Focus tracking with Sony

[davidedric]

I've had the Sony Rx100 vii for a while now, but haven't really explored it.

In particular, I've not explored the focus tracking, since I mostly photograph still or slow moving subjects. Being old, my default way of working is to focus and recompose.

However, the little Sony gives me the option to engage focus tracking, half press to fix focus where I want, and then recompose while the camera maintains focus without risk of parallax problems.

I imagine that the camera's big brothers can do the same. Any downsides?

[rpcrowe]

Dave...

I originally fell in love with Sony mirrorless camera systems because of Eye-AF but, soon realized that there is a lot more than Eye-AF in the Sony AF systems. You are correct that the later models of the Big Brothers of the Sony Rx100 have subject tracking. Some have this only for stills while others have subject tracking in both stills and video...

Mark Galer is the Guru of Sony photography. Here is a quick video about subject tracking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed1rNaDDcoE

I can't think of any downside to subject tracking, especially combined with Eye-AF; even animal Eye-AF. However, I suspect that the lens must have a fast focusing system to successfully use real-time subject tracking. I don't have personal experience but, think that the far less expensive 55-210mm OSS telephoto cannot keep up with a fast moving subject...

Here is an example of focus tracking combined with Animal Eye-AF which I used to photograph little Duke as he played with his ball...



The AF picked up his eyes and the camera kept on tracking him wherever he went. I used a Sony crop sensor A6400 (which I "think" was the first of the Sony cameras that had real-time subject tracking capability) and the Sony 70-200mm f/4.0 G OSS lens. I shot this using an f/5.6 aperture because I wanted more DOF (to cover his entire body) than I could achieve wide open at f/4.0...

BTW: I can also select a subject to track using the touch screen. I can use the touch screen with my right thumb even when I am viewing through the eye level viewfinder.

[davidedric]

Thanks very much, Richard - that's an impressively sharp photo of Duke.

I've been playing a bit more today, and it seems to work very well. One plus point of small cameras like the RX100 is that nothing has to move very far, so focusing is very fast, and the rest of the technology supports that. It can shoot 90fps, in a very short burst!

The focus tracking also works in video according to the demos I've seen, but I don't have any real interest there.

Of course the RX100 falls short of a bigger sensored camera in many ways, but Sony have packed some amazing stuff into a tiny body.

[lunaticitizen]

My wife exclusively uses this type of focus. It's easier for her to just point the camera to the object she wants to put the focus point on and then recompose. She never uses the EVF either...

This was shot recently. The focus is on the fourth lamppost on the left side of the road.