armd wrote:
Ah, this doesn't address why the body can't achieve critical focus in a situation where my old Canon gear could? It's not a panning issue but a failure of the lens/body to achieve focus over a series of shots.
Have you tried sending the lens/camera to Sony to have a look? Guy had similar issues where focus was inconsistent and he managed to get Sony to look at his issue.
I've spoken with a Sony representative who admitted that there is an issue with the a7riv and 200-600 at the long end (though he wasn't specific) and that Sony was aware of it and had no fix as of now. Sony support is lousy and the most they did so far was to send a link to a generic article on "why my camcorder or camera won't focus..."
It is extremely frustrating to be sure and I continue to work diligently to explore if there is something in the settings, technique, etc. which might account for the af challenges. Again, there are many things to like; the resolution for static subjects is simply amazing, and the camera is surprisingly well constructed, and easy to use. Tracking modes are awful when using non-human subjects in human mode (not available in animal mode) and while the af appears to be following the subject in non-human modes such as zone, as evidenced by multiple little af squares lighting up and engaging on the target, it fails to achieve critical focus for BIF and frequently nothing on the bird is in focus (it's not as though the af grabs the leading edge of the wing)
Interestingly, before heading out today I performed an automated sensor cleaning. Perhaps it was coincidence but after the cleaning the a7riv seemed to be autofocusing better today. Settings were unchanged; largely used zone af and interestingly even the eye af activated on a hawk - https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1627577. On smaller subjects such as passerines, the af was spot on too. Again, nothing was modified in the settings and my technique hasn’t changed either so I really don’t have an explanation. Cautiously optimistic...
armd wrote:
Interestingly, before heading out today I performed an automated sensor cleaning. Perhaps it was coincidence but after the cleaning the a7riv seemed to be autofocusing better today. Settings were unchanged; largely used zone af and interestingly even the eye af activated on a hawk - https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1627577. On smaller subjects such as passerines, the af was spot on too. Again, nothing was modified in the settings and my technique hasn’t changed either so I really don’t have an explanation. Cautiously optimistic...
Fingers crossed. Maybe Santa came in the night and serviced your kit
'working' hmmmm. Depends on how you define the word eh Probably would not suit most expecting snappy AF but in a certain depth zone of 3-5 feet it does ok for me. I missed quite a few waiting on AF but was in no hurry and just kept working the zone.
Next up testing/funning around was the 400DOii+2.0TC on the Riv. AF/AF-acquisition is good with this combo even in crap light.
