It doesn’t seem to have a tracking capability for that. However, I did not write detailed reviews for a number of reasons including native lens shortage and availability, all kinds of initial firmware bugs and lags, shutter vibrations (A7R), slow start up time, compressed RAW, terrible menu system, poor battery life and a number of other annoying issues. Great article. Have seen numerous videos on the product and never came across a better compilation on the tips of this camera. Much depends on your drive mode settings. I never thought of that one. I wish someone could actually create a guide for the A77ii AF system that shows EACH setting AND what all else needs to be adjust for it to actually work. Hi Sue, firstly, have you tried half pressing the shutter button? Is there any way to assign the focus function to one of the buttons on the back of the camera and separate it from the shutter button? On top of that, 2014 was also a year of personal transformation for me, so I was incredibly busy trying to shuffle a lot of things at the same time. Wish Sony could have added the same on this brilliant camera! It’s linked to the speed at which the camera acquires critical focus, either when the lens has to bridge a big change in focus distance, or when the conditions force the camera to. But, the A7s would be my preferred camera if you’re doing video too. I had a Sony HX100V earlier (superzoom) which had a help button that explained each and every icon and its function on the LCD itself. But the added flexibility and customizability of the latter will appeal to many action and wildlife photographers. We’ll go over some settings that influence the performance of the focus area settings first. Detailed technical specifications for the Sony A7 II are available at Sony.net. Am looking forward to giving it a workout with the tips you’ve offered. You can follow him on Instagram and Facebook. These tips help tremendously. This Sony a7RII continuous autofocus test video shows the speed of the a7RII. Although there is no 4K recording, the A7 II has improved video features thanks to XAVC S codec and flat picture profile (S-Log2) to make it more appealing for those who like shooting high definition video. The most notable feature of this iteration of the A7 is the autofocus component. I would definitely set AF drive speed to slow, that way the camera has some more time to reevaluate focus between shots. And here is a detailed comparison of specifications from the four cameras: Aside from the key differences in resolution and related ISO range, pixel and image size, the biggest differentiating factors between the cameras are image stabilization (A7 II), autofocus system + focus points, weight, size and price. AF tracking will remember whatever you’ve selected to track, even if your subject moves out of your frame. I get a lot of views on this posts, but in this selfish world, rarely people take time to give me some feedback, thank you for that! It is just a strange issue, has the newest firmware and lens has newest firmware as well. Setting it to slow means the camera will take a bit more care in getting the focus right, resulting in more and better in-focus images. Hi Tim, yes there is. Also some older lenses may not work as well with the af drive speed set to fast..and as Wim noted, he uses the slow setting here and that may work better with some lenses. So what are the key differences between the Sony A7 II and the original A7 and what has changed? Slow mode just takes a tiny bit more care, when approaching focus lock, not to overshoot or miss minor details in certain conditions. This technique applies for all a7, a77 and a99 series cameras, and Lock On AF: Flexible Spot feature is available for the a7S, a77ii and a7ii. Then there are all the Object Tracking and Eye-AF features which may be available or mostly not available depending on all the other settings of the camera, like the Continues AF vs Single AF setting. This is useful for unpredictable subjects that may move at … Tip: This mode activates adjacent points if it is in danger of losing focus, a very useful feature. Hi Suzette, van you give some more info on what type of nature shots you do? I don’t shoot weddings or soccer games. You get faster autofocus, more AF points, and eye AF when continuous focusing. I had the A77 and now I have the A77ii. The camera will autofocus in the same way as wide focus area, but only in the selected zone. Good luck! Although all features are pretty advanced Perhaps I should do an advanced features post! Cheers! “Drive mode settings A7r II: Autofocus with FE lenses. Tip: I’d recommend setting it to 15 points and Expanded Flexible Spot if you want to use a Flexible spot zone, as this area setting activates surrounding AF points if it loses focus anyway. I have this camera for just over a week and had opted for the body only version and got the DT 55-300 lens since I was primarily interested in bird photography and stuff. With its $1,699 MSRP price tag, the full-frame Sony A7 II offers quite a bit as a digital camera and packs a lot of improvements over the original A7: much better ergonomics (thanks to the bigger and more textured grip), built-in 5-axis image stabilization, faster hybrid AF system, faster start-up time and a few other small tweaks here and there. Point the camera at a person’s face, and press the button to which you have assigned Eye AF I by chance found a post on dyxum that outlined much of what I was seeing and I’ve included that below for you. Maybe the first comment is in moderation and if so you can delete this one. I am finding the AF control very very complicated and still can’t find a good guide on how to use it. It might look like a small incremental upgrade over the A7 at first, but when you consider the above changes, especially the inclusion of IBIS, it certainly becomes a very different, more practical and capable camera in comparison. Can you help? I am disappointed that the AF range control does not work in movie mode. That is the solution. I’ve just gotten the A77ii and have started to dabble with the focusing modes and this is very helpful. I was a bit overwhelmed by the controls and realised it would be a real trial and error journey till I can master even a little bit. I can confirm that use of the remote forces the camera to autofocus, even when Menu > Custom Settings > AF w/shutter > Off. Go in the menu system, and look for “custom key settings” ( The gear/wheel symbol, on page 6). The recent A6000 represents better value-for-money and has an autofocus system that in some ways exceeds the capabilities of that in the A77II. Enjoy your camera and photography. This feature is available in the Canon 7D Mark II, Nikon D750, and Sony a5100, among others. Hi Elise…hopefully Zas will see this too. Remember that you can always easily switch to different zones using the Multi-controller. Required fields are marked *, Copyright 2021 © All rights Reserved. Best, Wim. It’s currently the best APS-C camera when it comes to AF capabilities and general performance. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried any of the A7 range cameras, but you should be aware that the autofocus performance isn’t up to par with what you have now. AF functionality is quickly set by the dedicated Mode Dial on the bottom left front of the camera. Ergonomics have been greatly improved thanks to a much larger and more comfortable grip and the shutter release along with some buttons have been changed and moved as well (more on ergonomic changes in the next page of the review). The camera is fantastic by the way! Thanks for taking the time to write a comment. I personally would welcome Nikon D810-style bodies with 12 MP, 24 MP and 36 MP sensors instead of feature-stripped cameras at completely different price points. Anyway I, and others, have found a significant improvement in the sharpness of bird photos by leaving the standard steady shot on (which matches what the a65 had) and turning the steady shot with shutter release to off. Hi Wim, thanks for the review, very useful, especially when there isnt much good info about alpha cameras. I have it set up in a way that shoots my shooting style, and I’m very pleased with how it performs. On a few YouTube movies I saw 15 AF points spread over the entire AF area…maybe only when you use wide AF? This does change the function of the Multi-controller middle button in all modes (except Lock-on AF Wide) as when it is OFF, it acts as a center focus button. A pity, as I think we’re sending the wrong signal to Sony: i.e. Best, Wim. Thanks for these tips. Sony FE 28mm f/2; Sony FE 55mm f/1.8; Sony FE 70-200mm f/4; Sony FE 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3; To assess the performance of the new A7r II in terms of autofocus, the test could only begin with the native full-frame E-mount lenses. The Sony A7, being the cheaper model aimed for general use, sports a 24 MP sensor and offers hybrid autofocus, while the A7R with its high resolution 36 MP sensor is targeted at more specific types of photography including landscape, architecture, studio and product photography. High-definition movie mode. The camera will not autofocus when depressing the shutter release button, but … The a6400 is latest mirrorless APS-C camera from Sony. I have now switched to 70-300 G SSM in the hope of getting results. I have only tried it at one football match so far but first impressions (and results) were very good. Just press the shutter to activate it. With AF-A, your camera switches from single to continuous autofocus automatically when it detects that the subject is moving. It is fine in single shot mode on a static subject, but anything moving it will not capture no matter what af settings I use and I’ve been doing sports photography or years. Tip: It might be a good idea to assign this to a button you don’t use much, or at least adjust this setting depending on the shooting conditions. I need help with my a77ii. In any case, Wim, thank you very much for this. The usual choice of Single-shot AF (S), Continuous AF (C), Automatic AF (A, which switches automatically between S and C) or Manual Focus. Very good article. When Sony initially launched the A7 series, I wrote a detailed article on how the Sony mirrorless would most likely impact Nikon and Canon full-frame DSLR prices and potentially sales. For subject tracking in action photography, the. Sports and action photography might benefit from using, Deactivating it will go back to your selected. I will try out your other suggestions soon. I’d suggest using though ‘expand flexible spot’, that also uses the surrounding AF points (think of it like a circle of extra AF points surrounding the flexible spot). Hi Michael, You’ll need to assign the eye-AF to a custom button, MENU → Custom Settings – Custom Key Settings – assign the Eye AF function to a button. You could try the A7s with an LEAE4 adapter for now, but I agree there are a lot of buts with FE cameras for the moment. For the more technical stuff, I browsed through all Sony’s worldwide literature on the A77II, and gathered bits and pieces of info here and there. Sony’s A7lll Full Frame Mirrorless Basic Camera … Expect More The camera body and feature set of the A7lll is nearly identical to the A7Rlll that was released last year. Hi Rob, it’s a fantastic camera, with a bit of a learning curve. Thanks for the heads up on the typo, I’m on it . Thanks this has been a big help. Set to aperture priority and in spite of being back lit the focus was very good. The G lens needs no micro af adjustment as it delivers perfect pin sharp photos on static subjects. We bind back button focus to the AF/MF/AEL switch lever. Thanks so much for writing this. I’ve got the original A77 and my A77 ii will be coming later today. Yes migrating to another brand is always a challenge. When using this mode, the camera decides which of the focus points to use to set the focus. However, when Sony announced the second iteration of the A7-series, the A7 II, I immediately requested a review unit for evaluation. Hi Zas, i would advise you to play around with the CAF settings, see what works for you first. a7 II, the world’s first full-frame camera with 5-axis image stabilization. Very frustrating…my older a57 captured moving subjects beautifully. Try that if you’re still struggling with good focus on moving subjects. One thing I’m not sure of though is what you wrote. Dan, The AF on the A77M2 is better and more flexible, in good light :). It’s easy to run through the flexible spots (more so if you’ve set the limit to 15 Flexible Spots). A fantastic camera, with a bit of a learning curve the autofocus component APS-C camera Sony. I think we ’ re still struggling with good focus on moving subjects camera has some more on!, among others photos on static subjects the review, very useful, when... 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T shoot weddings or soccer games key differences between the Sony A7 II and original!