I've spent the last week reading through the massive threads on Eye-AF issues with the a7M3. I have some issues but fall somewhere between those unhappily claiming 50% success and the "I don't know what you're talking about" people at 95% success with Eye-AF. As a newbie, I've been spending a lot of time with the kids (thankfully they regularly request I take photos of them) playing with settings and testing techniques to determine if I have a keeper or not.
One area I haven't seen mentioned, other than the brief reference in the Sony manual, is the use of Eye-AF on people wearing glasses. Both of my kids do and Sony certainly says it may not be as reliable in these cases. I would say I have about a 10% success rate and the closer I am, the worse the result.
While my son in particular is a culprit of dirty glasses which I could see causing further issue, front focusing in these cases seems to be about the most reliable performance out of this camera and that's not a good thing. Anyone have any thoughts, similar results, or recommendations?
As another new E-Mount user, this is a concern I share as well. I am a portrait photographer to boot, so I need to be certain whatever af method I use will work.
SoundHound wrote:
I try to pick a plane of the face that is in line with the closest pupil to the camera and lock on that.
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But still focused on the part covered by the eyeglass? or the bridge of the nose?
Chuck Eklund wrote:
I must be doing something wrong. I have for the most part, had good luck with glasses wearers. Mostly with the 24-105 and B85.
Me too. Granted, I don't shoot a lot of portraits, but the Eye-AF shots I have taken of eyeglass wearers has been consistently successful with the A7R3. This includes adapted lenses (e.g., 35/1.4 ZM, 85 ZM).
If the camera is consistently front focusing then you could try the old pro tip for DSLRs ( though I'm not sure if this possible on Sonys) when shooting runners in any sport coming at you.
Adjust focus to be 1ft in front (except in your instance back and experiment for the perfect distance). Shooting at f5.6 - f8 you should always have the eyes in focus.
I get the occasional miss with the a7riii, but the large majority are in focus. This is with a mix of the 28/2, 55/1.8, 85/1.8, and 135/2.8. I shoot wide open most of the time.
With the a7rii I could not get any eye-af to work if someone had glasses but it seems to work very well on the iii version.
Something is wrong here, but I am generally shooting older kids, or adults and most/all have AR coating and clean glasses. I'm usually shooting in low contrast lighting and without extreme angles. Most images are in focus with my A9. Now, challenging light, fast moving, dirty glasses, large aperture, slow focusing lens like 85mm GM and I would be happy with much fewer keepers with fast, erratic subject movement.
BTW, my kids are 12 and 13yo and when they were younger I shot exclusively with manual focus 35mm, 645 and 6×7 rangefinders and SLR for sports. I've got lots of in focus action shots including soccer using a Contax RTS III and 100-300 zoom..all manual focus and limited shots, so you can manage, maybe not using eye autofocus in difficult situations.
All these threads about Eye-AF issues, I'm overly sensitive to my issues. Most people absolutely love their a7iii performance but I certainly have sporadic issues. Is it me, the camera, or do a lot of people not even realize they're front focusing? I don't know. It seems that the a7Riii is more reliable across the board and I would assume the a9 is too given it's speed/processing power.
1 week to make a decision and I think this unit is going back to B&H. Do I battle the stock issues for a replacement or make an upgrade to the a7Riii? In most situations, the R is more than I need BUT we make annual trips (at minimum) to National Parks and the use of the R wouldn't totally go to waste. Just need to find $1,000 in the couch cushions.
It’s about 800 now but the A7rIII I have no issues with glasses. Just checking here. Face detection on, AFC and do you dedicate a custom button for Eye AF. Also I use zone when doing Eye AF as it looks for eyes only in that area. Remember it will mostly go for the front eye or closer to camera first. I have yet to shoot the A7III but the A7rIII is very good on Eye AF even if subject turns there head it will hold and wait for it to come back...
Do me a favor grab your camera if you have a printed photo on a table in a frame see if it is doing Eye AF. My Eye AF will pick up a Eye. See if the A7III will do it
My bad it dropped 200 at 2998 so yes 1 grand. 42mpx is never a waste. Maybe overkill but my theory is what happens if you nail a once in a lifetime image. That’s hard to put a price on. But hey I’m a pig . Lol
a7iii is on its way back to B&H. I’ve seen mention of good GT pricing on the R right now. Additionally, my LCS is having a Sony event next weekend. Don’t they typically have bigger discounts at those types of events?
