Star Focus on Sony
p.1 #1Star Focus on Sony
I thought I remember seeing that Sony as something akin to Star focusing mode, but it's usually buried in a custom button setting. Does anyone know where you find this?
Sep 04, 2026 at 08:21 PM
p.1 #2Star Focus on Sony
Seabassius wrote:
I thought I remember seeing that Sony as something akin to Star focusing mode, but it's usually buried in a custom button setting. Does anyone know where you find this?
It's called Bright Monitoring. On most Sony cameras you need to assign it to a custom button in order to use it.
I thought I remember seeing that Sony as something akin to Star focusing mode, but it's usually buried in a custom button setting. Does anyone know where you find this?
It's called Bright Monitoring. On most Sony cameras you need to assign it to a custom button in order to use it.
Sep 04, 2026 at 08:24 PM
p.1 #3Star Focus on Sony
Thanks for bringing this up, Lance and thank you, Cliff for pointing that out. I wasn't aware of this feature and it will come in handy in high latitude areas several weeks from today.
Nikon and Sony have that option but apparently not Canon... Interesting!
Nikon and Sony have that option but apparently not Canon... Interesting!
Sep 05, 2026 at 10:22 AM
p.1 #4Star Focus on Sony
Cliff L. wrote:
It's called Bright Monitoring. On most Sony cameras you need to assign it to a custom button in order to use it.
Thanks! I spent two nights this weekend looking for that setting in the menu and being stumped I couldn’t find it.
Seabassius wrote
I thought I remember seeing that Sony as something akin to Star focusing mode, but it's usually buried in a custom button setting. Does anyone know where you find this?Thanks! I spent two nights this weekend looking for that setting in the menu and being stumped I couldn’t find it.
Sep 06, 2026 at 08:39 PM
p.1 #6Star Focus on Sony
Bright Monitoring on Sony cameras is a hidden feature that boosts display gain and extends exposure time on the electronic viewfinder (EVF) and LCD, allowing you to see and compose scenes in total darkness.
Sep 06, 2026 at 09:47 PM
p.1 #7Star Focus on Sony
AGeoJO wrote:
Bright Monitoring on Sony cameras is a hidden feature that boosts display gain and extends exposure time on the electronic viewfinder (EVF) and LCD, allowing you to see and compose scenes in total darkness.
Correct! In practice, when you are shooting astro landscapes, you can see where the foreground objects such trees, buildings and the like will be with respect the the Milky Way. If you are in a truly dark place, such as the bottom of Havasu Falls in the Grand Camyon, deep in middle of the Queen Charlotte Track in New Zealand or even just 10 miles offshore in Mid Coast Maine on Monhegan Island, you can actually see the Milky Way itself in bright monitoring if you are shooting a typical single exposure image, i.e. 14GM wide open, 10-13s exposure, ISO 3200 or 4000. Without dark mode you have to shoot a few "test shots" at ISO 25600 and 1-2 seconds, chimp the result you are going to toss, recompose, shoot more test shots and then finally shoot your "good image" at the ISO4000 + 13 seconds.
Note that it will only work with your camera in manual focus or (maybe? I can't recall) DMF. This is a nice thing about the feature, IMHO because I shoot pretty much everything except astro (and fast sports and insects in flight, but now I am off topic) with AF-C and BBF. For astro, I suspect everyone is going to manually focus, and then once you nail focus on the stars, you can compose in your desired exposure triangle settings without messing around with test shots at high ISO.
Bright Monitoring on Sony cameras is a hidden feature that boosts display gain and extends exposure time on the electronic viewfinder (EVF) and LCD, allowing you to see and compose scenes in total darkness.
Correct! In practice, when you are shooting astro landscapes, you can see where the foreground objects such trees, buildings and the like will be with respect the the Milky Way. If you are in a truly dark place, such as the bottom of Havasu Falls in the Grand Camyon, deep in middle of the Queen Charlotte Track in New Zealand or even just 10 miles offshore in Mid Coast Maine on Monhegan Island, you can actually see the Milky Way itself in bright monitoring if you are shooting a typical single exposure image, i.e. 14GM wide open, 10-13s exposure, ISO 3200 or 4000. Without dark mode you have to shoot a few "test shots" at ISO 25600 and 1-2 seconds, chimp the result you are going to toss, recompose, shoot more test shots and then finally shoot your "good image" at the ISO4000 + 13 seconds.
Note that it will only work with your camera in manual focus or (maybe? I can't recall) DMF. This is a nice thing about the feature, IMHO because I shoot pretty much everything except astro (and fast sports and insects in flight, but now I am off topic) with AF-C and BBF. For astro, I suspect everyone is going to manually focus, and then once you nail focus on the stars, you can compose in your desired exposure triangle settings without messing around with test shots at high ISO.
Sep 07, 2026 at 07:15 AM
p.1 #8Star Focus on Sony
FYI. AF-S still works in the Bright Monitoring mode but not AF-C. At least on the A7r VI it does but not sure on other cameras.
Sep 07, 2026 at 07:50 AM
p.1 #9Star Focus on Sony
Cliff L. wrote:
It's called Bright Monitoring. On most Sony cameras you need to assign it to a custom button in order to use it.
"Bright monitoring" is just a manual focusing assist that reduces screen brightness. OM cameras actually have a "Starry sky AF" method that will autofocus on point light sources. Sony doesn't offer any AF methods like that.
Some E-mount Samyang AF lenses have an "Astrophotography Mode" that presets focus to infinity and shows a green/red LED on the lens to indicate if infinity focus is set. That's about as close as you can get to "star AF" with Sony.
Seabassius wrote
I thought I remember seeing that Sony as something akin to Star focusing mode, but it's usually buried in a custom button setting. Does anyone know where you find this?"Bright monitoring" is just a manual focusing assist that reduces screen brightness. OM cameras actually have a "Starry sky AF" method that will autofocus on point light sources. Sony doesn't offer any AF methods like that.
Some E-mount Samyang AF lenses have an "Astrophotography Mode" that presets focus to infinity and shows a green/red LED on the lens to indicate if infinity focus is set. That's about as close as you can get to "star AF" with Sony.
Sep 07, 2026 at 11:45 AM
p.1 #10Star Focus on Sony
jeffbuzz wrote:
It's called Bright Monitoring. On most Sony cameras you need to assign it to a custom button in order to use it."Bright monitoring" is just a manual focusing assist that reduces screen brightness. OM cameras actually have a "Starry sky AF" method that will autofocus on point light sources. Sony doesn't offer any AF methods like that.
Some E-mount Samyang AF lenses have an "Astrophotography Mode" that presets focus to infinity and shows a green/red LED on the lens to indicate if infinity focus is set. That's about as close as you can get to "star AF" with Sony.
That isn't what Bright Monitoring is. See my description above. It artificially increases the gain in the live view on EVF or the rear screen so you can get a preview of what your composition will be. And when you assign it to a custom button, the nice thing is it doesn't work with AF-C, so if you shoot AF-C for everything else, you won't mistakenly use this feature.
Cliff L. wrote
Seabassius wrote
I thought I remember seeing that Sony as something akin to Star focusing mode, but it's usually buried in a custom button setting. Does anyone know where you find this?Some E-mount Samyang AF lenses have an "Astrophotography Mode" that presets focus to infinity and shows a green/red LED on the lens to indicate if infinity focus is set. That's about as close as you can get to "star AF" with Sony.
That isn't what Bright Monitoring is. See my description above. It artificially increases the gain in the live view on EVF or the rear screen so you can get a preview of what your composition will be. And when you assign it to a custom button, the nice thing is it doesn't work with AF-C, so if you shoot AF-C for everything else, you won't mistakenly use this feature.
Sep 07, 2026 at 03:23 PM
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p.1 #11Star Focus on Sony
The much bigger issue and not just for astro is that Sony simply refuses to allow adequate focus magnification. Why they leave such a cap on high res sensors baffles me. Even for product work, it's painfully inadequate.
Sep 08, 2026 at 11:23 AM
p.1 #12Star Focus on Sony
AGeoJO wrote:
FYI. AF-S still works in the Bright Monitoring mode but not AF-C. At least on the A7r VI it does but not sure on other cameras.
Still wish we could access it via the Fn menu and not have to dedicate a button to it on the A7RVI.
Edited on Sep 08, 2026 at 05:29 PM · View previous versions
FYI. AF-S still works in the Bright Monitoring mode but not AF-C. At least on the A7r VI it does but not sure on other cameras.
Still wish we could access it via the Fn menu and not have to dedicate a button to it on the A7RVI.
Edited on Sep 08, 2026 at 05:29 PM · View previous versions
Sep 08, 2026 at 02:04 PM
p.1 #13Star Focus on Sony
Tarekith wrote:
Still wish we could access if via the Fn menu and not have to dedicate a button to it on the A7RVI.
I did put it as one of FN buttons on my A7r VI. It will be there on my trip next month but I will change it back to something else after I have come back.
AGeoJO wrote
FYI. AF-S still works in the Bright Monitoring mode but not AF-C. At least on the A7r VI it does but not sure on other cameras.I did put it as one of FN buttons on my A7r VI. It will be there on my trip next month but I will change it back to something else after I have come back.
Sep 08, 2026 at 02:07 PM
p.1 #14Star Focus on Sony
Doh, you're right, just found it. I assumed it was in the display/finder menu when making the assignment and it's not. Thanks!
Sep 08, 2026 at 02:47 PM
p.1 #15Star Focus on Sony
nhmorgan wrote:
The much bigger issue and not just for astro is that Sony simply refuses to allow adequate focus magnification. Why they leave such a cap on high res sensors baffles me. Even for product work, it's painfully inadequate.
Hm, okay, it seems that you are not referring to the Bright Monitoring feature, which is the topic here.
Besides, the last time I checked, you can get a focus magnification and get AF on the magnified area but only in AF-S although not in AF-C. I am not sure what you meant then.
The much bigger issue and not just for astro is that Sony simply refuses to allow adequate focus magnification. Why they leave such a cap on high res sensors baffles me. Even for product work, it's painfully inadequate.
Hm, okay, it seems that you are not referring to the Bright Monitoring feature, which is the topic here.
Besides, the last time I checked, you can get a focus magnification and get AF on the magnified area but only in AF-S although not in AF-C. I am not sure what you meant then.
Sep 08, 2026 at 03:42 PM
p.1 #16Star Focus on Sony
AGeoJO wrote:
Still wish we could access if via the Fn menu and not have to dedicate a button to it on the A7RVI. I did put it as one of FN buttons on my A7r VI. It will be there on my trip next month but I will change it back to something else after I have come back.
Not to tell you or anyone how to setup your camera, but I personally have mine set to the "down button" on the control wheel. I personally dislike the control wheel buttons because they are too easy to press (ditto for the control wheel itself!) when shooting and have had my current and previous Sony bodies configured so that the control wheel doesn't do anything, and neither do the up, left or right control wheel "buttons." Except the "down button". Since most of the time I am shooting in AF-C mode with BBF, if I press the control wheel "down button", I simply get an error on the screen, no settings are changed and I can go back to business with a half shutter press or a BBF press.
Tarekith wrote
AGeoJO wrote
FYI. AF-S still works in the Bright Monitoring mode but not AF-C. At least on the A7r VI it does but not sure on other cameras.Not to tell you or anyone how to setup your camera, but I personally have mine set to the "down button" on the control wheel. I personally dislike the control wheel buttons because they are too easy to press (ditto for the control wheel itself!) when shooting and have had my current and previous Sony bodies configured so that the control wheel doesn't do anything, and neither do the up, left or right control wheel "buttons." Except the "down button". Since most of the time I am shooting in AF-C mode with BBF, if I press the control wheel "down button", I simply get an error on the screen, no settings are changed and I can go back to business with a half shutter press or a BBF press.
Sep 09, 2026 at 02:06 PM
p.1 #17Star Focus on Sony
AGeoJO wrote:
Hm, okay, it seems that you are not referring to the Bright Monitoring feature, which is the topic here.
Besides, the last time I checked, you can get a focus magnification and get AF on the magnified area but only in AF-S although not in AF-C. I am not sure what you meant then.
Bright monitoring is fine, but no sony camera allows you to magnify the live view enough to effectively focus on stars. That's my point. I've done tons of astrophotography. Nikon cameras can zoom to almost twice as deep as sony cameras. I promise, that's a much more meaningful thing when focusing on stars than bright monitoring (which is also nice). This isn't a nikon vs sony thing. I actually prefer sony for the lack of raw filtering which effects stars and creates concentric circles when stacking and heavily stretching. However, I just can't understand why Sony won't offer more zoom. It's is super useful for more than just astro when trying to get critical focus in manual focus. Even the 67mp A7rVI can barely zoom to half of what a z8 can in live view. Why?
nhmorgan wrote
The much bigger issue and not just for astro is that Sony simply refuses to allow adequate focus magnification. Why they leave such a cap on high res sensors baffles me. Even for product work, it's painfully inadequate.Besides, the last time I checked, you can get a focus magnification and get AF on the magnified area but only in AF-S although not in AF-C. I am not sure what you meant then.
Bright monitoring is fine, but no sony camera allows you to magnify the live view enough to effectively focus on stars. That's my point. I've done tons of astrophotography. Nikon cameras can zoom to almost twice as deep as sony cameras. I promise, that's a much more meaningful thing when focusing on stars than bright monitoring (which is also nice). This isn't a nikon vs sony thing. I actually prefer sony for the lack of raw filtering which effects stars and creates concentric circles when stacking and heavily stretching. However, I just can't understand why Sony won't offer more zoom. It's is super useful for more than just astro when trying to get critical focus in manual focus. Even the 67mp A7rVI can barely zoom to half of what a z8 can in live view. Why?
Sep 11, 2026 at 08:10 PM
p.1 #18Star Focus on Sony
nhmorgan wrote:
Hm, okay, it seems that you are not referring to the Bright Monitoring feature, which is the topic here.
Besides, the last time I checked, you can get a focus magnification and get AF on the magnified area but only in AF-S although not in AF-C. I am not sure what you meant then.Bright monitoring is fine, but no sony camera allows you to magnify the live view enough to effectively focus on stars. That's my point. I've done tons of astrophotography. Nikon cameras can zoom to almost twice as deep as sony cameras. I promise, that's a much more meaningful thing when focusing on stars than bright monitoring (which is also nice). This isn't a nikon vs sony thing. I actually prefer sony for the lack of raw filtering which effects stars and creates concentric circles when stacking and heavily stretching. However, I just can't understand why Sony won't offer more zoom....Show more →
As I mentioned above, I didn’t know about the Bright Monitoring feature until recently, so I haven’t had a chance to use it in a real-world situation. However, I did experiment with magnifying the AF area.
The Sony A7R VI offers two levels of magnification: 4.9×, which is roughly equivalent to a 100% view, and 9.8×, or roughly 200%. Would the 9.8X magnification be sufficient to focus accurately on a star? I don’t know yet, but I intend to find out at the next opportunity. Frankly, I’m willing to focus manually anyway.
I wouldn’t say that I’m particularly impressed by the A7R VI’s magnification capability. However, if the Z8 offers more than twice as much magnification, then I’m certainly impressed by that. Still, this is a feature I might use only a few times during the life of the camera. For photographers who do this regularly, on the other hand, it could be an excellent and genuinely useful feature.
Too bad my favorite travel camera, the A7c R doesn't even have the Bright Monitoring option...
AGeoJO wrote
nhmorgan wrote
The much bigger issue and not just for astro is that Sony simply refuses to allow adequate focus magnification. Why they leave such a cap on high res sensors baffles me. Even for product work, it's painfully inadequate.Besides, the last time I checked, you can get a focus magnification and get AF on the magnified area but only in AF-S although not in AF-C. I am not sure what you meant then.
As I mentioned above, I didn’t know about the Bright Monitoring feature until recently, so I haven’t had a chance to use it in a real-world situation. However, I did experiment with magnifying the AF area.
The Sony A7R VI offers two levels of magnification: 4.9×, which is roughly equivalent to a 100% view, and 9.8×, or roughly 200%. Would the 9.8X magnification be sufficient to focus accurately on a star? I don’t know yet, but I intend to find out at the next opportunity. Frankly, I’m willing to focus manually anyway.
I wouldn’t say that I’m particularly impressed by the A7R VI’s magnification capability. However, if the Z8 offers more than twice as much magnification, then I’m certainly impressed by that. Still, this is a feature I might use only a few times during the life of the camera. For photographers who do this regularly, on the other hand, it could be an excellent and genuinely useful feature.
Too bad my favorite travel camera, the A7c R doesn't even have the Bright Monitoring option...
Sep 12, 2026 at 12:50 PM
p.1 #19Star Focus on Sony
It worked for me on a recent trip. Thank you @Cliff L.
@AGeoJO - Joshua - are you sure it's not available. I thought the A7cr was where had first heard someone talking about it and I found this
https://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/2370/v1/en/contents/0414H_bright_monitoring.html
Not the best stitch job, but didn't work it too much since I didn't get wide enough, should have done a six pano stitch instead of three to get the top of the MW
@AGeoJO - Joshua - are you sure it's not available. I thought the A7cr was where had first heard someone talking about it and I found this
https://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/2370/v1/en/contents/0414H_bright_monitoring.html
Not the best stitch job, but didn't work it too much since I didn't get wide enough, should have done a six pano stitch instead of three to get the top of the MW
Sep 13, 2026 at 07:40 AM
p.1 #20Star Focus on Sony
Seabassius wrote:
It worked for me on a recent trip. Thank you @Cliff@ L.
@AGeoJO@ - Joshua - are you sure it's not available. I thought the A7cr was where had first heard someone talking about it and I found this
https://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/2370/v1/en/contents/0414H_bright_monitoring.html
Not the best stitch job, but didn't work it too much since I didn't get wide enough, should have done a six pano stitch instead of three to get the top of the MW
https://photos.smugmug.com/Wind-River/i-fBf2SpB/0/LXxCdG5vSPz747bFZtv7GCm5N9gnqj6wCnkrbtF4K/X2/untitled-02270-Pano-X2.jpg
Lance, because of the more limited CF buttons on the A7c R, I wanted to program in that feature as one of the FN button like I did on the A7r VI. But I couldn't do it. So, I thought that that feature was not available in that camera. But after reading your post, I tried program in that as one of CF buttons and bingo, I could do that! And now here is the twist; each time I press that button though, it tells me that that function is not available since it is in AF-S mode, which it supposed to be. It is bizarre... My A7c R is on FW version 2.01. I will check whether there is a newer FW for that camera. No, I just did, Version 2.01 is the most updated version.
I will be using the A7c R as a backup of the A7r VI on my next trip, especially for some Northern Light/Milky Way shooting. Although I hope I don't have to use it, still I hope that it would work. Oh, well...
Could some A7c R owners check yours whether the Bright Monitoring works on yours, please? Thank you!
It worked for me on a recent trip. Thank you @Cliff@ L.
@AGeoJO@ - Joshua - are you sure it's not available. I thought the A7cr was where had first heard someone talking about it and I found this
https://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/2370/v1/en/contents/0414H_bright_monitoring.html
Not the best stitch job, but didn't work it too much since I didn't get wide enough, should have done a six pano stitch instead of three to get the top of the MW
https://photos.smugmug.com/Wind-River/i-fBf2SpB/0/LXxCdG5vSPz747bFZtv7GCm5N9gnqj6wCnkrbtF4K/X2/untitled-02270-Pano-X2.jpg
Lance, because of the more limited CF buttons on the A7c R, I wanted to program in that feature as one of the FN button like I did on the A7r VI. But I couldn't do it. So, I thought that that feature was not available in that camera. But after reading your post, I tried program in that as one of CF buttons and bingo, I could do that! And now here is the twist; each time I press that button though, it tells me that that function is not available since it is in AF-S mode, which it supposed to be. It is bizarre... My A7c R is on FW version 2.01. I will check whether there is a newer FW for that camera. No, I just did, Version 2.01 is the most updated version.
I will be using the A7c R as a backup of the A7r VI on my next trip, especially for some Northern Light/Milky Way shooting. Although I hope I don't have to use it, still I hope that it would work. Oh, well...
Could some A7c R owners check yours whether the Bright Monitoring works on yours, please? Thank you!
Sep 13, 2026 at 08:19 AM