Could be luck but I just took 35 images around my neighborhood and only 2 of them were OOF under AF-C and Firmware Ver. 02. It was under high contrast light though.
How about you?
Jan 24, 2020 at 01:19 PM
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I won't be home until this evening, but I will definitely report back when I do it. Fingers crossed!!
Fred Miranda wrote:
Could be luck but I just took 35 images around my neighborhood and only 2 of them were OOF under AF-C and Firmware Ver. 02.
How about you?
For Mac users on Catalina, I got it to update by swapping out the old update setting tool distributed with this Sigma update (v2.x) with the current version (v3.x) from the 24GM update.
To do this:
Download the installer for the latest 24GM update, double click the dmg and copy the files to another folder.
Open the resource folder and swap out the lensystemsoftwareupdater file with that from the Sigma update.
I think I had to right click the file to get it to override the check catalina does for unsigned software (double click and hit open).
Just did a couple of shots in AF-C up close and nailed focus on all five of them! Of course they still aren't sharp at f/2.8 near MFD but at least in focus. Hope that wasn't just luck.
Will test it this weekend, hope this really improved the AF-C issues.
Fred Miranda wrote:
Could be luck but I just took 35 images around my neighborhood and only 2 of them were OOF under AF-C and Firmware Ver. 02.
How about you?
I have only taken a few test shots in very dim indoor lighting and so far so good, there seems to be an improvement. Will test some more over the weekend.
Fred, if you don't mind me asking, your pictures always seem so perfectly white balanced, do you use an Expodisc or similar, or recall the lighting of the scene and rectify everything in post?
Jan 24, 2020 at 03:17 PM
imagesfromobjects Offline • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
Ok, I just updated it. Only tested with AF-S in dim light so far. First impressions are ok- it actually is slower than before to lock focus, but it does a quick "pumping" thing, then locks very accurately. Before, it would lock almost instantly, but not always accurately.
So it seems to have invoked a change into how "final" focus is acquired in this mode. I tested it on vertical edges, where it excelled prior to updating, and it is definitely slower in dim light. Bummer, *but* I also tested it on horizontal edges and organic, gradient textures and it's wayyyy more accurate than before. Before, on a "full press", it would hunt, then just eventually fire with nothing at all in focus. Now, on those same subjects, I can full-press and it *does* find focus, but only after a fine rapid pumping back and forth.
I'm not knowledgeable enough to say if it's PDAF, CDAF or something in between, but it appears to be trying harder to actually lock on something in the focus box that exhibits the most texture.
Will try some more in daylight tomorrow and hopefully it locks quickly in decent light. Otherwise, I don't know. Optimistic, but will still probably have to use it in MF mode for fast moving kids, if tonight's quick test was an indicator.
I went for a little walk with my lens with new firmware and my A9 and shot about 300 photos using AF-C and real time tracking, mostly focusing on some small static targets at close distances (from MFD to a few meters). It seemed to work very well and the focus seemed to be spot on pretty much on all the photos. I only had a couple of blurry ones due to using low ISO and hitting my hand holding limits at slow shutter speeds. It also seemed to acquire focus very quickly (same as before), I didn't notice any hunting or slowness on my A9 (might be different on other cameras of course). I hadn't used the lens a lot on my A9 recently and I when I did I mostly used it on AF-S, so it's hard to compare, but I did have occasional focus misses (more than with other AF lenses) when shooting some family shots earlier with the original firmware (even while using AF-S and eye AF).
I have the 45/2.8 in L-mount (with current latest firmware for that version) also for use on Sigma fp and the AF surely feels more reliable with the A9 + E-mount version but it could be largely because of the better AF capabilities of the camera.
There is no Sigma USB dock for the Sony E mount. It’s not required, since updates are done via the camera, and the camera acts as a USB dock in this respect.
Juha Kannisto wrote:
I went for a little walk with my lens with new firmware and my A9 and shot about 300 photos using AF-C and real time tracking, mostly focusing on some small static targets at close distances (from MFD to a few meters). It seemed to work very well and the focus seemed to be spot on pretty much on all the photos. I only had a couple of blurry ones due to using low ISO and hitting my hand holding limits at slow shutter speeds. It also seemed to acquire focus very quickly (same as before), I didn't notice any hunting or slowness on my A9 (might be different on other cameras of course). I hadn't used the lens a lot on my A9 recently and I when I did I mostly used it on AF-S, so it's hard to compare, but I did have occasional focus misses (more than with other AF lenses) when shooting some family shots earlier with the original firmware (even while using AF-S and eye AF).
I have the 45/2.8 in L-mount (with current latest firmware for that version) also for use on Sigma fp and the AF surely feels more reliable with the A9 + E-mount version but it could be largely because of the better AF capabilities of the camera....Show more →
I tried under lower light yesterday and the issue persists. With FW2.0, AF-C still misses consistently and when changing to AF-S, accuracy greatly improves. (A7R4)
On my previous test, I was shooting outside under high contrast lighting and the lens did very well under both AF-C and AF-S.
Perhaps with PDAF (AF-C), the lens needs high contrast to focus accurately.
The closest the distance, the more spherical aberration which mean more misses with PDAF. This seems to be exacerbated under low light.
I'm not sure what to think. So far it seems somewhat better than before the firmware update.
Might it yield different results with different bodies? I use an A7III. I can't remember what the AF emphasis was set to (AF vs Balanced didn't seem to make a difference).
The picture below was taken in a dimly lit bar at very close distance - from across a small table. AF-C, F/3.2, 1/40s:
AF-C, F/3.2, 1/100s:
This is where I think it slightly missed the eye, despite the high shutter speed (1/500), but it still is better than what I used to get before the update:
Jan 25, 2020 at 08:15 PM
imagesfromobjects Offline • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
It could be that this is just Sigma trying to get me to ditch the a7S and buy their fp.
Well played, guys.
Yeah, I didn't get a chance to shoot at all today, except for around the house. Seems pretty much the same as before. AF-C is useless, AF-S seems decent enough, but not for fast action.
I still like the lens, but I have some reservations on my current Sony body. It sounds like it does great on fp, but not stellar on Sony with AF. In fairness, I haven't tried it in full daylight yet, though.
Put a new firmware. The network mentioned that the new firmware fixes a bug in the open aperture when using stabilization but there was no talk of AF )
p.s By the way how to see what firmware is on the lens ?
