no regrets that I switched and gave up more glass to get here.. just need to shift my Nikon 85 and see what else to buy.
will look at updating the firmware in the next few days
Click to expand...

Those are probably my niggles too. Start up can be a PITA and you’ll have to switch to manual to get around the small focus situation. It’s not that often I’ve found the problem but I have the joystick set to magnify whilst using dmf. If you then place the focus box over your target, the joystick magnifys and then you focus with the shutter. Means you can be very precise, there’s a video online somewhere. Here it is:

View: https://youtu.be/3Q-dHXaDH2w
 
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decigallen said:
Quick question. My A7III (actually, all 5 of them) often refocuses by itself. For example, I'll lock focus then recompose and sometimes the focus will jump without me having engaged the AF again.

I am a back-button focuser and I have Pre-AF switched off. Any idea what might be causing this to happen? It's really annoying if shooting composites.
Click to expand...

Interesting you’re still using BBF Deci, recomposing was a welcome ditch when moving over. I have af lock on AEL and seems to work the few times I’ve used? I’ll have a dabble later with it.
 
Is it possible to turn the evf off, can’t see for looking? The screen yes but had a few issues where I have the camera tight to something and the evf sensor turns the screen off which I’m using to compose. If you can, I might add it to the menu? I was tight to a bush for this shot and the screen kept switching off..

40690505743_e10f1965b4_b.jpg
 
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Livin The Dream said:
Is it possible to turn the evf off, can’t see for looking? The screen yes but had a few issues where I have the camera tight to something and the evf sensor turns the screen off which I’m using to compose. If you can, I might add it to the menu? I was tight to a bush for this shot and the screen kept switching off..

40690505743_e10f1965b4_b.jpg
Click to expand...

Set a custom key to control evf/lcd switching.
 
So hive mind. I'm currently shooting with a A7Riii, Sigma 35 1.4 and Sony 85 1.4. I'd like to build in a 50/55 and a 24ish to my arsenal. The main thing I want though is portability and size. I'm not against going manual focus only, in fact, I'd probably like to for one of them, what would people suggest?

Very happy to buy something vintage and an adapter. Budget is probably about 1k each give or take/2k overall. Looking to use this for personal art not professional jobs if that helps.
 
pmac said:
Well just back from a two and a half week holiday to china, and caught up with this thread as I've been up since the 5 with jet lag.
Click to expand...

Ooooo! :D Lucky you!

I'd love to go to China. Mrs WW's best friend is Chinese and has offered us free accommodation if we go but Mrs WW always has other priorities, Thailand or Singapore, so I don't know if I'll ever get there. I'd love to see the wall and the Terracotta army.
 
Livin The Dream said:
Have been finding the sensor gets dirty quick too. Haven’t used the cleaning cycle yet, just using a rocket blower and an arctic butterfly if needed so nothing to heavy.
Click to expand...

I do a lot of lens changes but find that I hardly ever need to do a wet clean and in fact I can't remember the last time I did one. This is how I do it...

I always turn the camera off.
Get the new lens ready by loosening the end cap and if possible placing it on a flat surface, if not possible leave it in the bag.
Turn away from any wind and point the camera down.
Press the button and take the lens off and put it immediately in the bag or on a flat surface.
Get the new lens out of the bag or off the flat surface flicking the end cap off.
Attach it to the camera.
Put the end cap on the old lens and put it away.

If you're already using a dust bunny reducing technique then you're doing all you can but if there's anything you can think of doing to reduce the chance of contamination then it's worth doing.

Good luck reducing the bunnies!
 
Stephen Devine said:
So hive mind. I'm currently shooting with a A7Riii, Sigma 35 1.4 and Sony 85 1.4. I'd like to build in a 50/55 and a 24ish to my arsenal. The main thing I want though is portability and size. I'm not against going manual focus only, in fact, I'd probably like to for one of them, what would people suggest?

Very happy to buy something vintage and an adapter. Budget is probably about 1k each give or take/2k overall. Looking to use this for personal art not professional jobs if that helps.
Click to expand...

I have a few film era 24mm f2.8's and er… quite a few 50mm's from Minolta, Canon, Olympus, Nikon and others. Of the 24mm lenses I have they'll all pretty much the same but the Minolta Rokkor 24mm f2.8 edges it slightly. It's available in several guises which have similar optical elements with the main differences being body style and filter size. I went for the later 49mm thread version and it seems to be a very nice lens. Another interesting 24mm I have is a Miranda 24mm f2.8 Macro. It's not a true macro but it does focus noticeably closer that I'd expect an ordinary 24mm to which can come in handy. It's main issue is vignetting but it's within the range of my software to correct.

I have quite a few old 50/55mm lenses but if you're going for a legacy lens it'll depend on what sort of look you want, vintage or a more modern look. For a vintage and characterful look I like the Nikon pre ai 50mm f2, Minolta Rokkor 55mm f1.7 MC and 50mm f1.2 MD. For a more modern look I like the Minolta Rokkor 50mm f1.7 or f1.4 MD.

I use Novoflex adapters for my Minolta, Olympus and Canon lenses but in all honesty I can't see that they're worth 8 to 10 x the cost of the cheap adapters you can get off evil bay.

If you go the legacy lens route have fun! :D There's also the new Sony mount Voigtlander 50mm f1.2 to think about and the AF Sony 55mm f1.8 is IMO a simply outstanding lens.
 
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woof woof said:
Ooooo! :D Lucky you!

I'd love to go to China. Mrs WW's best friend is Chinese and has offered us free accommodation if we go but Mrs WW always has other priorities, Thailand or Singapore, so I don't know if I'll ever get there. I'd love to see the wall and the Terracotta army.
Click to expand...


My wife's Chinese so we visit yearly to see her family, but only too Shanghai so haven't seen the Great Wall myself even though I've been about 12 times.
I'm the opposite I would love to visit Thailand or Singapore but the wife has no interest in traveling anywhere else.
 
pmac said:
My wife's Chinese so we visit yearly to see her family, but only too Shanghai so haven't seen the Great Wall myself even though I've been about 12 times.
I'm the opposite I would love to visit Thailand or Singapore but the wife has no interest in traveling anywhere else.
Click to expand...

My wife is Thai and I do really like Thailand but two weeks is too much for me as the heat and humidity really have an effect on me. I really like the huge number of restaurants and the posh coffee and smoothie places too. You can eat at different places three times a day and never run out of new places to go :D Mrs WW has relatives in Singapore so I think we're going there this year. I'm sure I'll like the big garden there (I forget the name) but I think on the whole I'll prefer Thailand. One of my favourite places to go in Thailand is probably the Big Buddha in Pattaya on Buddha mountain but if you go wherever you go watch out for lady boys :D I can't tell them from the real ladies but Mrs WW can spot them easily.

Hoping I get to China one day! :D
 
Stephen Devine said:
So hive mind. I'm currently shooting with a A7Riii, Sigma 35 1.4 and Sony 85 1.4. I'd like to build in a 50/55 and a 24ish to my arsenal. The main thing I want though is portability and size. I'm not against going manual focus only, in fact, I'd probably like to for one of them, what would people suggest?

Very happy to buy something vintage and an adapter. Budget is probably about 1k each give or take/2k overall. Looking to use this for personal art not professional jobs if that helps.
Click to expand...

With a 2k budget you should easily be able to get the 24mm f/1.4GM £1249 grey import and the 55mm f/1.8 which is £549 grey import. Not sure why you want to go with an old manual focus lens when you have the budget for the new lenses which are both excellent and light weight.
 
Stephen Devine said:
So hive mind. I'm currently shooting with a A7Riii, Sigma 35 1.4 and Sony 85 1.4. I'd like to build in a 50/55 and a 24ish to my arsenal. The main thing I want though is portability and size. I'm not against going manual focus only, in fact, I'd probably like to for one of them, what would people suggest?

Very happy to buy something vintage and an adapter. Budget is probably about 1k each give or take/2k overall. Looking to use this for personal art not professional jobs if that helps.
Click to expand...

I have similar as you. Opted for the 55 for size. It’s super sharp and quick af. Ended up with the sigma 24 art, but also bought a sammy 24 for a compact option, but optically nowhere near the art.
 
woof woof said:
One thing I do like MFT for is close up flower / leaf shots with a film era 50mm f2.8 macro.

If you do go FF I think you'd get a lot out of doing what I do - read about old lenses, find nice examples, buy them for not a lot of money, spend ages looking at minute differences between the different lenses at different apertures and then have your favourites for different shots and end looks :D
Click to expand...
Just a quick one with A73 and Canon FD50mm f3.51C14D3CA-02E9-45EF-BCCD-D314AE760F7A.jpeg
 
f/2.8 said:
With a 2k budget you should easily be able to get the 24mm f/1.4GM £1249 grey import and the 55mm f/1.8 which is £549 grey import. Not sure why you want to go with an old manual focus lens when you have the budget for the new lenses which are both excellent and light weight.
Click to expand...

Forgot to mention that if looking at manual lenses there's the Sony mount Zeiss Loxia range too.
 
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woof woof said:
I do a lot of lens changes but find that I hardly ever need to do a wet clean and in fact I can't remember the last time I did one. This is how I do it...

I always turn the camera off.
Get the new lens ready by loosening the end cap and if possible placing it on a flat surface, if not possible leave it in the bag.
Turn away from any wind and point the camera down.
Press the button and take the lens off and put it immediately in the bag or on a flat surface.
Get the new lens out of the bag or off the flat surface flicking the end cap off.
Attach it to the camera.
Put the end cap on the old lens and put it away.

If you're already using a dust bunny reducing technique then you're doing all you can but if there's anything you can think of doing to reduce the chance of contamination then it's worth doing.

Good luck reducing the bunnies!
Click to expand...

Same process Alan. I don’t shoot small apertures much, so don’t see them. It’s interesting how quickly they actually do turn up. I’ll keep a regular check and if a quick swipe of the Arctic is needed, hopefully I won’t need a deeper clean than if left.

On that note, I’ve sold my eye lead as it wasn’t Sony friendly, but anyone know whether there’s any issues with V dust swab liquid. Still have a tube of it and swabs if needed.
 
simonbarker said:
Aperture changing perhaps? If you're adapting that can also lead to some wacky situations.
Click to expand...

I should've clarified. This is fully manual. No changes to settings between shots. No Pre-AF. No pressing of the back button after I've gotten my focus. I take a few shots and halfway through it refocuses by itself. I can find nothing in the manual that would suggest this as a feature you can enable/disable. Just wanted to check here before talking to Sony.

All I'm doing is hitting the shutter to take numerous pics in a composite. Happens with all of our A7III bodies and with every lens (all native glass).
 
decigallen said:
I should've clarified. This is fully manual. No changes to settings between shots. No Pre-AF. No pressing of the back button after I've gotten my focus. I take a few shots and halfway through it refocuses by itself. I can find nothing in the manual that would suggest this as a feature you can enable/disable. Just wanted to check here before talking to Sony.

All I'm doing is hitting the shutter to take numerous pics in a composite. Happens with all of our A7III bodies and with every lens (all native glass).
Click to expand...

Can’t you just focus using a.f then switch to manual focus?
 
Livin The Dream said:
Interesting you’re still using BBF Deci, recomposing was a welcome ditch when moving over. I have af lock on AEL and seems to work the few times I’ve used? I’ll have a dabble later with it.
Click to expand...

I was doing a composite, mate. Focusing on the couple and then taking about 20 shots. I like doing this to shoot wide landscape shots with an 85. I love the compression while also having the width of a 35mm. I've no space left for AFL on my custom buttons. It should be superfluous when shooting with AF-ON. When I lift my thumb off the focus button the camera should stay locked as it was.

Livin The Dream said:
Is it possible to turn the evf off, can’t see for looking? The screen yes but had a few issues where I have the camera tight to something and the evf sensor turns the screen off which I’m using to compose. If you can, I might add it to the menu? I was tight to a bush for this shot and the screen kept switching off..

40690505743_e10f1965b4_b.jpg
Click to expand...

If you pull the LCD out a little from the back of the camera it disables auto switching to the EVF.
 
f/2.8 said:
Can’t you just focus using a.f then switch to manual focus?
Click to expand...

I can, but I shouldn't have to. My Batis doesn't have a MF switch so it would mean going into menus - not ideal when shooting a composite. Every camera I've owned has ceased to focus if I stop pressing AF-ON. I have no idea why the A7III is different.
 
decigallen said:
I was doing a composite, mate. Focusing on the couple and then taking about 20 shots. I like doing this to shoot wide landscape shots with an 85. I love the compression while also having the width of a 35mm. I've no space left for AFL on my custom buttons. It should be superfluous when shooting with AF-ON. When I lift my thumb off the focus button the camera should stay locked as it was.



If you pull the LCD out a little from the back of the camera it disables auto switching to the EVF.
Click to expand...

Ah, cheers for the tip.

You’re right though, shouldn’t need af lock if you’re using BBF? Odd!!
 
Here's one recent example:

This is a LR screenshot of one I've had to ditch. It's about 15 or 16 shots with an 85mm to make the mountains in the background loom larger. Ignore the vignetting in the sky as I accidentally didn't do vignette removal. It looks alright from a distance but...
Screen Shot 2019-04-21 at 12.54.13 copy.jpg
Closeup you can see what I didn't notice at the time. The camera refocused to the background of its own accord and as I result, a fairly good image has to go to the bin.

Screen Shot 2019-04-21 at 12.54.37 copy.jpg
 
The Brenizer method?

I want to try that but a lot of the Sony lenses don't have a manual button on the lens which makes it difficult.
 
Raymond Lin said:
The Brenizer method?

I want to try that but a lot of the Sony lenses don't have a manual button on the lens which makes it difficult.
Click to expand...

I've been doing it for about 15 years as a BB focuser without need to switch to manual, though. I really don't get why the camera is refocusing. I've delved through the menus and there's nothing barring Pre-AF that is suggestive of this behaviour. I guess you could use the button on the Sony 85 to focus hold, but the Batis doesn't have that.
 
decigallen said:
I've been doing it for about 15 years as a BB focuser without need to switch to manual, though. I really don't get why the camera is refocusing. I've delved through the menus and there's nothing barring Pre-AF that is suggestive of this behaviour. I guess you could use the button on the Sony 85 to focus hold, but the Batis doesn't have that.
Click to expand...

I've known of it before but not sure how or why the internet decided to name it after him.
 
Raymond Lin said:
I've known of it before but not sure how or why the internet decided to name it after him.
Click to expand...

TBH, it was a necessity for me. I was starting out and only had a 50mm prime but was good with photoshop.

Strange that something landscapers have been doing for aeons has gotten named after a wedding photographer. Maybe because a lot of wedding photographers are insular - many I know only really look at wedding photography for inspiration.
 
decigallen said:
I can, but I shouldn't have to. My Batis doesn't have a MF switch so it would mean going into menus - not ideal when shooting a composite. Every camera I've owned has ceased to focus if I stop pressing AF-ON. I have no idea why the A7III is different.
Click to expand...

Interesting I always just use a.f to focus then switch to manual focus for composites but I can see why doing it the way you do makes sense if not for the issue. I am another that said goodbye to bbf after switching too Sony. Strange issue, wonder could it be something to do with the new real time eye a.f or face tracking.
 
decigallen said:
TBH, it was a necessity for me. I was starting out and only had a 50mm prime but was good with photoshop.

Strange that something landscapers have been doing for aeons has gotten named after a wedding photographer. Maybe because a lot of wedding photographers are insular - many I know only really look at wedding photography for inspiration.
Click to expand...

I first did this manually back in 2002 or 2003 shooting the interior of the British Museum dome. I didn’t have an ultra wide, I don’t remember what I used but do remember the many hours stitching it together.
 
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