So on most lenses there is a physical switch between AF and MF. You can also set your camera to AF or MF. If you keep your camera set to AF all the time it will automatically switch to MF when you do so on the lens. The camera will also automatically switch back to AF when you switch it on the lens. But, if you keep your lens on AF and switch to MF on your camera the lens won’t also switch over, making the camera and lens have different focus modes. If you try to focus on your camera by pressing the shutter it may engage the autofocus system and it could damage the focus gears since the camera and lens aren’t in the same mode. This is at least what Sony support said, and it aligns with what I’ve read in the past - that you always want your camera and lens to always be set to the same focus mode
Thats a great test video thank you so much! I wonder how to fix a jumpy fast auto focus on an interview I did of a person sitting on a chair and every time he moved slightly the camera tried to refocus super fast and looked horrible this footage was unusable. Thank you
Hey man, I have a kind of difficult and weird question regarding your statement at 00:50 and I would appreciate if you could help me out on this one: Basically what you are saying is that you should change your focus mode using the switch on the lens because if you change it in the camera settings the button stays on its position and this could cause damage to the internals. And that's where my questions comes into play. If you set your lens switch to AF and enable touch to focus via the screen, the a7SIII will switch to MF. In this case you can adjust your touch focus with the focus ring but the exact moment you cancel touch to focus the camera will switch back to AF. So touch to focus overrides the lens switch position. I figured this would be harmless but if your Sony Reps was right this function could damage the focus motors. It would be great if you could share your thoughts on this because I really don't want my camera to break but this is the only way this feature works. Thanks in advance!
hm interesting, i never noticed this as i dont use touch to focus a lot. i would say that maybe the camera isnt actually truly switching to mf. and its just saying that it is for some reason. the rep i spoke to didnt seem completely confident but i still wanted to include what they said. I thinkj your best bet would be to reach out to Sony Support.
@@TymekStolarz Hey, first of all thanks for taking the time and responding to my comment! It actually switches to MF because it gives you the option to operate the focus ring and dial it in precisely. If you watch Philip Blooms recent Sony focus guide he states that he always leaves the lens switch set to AF and toggles between AF and MF via a custom button. In his video on RU-vid he even goes on to show the exact thing I‘ve noticed. There should be no problem when doing this. If you’re interested in more information I’d recommend his video because it’s really in depth! Cheers!
I have a doubt - Do you have any video showing performance of autofocus modes, zones, speed while shooting a video .... I am considering of switching from Nikon D810 to one of the Sony mirrolress and one of my major work area will be to create Product videos, would like to know how does Sony AF settings perform while shooting a video .. Thanks in advance !
Hello, hope you can help me. I'm following your advice on setting up the autofocus speed but my A7SIII does not show the two options you show above: AF Transition Speed and AF Subject Shift Sensitivity. Do you know why? Do I need an upgrade? I bought this camera a while ago but never used it till now.
The best a7s iii settings tutorial I’ve come across to. I love the way you have edited it, with the menu overlay when you are talking to the camera. Also, I appreciate the peace of the video, perfect. On top of that, your explanation are very didactic an precise, based on empirical analysis. Thank you very much. Subscribed to your channel, best luck with it.
Hey thank you so much for the kind words! I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know. These videos take a long time to put together and edit so it all flows nicely with lots of visual aids. I’m trying to figure out how I can somehow make the videos still engaging with a slight reduction in visual aids and editing time, but I see now after rewatching this video for the first time in a while that every little extra broll clip and overall really helps bring all my points across. Thanks again for the comment - it was one of the nicest ones I’ve gotten!
@@TymekStolarz I wish you never change the way you edit the videos, not a bit, as they are perfect the way they are now (at least this one and the "Sony A7S iii Memory Card Buying Guide", I only had time to see these two). One suggestion I forgot to mention. In order to reach a broader audience I think it would be great if you put "A7S III and FX3" in the title and description of your videos instead of only "A7S III". Both cameras are almost identical in practical terms. For example I have a FX3 and this video is 100% applicable to it as the settings, menus and the way it works are exactly the same. Thanks again!
Good morning :) I am not quite sure what you mean, Eye AF should work the exact same way in all modes. i suppose in photo mode it is a little different, i cant recall if it will always show the little box around the eye, but if you half press the shutter focus will always try to go for the eye.
Hmmm.... I still cannot find the way to make my camera switch from tap focus - to tracking - to off like you have by tapping on icon on a screen. It will be super useful!
do other touch functions work? if you press the garbage can icon at the bottom right you can turn off and on touch functions. or you might not have spot, or tracking focus on. when you cycle between touch function on and off, it lets you know at the bottom of the screen. and then an additional touch function activates at the top right corner. default is off, than the first function is touch focus, and than the next one is track focus. i show it somewhere in the beginning of the video i believe.
@@TymekStolarz For me, that is the only update I would ask for ... the Sony PXW Z90 has it, and it is very useful. And with the FX3, and with such a small screen, there are times when you don't know where the camera is focusing in AF.
It would probably be a pretty easy update too, not sure why it doesn’t have it. My d780 is the same way thoufh with peaking only working in manual, and I think most cameras are that way as well.
I keep them both just 1 off the fastest settings, so 4 and 6. However depending on what I am doing I will move them around. When I’m trying to get fast moving slow motion I’ll bump them up all the way, but there are times I want a smoother transition of focus so I’ll put the focus transition speed to the lowest 1 or 2 setting.
@@TymekStolarz you the man! Thank you! I'm loving the a7siii! The dynamic range and ability to color grade is crazy for not being raw. Just did a shot with us in the shade and the sun coming up hitting buildings in the distance and was able to have good skin tones and recover the clouds and sky using curves and hsl. Blows my mind! Need to sell my a7iii and get an FX3 for my second cam
I've personally never tried but i think i would start with using a focus area center fix or zone if you wanted it to be larger and just trying to keep the car in the focus box. depending on how steady you are following the car you could try tap focus but i think the box would be more likely to get confused with something else in the frame and not track the car all the way.
I like the Magnifying Options for Manual. This is useful with back button focus, then using the focus wheel on the lens for fine tuning. However, I don't like having it automatically magnify the focus area. Do you have a suggestion for selecting a button to magnify rather than magnifying automatically?
i juste tested it again and it looks as though touch focus speed should be similar to what you have set. when i had it set to 1, it seemed to go slower, and at 7 it was much faster.
Hahah thank you very much, that is very kind of you to say. I started 10 months ago so although it would be great to have more, I’m happy with where I’ve gotten to, and I’m slowly growing everyday :)
Hello Tymek, thanks for your video. I don't really get what sony support told you about MF and AF (Sec 45). What kind of problem can produce? In the lens or in the camera? As i understand the only way to do it properly will be changing Af to MF only from the lens? I've been using this camera for more than a year. I set the lens in AF and i change to MF or AF from the camera. I have had no problems.. Let me know please.. Best!
Hey there :) honestly the only thing they said is that the connections COULD potentially be damaged but its not like i was talking to someone who seemed extremely knowledgeable. when you switch af and mf on the lens it automatically changes it in the camera. if you leave af on the lens, but turn to mf on the camera, af obviously still stays switched on the lens because its a physical button. when you press the shutter half way, the lens could potentially try to engage the autofocus, and if its switched off in the camera the connections, gears or what ever connecting the 2 systems could be damaged by the connections on the lens moving , and the connections on the camera staying in place due to it being set to mf. they said it would be obvious if there was an issue caused by this like poor autofocus performance or potentially some type of sound when you try to autofocus IF there was damage form this type of operation. It honestly may not be an issue at all but its what sony support stated so i thought i was include in the video.
@@TymekStolarz Thanks for your answer.. First time I've heard that. Maybe it's more when you are in photo mode, I don't know.. Anyway, thanks once again.. Best!!
So you are pressing the top box option and it’s not cycling through to track focus just sticking on spot? They should have the same sharpness but spot focus just activates focus one time to where you press. While track will try to keep focus on the selected subject that you pick wherever it moves in the frame
@@TymekStolarz thanks for the reply! Yes that was happening but I clicked the display button on the wheel and all of a sudden it popped back up. Maybe i had made it disappear by changing display settings. Love the vids though! Keep them coming. Subscribed
Very helpfull Video. One thing suprises me: Turning the Camera to MF and on the lens to AF may cause Damage to the Camera? This sounds weierd to me. Did the Sony Service give some more Information? I lieke to shot in this way on my A7SIII. Kind REgards from Germany
They indicated that the autofocus connection between the camera and lens could be damaged if one is set to work, and the other is supposed to not be working at that time;. It is possible that they could just be covering their butts and saying that just incase it damages it - or potentially that particular agent not knowing what he's talking about haha; however, I did read something similar a while ago though for cameras and lenses in general - that having the camera set to AF or M, and having the lens set to the opposite wasn't the best idea.
Hi Tymek! About keeping AF o MF on the lens while changing on the camera. I always change it on camera, not on the lens, so, what do you recommend to prevent that damage you talk about? Keeping MF on the lens and change it on camera? Thanks so much!
I would recommend always keeping AF on the camera, and only switching between af and mf on the lens. When you switch on the lens only, the camera switches to match what is on the lens as well.
probably the only youtuber that mentioned this very important point. I just bought the A7Siii and have been wondering about MF from the cam instead from the lens.
@Bander Al-Ali yes it was something I noticed most people looked past in their videos. I also couldn’t find anything on google. Glad the information is proving to be useful :)
Question, what does "5h 0m" mean in the top left of the screen display? Yes I know it is 5 hour 0 min, but not sure if it is related to battery or the SD card or what
That would be how much record time is left in that specific codec and frame rate for that memory card. The battery life is only shown on the right with the bars. It would be really helpful if that showed the time left for battery life though!
Thanks! Just found your channel tonight and appears that a lot of your content is exactly what I am looking for, keep up the good work. And the answer you gave me here I couldn't find online or even in the user manual, so I appreciate it
Not a problem! Yes I definitely have a lot of a7s iii related tutorials haha. If you have any additional questions at all I answer all of them! Take care :)
Great Video. However how in the world are you able to toggle between Touch Focus and Touch Tracking by Tapping like you show in 1:26? I can either set to Focus OR to Tracking per Menus and tapping again will only cancel the Focus. What am I missing?
Thank you :) make sure that you have touch controls set to on. By default I think it should be the trash button on the bottom right. When I press touch control the option appears at the top right of the screen that lets me choose spot focus or track focus or off.
Good video! Another thing that I don't understand about this camera is when you have face detection AF and you have different faces ... how can you choose one? On the Sony PXWZ90 with the joystick you can choose the face you want to focus on ... any solution?
I don’t think it’s possible to pick which face it chooses out of several saved faces. I think it’s only meant to pick out 1 saved face at a time out of a group of unsaved faces. I am assuming if you have 2 in at one time it might try jumping back and forth to the ones that’s closest, or the most in the middle of the frame.
I’m a little confused about the potential damage from switching between AF and MF on the Sony a7siii. I shoot mostly with a gmaster prime and I’m nervous that I’ll forget that I’m in MF on the lens but not the camera. Is it safer to just switch between focus modes on one or the other? I thought the camera would communicate with the lens but i can be forgetful and I certainly don’t want to cause damage.
I personally just always switch between MF and AF on the lens, as the camera will always follow what the lens is set to. but if you do it around, and you switch to mf and af on the camera, obviously the camera wont flip the switch physically on the lens. it makes sense to me as to why there could be an issue with having the lens set to af, but the camera set to mf, one component trying to engage af while the others gears are potentially locked to mf or something. but the sony rep didnt seem 100 percent confident, and may have just also been logically thinking about what could happen in that situation. there may be some fail safe in place to not allow for any damage to occur.
hello. I using the sony a7s mark 2 and using a sony 24-70 G series. I have face detect on and I am continuous auto focus . Focus area is set to wide and and have set it to centre. Real big issue I am having is that background shudders, focus hunting whenever the subject moves during an interview. Its not noticeable on the viewfinder or EVF but when I get back to my rushes you can notice and turns the shot. I have had to revert back to manual focus for the time being. Any ideas what is going wrong ?
Hey there - Just to confirm you are using the A7S m2 not m3? if its the m2 it probably just comes down to the autofocus system in that camera being a little bit older and not as accurate. it was released 6 years ago and several Sony cameras have come out since then, the autofocus in them getting better each time. If it is in fact the A7S m3, you said you have the autofocus set to wide, but also centre. if you have it set to centre, and the subjects eye/face is out of the centre box it wont be focusing on the eye, just what is in the box. the LCD screen will still show the detection box around the persons eye or face showing that it is detecting them even if they are outside the box, but it wont actually be focusing on them.
@@TymekStolarz Hello , thanks for the reply , Yes I am using the a7s mark 2. i set the auto focus to wide and face detection and have the issue. I then set the autofocus to centre with face detection still enabled and I still get the issue. And I am always on continuous auto focus too Any ideas what can be done to get it right?
Unfortunately i think its just the limitations of the autofocus technology that is in the A7S M2. its just not advanced enough to be able to keep a subject locked on without hunting every-time there is movement. it was similar to one of my old Nikon Cameras, the 750. the autofocus technology for video was just really old and would always hunt for focus. the only solution is to upgrade cameras to something newer with better autofocus, or just continue to use manual focus. I wish i had some better news, but i will make one last suggestions: i would take a deep dive on google and just search things like "how to improve Sony A7S II autofocus" or something along those lines. there may be some posts somewhere, or articles by someone that has used the camera and maybe found some ways to improve the autofocus.
@@TymekStolarz I have already searched google. some suggestions- Take IBIS off( that didnt work) have more contrast in background. set the focus in auto and then go back to manual focus. I tried this but the focus shifted slightly when I went back to manual focus. So the best solution is just start and stay at manual focus which is very frustrating haha
Yea unfortunately that’s is probably the case. I’m sorry there isn’t a better solution to your problem. At the time (2015) I believe the autofocus on that camera was actually better than most others. I’m surprised it even has a form of eye/face detect. It’s just getting pretty old by now. Good luck with your creative endeavours :)
Hm that is odd. I don’t have my camera infront of me at this moment but will later tonight. Do you have it in your quick functions? And you have it turned on but no color showing? Make sure you are in manual focus or else it won’t show.
I guess it depends, is the camera or the pizza moving? If you just have the camera overtop of the pizza and the pizza is maybe just spinning but not moving closer or farther, setting manual focus would probably be the absolute safest bet. But if the camera is moving or the distance of the pizza is moving closer and farther away from the pizza you can either press on the pizza to track focus; or just use one of the focus boxes and keep the pizza inside the box. There should be enough detail on the pizza that it should work pretty well.
So as far as i can tell the only way to actually show what is being focused on in video mode is to turn on the face and eye detection (in AF/MF settings, in setting 3, the second from bottom option is Face/eye frame display, turning that on will show the boxes on the face). But if you want a box to show where focus is on on objects, then you can only half press the shutter i think like you would in photo mode and the same green boxes will show. otherwise its just trusting you are in focus when you are using a focus box.
Sorry there is actually one thing you can do but its probably not exactly what you are looking for. you can turn on touch screen controls, and turn on track focus like i show @ 1:26 you can tap on an object on the screen that you want to focus on and the box will stay on that object pretty good holding focus. but just having a similar box that it shows on faces but just on focus points in video, i haven't seen any cameras have this feature.
Not sure I would exactly call the A7sIII a "consumer" camera, this is a pro level camera. Consumer cameras are more the eos rebel line type things. Just my 2 cents. Also before you buy one realize it is bloody heavy!!
I guess I was just reserving the professional level gear for like the fx6, 9, c300, Alexa, RED, etc. But you are right the A7s iii is no where near the super consumer grade cameras either. I guess pro-sumer is probably the most fitting title.
Great complete video 👍 Is there any autofocus functions like video eye autofocus or other work only with Sony lens not work on E mount Sigma art lens? I'm planning to buy Sigma 2470mm. Autofocus on sigma vs sony?
Hey there and thank you! As long as it’s a Sony e-mount, all the same autofocus functions will work on a Sony lens, or a third party lens- however just as the autofocus performance varies even between native Sony lenses, it will also be different for other third party lenses. Generally native Sony lenses are usually faster and more accurate. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a third party lens be as good or better as far as autofocus goes. I think I’ve heard that the 24-70 sigma has better image quality though and is a lot cheaper - not exactly sure about the autofocus performance though. When I want to get an unbiased option I like to go to B And H and look at the comment section for a particular lens, usually looking at the worst 1 2 and 3 star comments. But this should also be taken with a grain of salt, every lens is different, even of the same make and model so some people may have just received bad copies of that lens
Thank you kindly :) i just show how it looks towards the end of the video. @ 7:16 i just show how it looks. personally i prefer low when i am using it just so im more precise with whats in focus. having it set to high may result in getting out of focus footage sometimes. i like using the magnification tool though the most when im shooting stationary things.
I dont mind it too much, it seems to be a little less detailed though, oh well. lol next round! hopefully the next 7S doesn't come out for a while so i dont feel compelled to upgrade.
Thank you and no problem! i have a few A7S III related guides on most of the cameras functions so if you have any questions at all, im always happy to try and help :)
@@TymekStolarz I love my a7siii and watching your videos helps me understand the camera that much more. I certainly will hit you up if I have questions. Keep providing us with these awesome tips and info!
Awesome! It’s an amazing camera forsure. Lots of settings and video options to choose from. If I hadn’t made these A7s iii guides I probably wouldn’t know half of the options that are available haha.
@@TymekStolarz Yeah, I'll take a couple weeks to try all the setting and get to know the camera, also looking forward to testing ultra low light video with it
