Operating logic of Sony micro-single focusing

What is the operating logic of Sony Micro Single Focus? Please look down!

1, focusing mode: AF-S, AF-A, af-c, Dmf and mf. What's the difference?

In Sony micro-single, AF-S stands for single focus, AF-C stands for continuous focus, and MF stands for manual focus, which are all well understood.

So what are AF-A and DMF? AF-A is smart focus. When the camera starts the focusing system, it starts focusing once. If the subject suddenly moves, it directly starts continuous focusing for tracking. This mode is especially useful when posing. For example, if you want to capture a smile on your sister's paper and let her paper stand sideways, AF-A will finish the single focus first, and a single focus prompt will appear. Descending? . Sister paper, did you hear that? Descending? After that, look back and smile. At this time, the camera will automatically start continuous focusing and press the shutter to capture the most natural moment when the smile of the sister paper blooms.

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Another example is that you wanted to shoot a static dog tail grass, and suddenly a gust of wind blew, which changed from static to swaying. The practicability of AF-A is greatly improved.

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The function of DMF is autofocus (once). After turning the focus ring, the focus position will be automatically enlarged and enter the manual focus mode. It is especially useful in some occasions where fine focusing is needed.

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MF's peak focusing system is an artifact of manual lens. In the early years, when the Sony micro-single system was not complete, Sony micro-single was the representative of universal digital back. On the one hand, because of the ultra-short flange distance, Gensonnie microlens can be switched to any bayonet lens. More importantly, peak focusing greatly improves the efficiency of manual focusing. Will the camera be used in the focus position? Red? When particles are identified, the denser the particles, the more accurate the focusing. The biggest advantage of peak focus is that you don't need to zoom in to see the focus details, just judge whether to focus according to the color display. Fast and accurate.

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Specific usage, open the peak display in the menu of Sony micro-single. In addition, you can also set the color and level of the peak (the higher the level, the more obvious the peak display).

2. Focus area: wide area, area, center focus, free point, extended free point and locked autofocus.

In the focusing system of SLR, the choice of focusing area is generally the choice of single focus. Therefore, users who have transitioned from SLR will naturally look for the focusing options of Sony micro-singles. Even many users are still using the method of focusing on the central point and translating compositions. Of course, this is not impossible. It's just a waste of your Sony micro-single performance. The first thing to change is about? Focus? The concept of. On the Sony micro-list, there are hundreds of focus points at every turn, which is a bit narrow. So the focus area selection of Sony micro-single is not the choice of points, but? Face? ! (Sony's micro-single focusing is multi-point linkage * * * With the operation, focusing is no longer the responsibility of a point, but a? Face? Focus on the inner results of all cooperation).

Wide area, activate all focal points. The system judges which focusing point to use according to the shooting target. Many people may worry that the camera will be accurate. Yeah, the focus won't run around. Of course, the subject judged by the camera may indeed be inconsistent with the subject in your mind. However, many times, if there is an obvious subject in your composition, the camera will choose him with a high probability. Note that the camera will automatically select multiple focus points (green focus points) to work together in a wide area (in the white box shown in the figure), instead of a single point.

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Thanks to the characteristics of Sony's ultra-large focus coverage area, wide area has almost become the choice of permanent focus area. Some people may think it is unnecessary to activate such a large area. When shooting, the composition determines that the subject can only appear in a certain area. so this is it？ District? The role of. This focus area is widely used in motion capture. Compared with wide area, the area is smaller and more accurate. Compared with the free point, the range of the area is larger and it is easier to keep up with the moving objects. In layman's terms, the area is like a machine gun. My marksmanship is not very accurate. Just aim at the target and shoot.

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So what? Free? It is a bit like a sniper rifle. However, even a free point is actually a surface, a small plane composed of several focuses. Free choice, right? Big, medium and small? The three models, even the smallest one, are composed of several focuses. Users who are new to micro-orders usually have this question. Why can't Sony micro-single choose focus like SLR? Because in the micro single focusing system, it is difficult for a single focusing point to form a climate, but multi-point cooperation is different. The focusing speed and accuracy will be improved instantly. So in a free place? Big, medium and small? Among the three models, what is the fastest response? Big? . This is particularly evident in the machines before A7 II. After the third generation machine, due to the improvement of overall focusing performance, large, medium and small? The gap is not so obvious.

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Expand the free point. On the basis of the free point, call the surrounding focus to focus. When shooting, focus on the free point first. In case the subject moves suddenly, call the focus around the free point directly to continue focusing.

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Focus on the center. Focus only on the focus area in the center of the camera. Center focus, composition translation, I believe the old drivers are very clear. Sony micro-single, with lock autofocus, center focus, new gameplay. First focus through the center, lock the subject by half pressing the shutter, and then move the composition. Focusing will lock the subject and refocus.

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In order to lock AF, any free point, extended free point and area can be used, except that the central focus can be used to lock the subject.

3, black technology, eye control AF (eye focus).

In addition to the focus area settings mentioned above, the most attractive thing about Sony Micro-single is eye-controlled AF (eye-controlled focus). What's the role? That is, the camera will automatically select the eye focus. Since the early Sony A7 model, eye-controlled autofocus has been developing. It was a bit flashy at first, but now it is definitely black technology. However, eye-controlled autofocus will inevitably be used in portrait photography. Whether it's your front, side or occlusion, eye-controlled AF can easily find your eyes to focus.

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Since the introduction of eye-controlled autofocus, portrait shooting has become easier. When taking pictures, you don't have to hurry to choose the right focus, just focus on composition and capture the emotions and dynamics of your sister paper.

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The specific setting method, on the Sony micro-single, when looking for af, first set the face, and set the eye-controlled AF with the custom key. Personally, I am used to setting the eye control AF function on the AEL button. When shooting, I first press the AEL key to focus, and then press the shutter to shoot.

What if there are many people in the picture at the same time? At this time, the eye control AF doesn't know who to look for to focus. It doesn't matter, there is a function called face registration on Sony micro-single. Register the face information of the protagonist you want to shoot in advance, so that the camera can easily identify your protagonist in a group of people.

After completing a registration, you can shoot happily. No matter how many times and how many people are behind, the camera will give priority to face registration. But in practice, the probability of recognition is not particularly high. After all, it involves the algorithm of face recognition. At present, this algorithm is not particularly excellent, so my suggestion is that it is more practical to focus by touch.

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Of course, when we take portraits, the focus of each photo is not necessarily the eyes. Sometimes we just want to shoot a detail. Then the benefits of the touch screen will be reflected at this time. There is no need for tedious menu switching, just click on the position you want to focus on on the screen.

For example, I want to focus on this Sony headset. When I tap the camera screen, the focus will naturally switch from the state of eye-controlled autofocus to the free point. Greatly improve the efficiency of camera operation. However, it should be noted here that the touch of Sony micro-single can only switch the focus, and it cannot automatically focus after switching. So after switching focus, you still need to press the shutter for half a turn to focus.

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4. Description of other focus-related functions.

There are three options to set the priority of af-S and af-C: AF, shutter release priority and equalization. When AF is selected, the shutter cannot be released as long as the camera is not in focus. Shutter release priority is to shoot as long as the shutter is pressed, whether it is in focus or not. Balance is the golden mean. The camera also allows you to release the shutter when autofocus is not possible. I have an inexplicable obsession with focusing. If Sony micro-single can't focus, I'd rather not shoot. AF, it suits me best.

There are five options for AF tracking sensitivity: 1 (lock), 2,3 (standard), 4,5 (response). When 1 is selected, the highest priority of focusing is to lock the target. When shooting, no matter how many objects that interfere with the focus appear in the picture, the camera always locks the locked target at the first time. When 5 is selected, the response is the highest priority. For example, if you start shooting, the picture is locked to A, and suddenly the picture enters the second person B, blocking A, then the focus will be switched to B, and then the focus will be switched to C, 2, 3 and 4, which are two extreme algorithm priorities, and the camera defaults to 3 (standard). The picture shows five answers, giving priority to those who enter the picture. This focusing method is especially suitable for hip-hop solo show, in which the protagonist constantly changes performances. For example, when the man dressed in orange finished performing and changed into a man dressed in black, the camera voluntarily gave up chasing the man dressed in orange, and the man dressed in black continued to follow the focus. At this point, if you set 1 (lock), the camera focus will follow the man in orange from beginning to end.

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AF auxiliary lighting. When the light is too weak to focus, the camera will emit red light to help focus. Half-press the shutter to automatically focus, which is turned on by default. Some photographers are used to the separation of shutter and focus, so they can close the shutter AF. Focus with AF-ON, shoot with shutter. Auto focus area registration function. As mentioned above, there are six focusing modes in Sony Micro-single I * *: wide area, area, center focus, free point, extended free point and locked AF. But in actual shooting, we may only use two of them. So you can switch back and forth between the two focus areas through this function. For example, if you register the focus area, you will generally shoot in a wide area. This method can switch quickly. Specific operation method, AF area registration function, on. Switch to the focus area to be registered, and press and hold FN to complete the registration. Set shortcut keys to switch the focus area, such as AF-ON. When shooting, press AF-ON to switch back and forth between the current focus area and the registered focus area. This figure is an example of fast switching between a wide area and an area.

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5, apply what you have learned, the practical application of Sony micro-single focusing system.

(1) Keep the shooting mode of AF-C files for a long time.

Although there are many focusing methods, AF-C is the most practical and suitable for a large number of shooting occasions. Whether shooting still life, posing or dynamic snapshot. AF-C can do almost anything. Some models, such as A9, have better low-light focusing ability in some extreme cases. When AF-S can't focus, AF-C can still work. The most important thing is that even AF-C has the same focusing accuracy as AF-S on Sony micro-single ... So AF-C has strong applicability and is in gear. Of course, this does not mean that other gears are useless. For example, the manual focus lens must use Mf. The macro theme is that AF-S is more efficient and dmf is more accurate. AF-A is very useful for posing.

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(2) The setting is reasonable, and the four focus areas can be quickly switched.

They are all in the six focus areas of Sony micro-single, and none of them is omnipotent. Therefore, according to the actual shooting needs, it is the most common practice to constantly change the focus area. If the menu is modified frequently, the efficiency will be too low, which will also affect the shooting experience. However, if eye-controlled AF and touch focus are combined, there are actually four ways to quickly switch the focus area. For example, I often set it like this: wide area (current setting), area (registered area), eye control AF (custom key AEL) and free point (touch). You don't need to be close to the menu, and you can switch (touch) with one button, which is super convenient and meets almost all shooting needs.

6. Conclusion

The above is the author's experience in using Sony micro-single in recent years, especially the fast switching of four focus areas, which is my magic skill at the bottom of the box and I will share it with you. But if we can help you, fully squeeze the performance of Sony micro-single, and make the best use of it, it is also a merit. Of course, I prefer that everyone put their own? Dry goods? Share, * * * has made progress! Besides, my personal ability is limited. If there are any mistakes in the article, please comment and correct them! In addition, the experience in this paper is mainly based on A7M3, A7R3 and A9. Other models may have some missing functions. For more information about Sony Micro Single A7R3, you can click to read the original!