Don't start blasting please, I did some simple tests on day one to compare to my a1ii and a9iii with same glass, 300mm f/2.8GM and 100-400 f/4.5. Same settings across the board. I'm not gonna post images because after shooting about 1000 images of my golden retriever running full speed directly at me chasing a ball, the same thing was happening consistently. Shooting wide open with both lenses.
The 300 was slightly better regarding hit rate but even with this superb AF giant, only about 60%, the 100-400 was about 40%. When I say this, I was hoping for tack sharp eyelashes/eyes. 1/2500 on all tests.
When the a7r6 was missing, it was always front focusing. Her tongue would be tack sharp consistently even though the AF spot was locked on her eyes.
Is anyone seeing this with super fast glass and action? Maybe I'm so spoiled by the a9iii and a9ii, I was expecting more?
I tried with pre-capture on/off because if you have pre-capture on, you can't enable 'priority set to release' to "AF".
Also, paired with my a9iii, the 100-400 f/4.5 rocks! Not perfect but pretty darn good, probably about 90% with fast action...maybe 95%.
Sure I'm forgetting something but those are my initial thoughts after receiving the camera today, 6/23/26.
Sharing some photos, even severely downsized/downsampled, would have been helpful to gauge the movement+distance to see how much stress you put on the AF. A predictably moving subject at a great distance is easier than an erratic+close one, even if the speed is the same. My kids playing in the backyard are challenging even for the A1 II.
hyken wrote:
Maybe I'm so spoiled by the a9iii and a9ii, I was expecting more?
This would be my guess. No matter how good the AF system of the A7RVI is, it only gets 60 chances per second to adjust focus. That's not a lot if the subject is erratic and not far, and the goal is pixel-level sharpness on a 67MP sensor paired to these high-MTF lenses.
The movement is a dog running directly towards the camera like in many sports, she is chasing a tennis ball that has been thrown towards the camera position. I almost feel like my former a75 was more consistent. I guess it's possible I have a bad copy but I doubt it and that is stretching it. For those of you who shoot birds, wow...good luck with this body. I love the new 100-400 but this new body, AF wise...set aside all the new processor/AI stuff, not liking what I am seeing on day one. Just my two cents. Also, she was at a starting point of about 20 yards when the ball was tossed. The missed shots were from all distances.
Keep in mind, tha af point is saying that every shot is locked on the eye of my dog, every shot but the post results tell another story. At 1/2000 or 1/2500, it is either keeping up or it's not. Like I say 1/2 of a 60 shot burst would front focus.
I guess the biggest take-away is how good the a9iii is as well as the a1ii bringing up a strong 2nd in AF performance. Wow!
Is this an autofocus issue, or an issue of false expectations? For some reason, since pre-announcement speculation that this would be a stacked sensor camera as is the A1 series, people have falsely compared this “R” series camera to an A9/A1 series camera. It isn’t that..
Do you have a raw format set to "compressed" (implies 12 bit processing in continuous drive)? In other modes and 30 fps the AF system will not be able to do 60 calculations per second on a7rvi because 14 bit processing is too slow for it.
The 12 bit processing reduces image quality in shadows in lower ISOs (ISO 100-500) though.
hyken wrote:
The movement is a dog running directly towards the camera like in many sports, she is chasing a tennis ball that has been thrown towards the camera position. I almost feel like my former a75 was more consistent. I guess it's possible I have a bad copy but I doubt it and that is stretching it. For those of you who shoot birds, wow...good luck with this body. I love the new 100-400 but this new body, AF wise...set aside all the new processor/AI stuff, not liking what I am seeing on day one. Just my two cents. Also, she was at a starting point of about 20 yards when the ball was tossed. The missed shots were from all distances.
Keep in mind, tha af point is saying that every shot is locked on the eye of my dog, every shot but the post results tell another story. At 1/2000 or 1/2500, it is either keeping up or it's not. Like I say 1/2 of a 60 shot burst would front focus.
I guess the biggest take-away is how good the a9iii is as well as the a1ii bringing up a strong 2nd in AF performance. Wow!...Show more →
Are you kidding me - you really thought you were buying an A1iii with 68mp and the best DR for a whole lot less...
hyken wrote:
Don't start blasting please, I did some simple tests on day one to compare to my a1ii and a9iii with same glass, 300mm f/2.8GM and 100-400 f/4.5. Same settings across the board. I'm not gonna post images because after shooting about 1000 images of my golden retriever running full speed directly at me chasing a ball, the same thing was happening consistently. Shooting wide open with both lenses.
The 300 was slightly better regarding hit rate but even with this superb AF giant, only about 60%, the 100-400 was about 40%. When I say this, I was hoping for tack sharp eyelashes/eyes. 1/2500 on all tests.
When the a7r6 was missing, it was always front focusing. Her tongue would be tack sharp consistently even though the AF spot was locked on her eyes.
Is anyone seeing this with super fast glass and action? Maybe I'm so spoiled by the a9iii and a9ii, I was expecting more?
I tried with pre-capture on/off because if you have pre-capture on, you can't enable 'priority set to release' to "AF".
Also, paired with my a9iii, the 100-400 f/4.5 rocks! Not perfect but pretty darn good, probably about 90% with fast action...maybe 95%.
Sure I'm forgetting something but those are my initial thoughts after receiving the camera today, 6/23/26.
This is why I think A9iii is Sony's best camera if you value "getting the shot" over maximum resolution
My theory is that its a delay problem.
T1 = The sensor takes an image and sends it to the camera (low res video readout speed)
T2 = The camera finds the subject (AI Inference Speed)
T3 = The camera finds the eye and selects a focus point
T4 = The lens adjust its focus based on the focus point
T5 = The camera captures a frame (readout speed)
So the question is, after the period of time T1 + T2 + T3 + T4 + T5 has passed, has your subject moved too far from where it was at T1?
If you use Sony's raw software you can see the focus point position. I noticed that for the slower cameras, the focus box is where the eye was in the previous frame. You can test this by having a subject move left and right and then analyze the focus box position...
aCuria wrote:
This is why I think A9iii is Sony's best camera if you value "getting the shot" over maximum resolution
My theory is that its a delay problem.
T1 = The sensor takes an image and sends it to the camera (low res video readout speed)
T2 = The camera finds the subject (AI Inference Speed)
T3 = The camera finds the eye and selects a focus point
T4 = The lens adjust its focus based on the focus point
T5 = The camera captures a frame (readout speed)
So the question is, after the period of time T1 + T2 + T3 + T4 + T5 has passed, has your subject moved too far from where it was at T1?
If you use Sony's raw software you can see the focus point position. I noticed that for the slower cameras, the focus box is where the eye was in the previous frame. You can test this by having a subject move left and right and then analyze the focus box position... ...Show more →
DSLRs have used predictive AF in past and PDAF mirrorless I guess can too. DSLRs had much bigger issues with long time before last AF, because mirror flip takes a long time. So they predicted where target will be when shutter finally exposes. That does not work for erratic movements though.
Again, this is my experience. Out of a 100 shot burst, I can post 40-50 that were tack sharp as they should be, the problem is that the remaining 50 are not focused. This is with AF priority set, not balanced or release. This is not a shutter speed or technique issue. The Tony Northup review in regard to the AF is my experience as well. As much as I want this camera to work, I can't have a latest tech release Sony body not getting AF correct at 60x/sec on a basic subject moving towards the shooting position with good light and the AF sensor saying it has lock on the subjects eyes the entire time, every frame.
All I'm asking is are others seeing this or are they such huge Sony fan boys, they just can't get past that part. Do they even own the camera and good GM glass or are they just here to argue and defend Sony. As much as I have invested in and love Sony, I'm gonna point out when there are issues. Every camera has a few but Sony built its reputation of AF accuracy and speed. Unless I have a lemon unit (not ruling that out but seriously doubt), this body sadly is not for me for what I shoot. There were even a few shots that were soft of the subject just sitting at 15 yards still not moving. Again the AF point was locked on the eyes of the dog. Somethings not right with the system or my camera, not sure.
hyken wrote:
Again, this is my experience. Out of a 100 shot burst, I can post 40-50 that were tack sharp as they should be, the problem is that the remaining 50 are not focused. This is with AF priority set, not balanced or release. This is not a shutter speed or technique issue. The Tony Northup review in regard to the AF is my experience as well. As much as I want this camera to work, I can't have a latest tech release Sony body not getting AF correct at 60x/sec on a basic subject moving towards the shooting position with good light and the AF sensor saying it has lock on the subjects eyes the entire time, every frame.
All I'm asking is are others seeing this or are they such huge Sony fan boys, they just can't get past that part. Do they even own the camera and good GM glass or are they just here to argue and defend Sony. As much as I have invested in and love Sony, I'm gonna point out when there are issues. Every camera has a few but Sony built its reputation of AF accuracy and speed. Unless I have a lemon unit (not ruling that out but seriously doubt), this body sadly is not for me for what I shoot. There were even a few shots that were soft of the subject just sitting at 15 yards still not moving. Again the AF point was locked on the eyes of the dog. Somethings not right with the system or my camera, not sure....Show more →
Duncan posted this video showing the camera doing some impressive tracking of some of the fastest and smallest birds out there. Mark Galer said it was hitting well on his running dog tests. But I have seen other reports similar to yours so I don’t know what is causing the discrepancy?? I will try the camera for myself in a month or two. I guess that is the only way I’ll know what it can and can’t do.
hyken wrote:
Again, this is my experience. Out of a 100 shot burst, I can post 40-50 that were tack sharp as they should be, the problem is that the remaining 50 are not focused. This is with AF priority set, not balanced or release. This is not a shutter speed or technique issue. The Tony Northup review in regard to the AF is my experience as well. As much as I want this camera to work, I can't have a latest tech release Sony body not getting AF correct at 60x/sec on a basic subject moving towards the shooting position with good light and the AF sensor saying it has lock on the subjects eyes the entire time, every frame.
All I'm asking is are others seeing this or are they such huge Sony fan boys, they just can't get past that part. Do they even own the camera and good GM glass or are they just here to argue and defend Sony. As much as I have invested in and love Sony, I'm gonna point out when there are issues. Every camera has a few but Sony built its reputation of AF accuracy and speed. Unless I have a lemon unit (not ruling that out but seriously doubt), this body sadly is not for me for what I shoot. There were even a few shots that were soft of the subject just sitting at 15 yards still not moving. Again the AF point was locked on the eyes of the dog. Somethings not right with the system or my camera, not sure....Show more →
I am not surprised at all. The A7iii, A7iv, A7IV / V all cannot achieve high hit rate for subjects close to the camera, moving towards or away from the camera.
Note that birds are not the hardest subject for the autofocus system. A close subject stumbling towards the camera, using a f/1.4 lens is a far harder subject because the lens has to move the AF elements a massive amount at close distances.
Since the A7VI does 60 AF/AE calculations per second, this also means the camera is focusing where the subject was 1/60s ago. If the subject has moved out of the plane of focus then you are out of luck.
There is be some amount of movement prediction if you are using tracking, but if you think about it, this only works if the subject is moving with uniform velocity (like a bird)
1. I’ll be interested to see what others report as they get the camera and have a chance to test it.
2. If one is regularly doing stuff equivalent to 60fps sequences of critters running around, then the cameras that are designed to optimize that particular sort of performance are there for a reason and perhaps the Z7r6, with all of its other virtues, isn’t the ideal tool in this case.
3. I’m new to the Sony board, but I’m struck by how many people seem surprised/disappointed that a camera with reportedly excellent AF performance for a 67MP camera optimized for resolution… is not also the fastest camera for different sorts of subjects. It seems to me, as a person with a lot of photography experience but no Sony-specific expertise (yet), that the A7r6 seems like a very credible AF and burst mode performer for a camera that is optimized for other kinds of performance.
gdanmitchell wrote:
A personal framing of this issue:
1. I’ll be interested to see what others report as they get the camera and have a chance to test it.
2. If one is regularly doing stuff equivalent to 60fps sequences of critters running around, then the cameras that are designed to optimize that particular sort of performance are there for a reason and perhaps the Z7r6, with all of its other virtues, isn’t the ideal tool in this case.
3. I’m new to the Sony board, but I’m struck by how many people seem surprised/disappointed that a camera with reportedly excellent AF performance for a 67MP camera optimized for resolution… is not also the fastest camera for different sorts of subjects. It seems to me, as a person with a lot of photography experience but no Sony-specific expertise (yet), that the A7r6 seems like a very credible AF and burst mode performer for a camera that is optimized for other kinds of performance....Show more →
I have tested it but not for very long. To me its a somewhat faster A7V.
The A1ii and A9iii exists for a reason. If your subject is moving get that.
I'm not entirely surprised. Even at 240 calculations / second, with pre-4.0 software, I was only at about 50-60% hit rate with outdoor field sports shooting relatively nearby subjects in good light with the A9iii and 70-200GMii + 1.4TC.
Influencers are generally not going to shine too bright of a light on negative aspects of new camera body or lens release.
The combination of low degree trolling and lack of vested interest is why I come to FM in the first place. This type of post where the OP has extensive experience shooting high end teles and bodies is way more useful than watching Jared Polin shoot gorillas and baseball with long white lenses.
It would be interesting to know, however, how much predictive logic was trained into the AI models used by Sony AF. I suspect that a lot of training went into the models with people and birds and not nearly as much into running animals. I am looking forward to seeing whether subsequent software updates improve the situation.
But in the meantime, thanks for the feedback! I feel like I made the right decision (for me) to upgrade from the A7Rv to the A1ii over the A7Rvi as a general purpose body. I came across enough snow monkeys and dive bombing seagulls in fish markets in the last 9 months to convince me that although I don't need speed often, having it accessible via the C5 button is a very good thing.
I will say this again, I am one who really wants this huge sensor to work very well in regards to AF consistency. Being able to crop my sports action stuff more then with the a1ii would be great. Having said that, I'm not sure how well this is gonna work. I will say, I have not had the opportunity to shoot actual humans in a sports situation, will this weekend. This was just a knee jerk reaction to my receiving the body on 6/23, going into the back yard and having my dog run hard towards me chasing a ball. It did not perform well with her. When I tried this exact scene, same settings with my a9iii and a1/a1ii's, they performed very well. The a9iii being the best hit rate, pretty much 100%.
I will report back after shooting some soccer this weekend, I don't have high hopes however....sadly.
