smpetty wrote:
Has a thread been started about the poor function of the 200-600 on A1 firmware >= 1.31?
I would be interested to see examples from multiple users. I haven't had a problem, but I don't often use the 200-600.
I think this thread has turned into it
I re-initialized my A1 with the 1.31 firmware and just went out to my local park with the 200-600. It was a relatively birdless day, all told, but I was able to confirm that BEAF basically doesn't work for me any more. Four examples, all AF-C, non-tracking, and either spot (small or medium) or zone focus:
1. Screech owl dozing in a hole in a tree about 30ft up, so from my vantage point a ways back from the tree I was probably about 40-50 yards from the little fella and it was pretty small in the frame. BEAF activated but the little square was dancing all over the place and considering the owls eyes were 80% closed and it's body is heavily mottled I'm not sure what the BEAF was actually identifying. At that distance straight on and f/6.3, however, pretty much the entire little owl was in focus anyway so BEAF was not really needed.
2. Flying seagulls in bright sunlight at 20-30 yards. Nada from BEAF, although to be fair I wasn't expecting much.
3. Red-tailed Hawk on a branch in the sun at about 25 yards with catchlights glinting off its big yellow eagle eyes, slightly below my vantage point so I was looking down on it. Large enough in the frame that its head was bigger than the small-spot focus box. This should have been a walk in the park for BEAF and I know it was with prior firmware versions because we have a lot of hawks around here. This time? Nada. The hawk stayed perched for a long time so I was able to play around with different settings and focus modes, but hard as I tried I just could not get BEAF to activate at all. Weird.
4. Nuthatch doing its funny walk on on a tree trunk in the sun at about 5-6 yards. Nice and contrasty. Nothing again from BEAF. Also weird based on my past experience with the A1.
So basically I have concluded that with the 200-600 at least BEAF for me is simply not working at all. Most of the time it's not even activating. I'd call that pretty broken and very disappointing. I hope they can fix it before migration season starts otherwise it'll be like the olden days before eye AF existed at all
smpetty wrote:
Has a thread been started about the poor function of the 200-600 on A1 firmware >= 1.31?
I would be interested to see examples from multiple users. I haven't had a problem, but I don't often use the 200-600.
I think this thread has turned into it
I re-initialized my A1 with the 1.31 firmware and just went out to my local park with the 200-600. It was a relatively birdless day, all told, but I was able to confirm that BEAF basically doesn't work for me any more. Four examples, all AF-C, non-tracking, and either spot (small or medium) or zone focus:
1. Screech owl dozing in a hole in a tree about 30ft up, so from my vantage point a ways back from the tree I was probably about 40-50 yards from the little fella and it was pretty small in the frame. BEAF activated but the little square was dancing all over the place and considering the owls eyes were 80% closed and it's body is heavily mottled I'm not sure what the BEAF was actually identifying. At that distance straight on and f/6.3, however, pretty much the entire little owl was in focus anyway so BEAF was not really needed.
2. Flying seagulls in bright sunlight at 20-30 yards. Nada from BEAF, although to be fair I wasn't expecting much.
3. Red-tailed Hawk on a branch in the sun at about 25 yards with catchlights glinting off its big yellow eagle eyes, slightly below my vantage point so I was looking down on it. Large enough in the frame that its head was bigger than the small-spot focus box. This should have been a walk in the park for BEAF and I know it was with prior firmware versions because we have a lot of hawks around here. This time? Nada. The hawk stayed perched for a long time so I was able to play around with different settings and focus modes, but hard as I tried I just could not get BEAF to activate at all. Weird.
4. Nuthatch on a tree in the sun at about 5-6 yards. Nice and contrasty. Nothing again from BEAF. Also weird based on my past experience with the A1.
So basically I have concluded that with the 200-600 at least BEAF for me is simply not working at all. Most of the time it's not even activating. I'd call that pretty broken and very disappointing. I hope they can fix it before migration season starts otherwise it'll be like the olden days before eye AF existed at all
Feb 26, 2023 at 04:50 PM
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