Sony A7 IV manual focus distance

Peter C.

Peter C.

Veteran
I came up with an instance tonight where I wanted manual focus by distance but I could figure out how to display the distance the camera is focusing on the display. Does anyone know if you can do this? My camcorders when I change to manual focus I can see the focus distance displayed on the overlay. So if I'm doing interview I can glance up and see I'm focused at 5ft away.
 
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I do this, you already know the answer. Set focus on an object at the desired distance. It's an interesting question because with BMD cameras with EF lenses, the focus distance is embedded in the shot metadata but not reported live.
 
Peter C. said:
I came up with an instance tonight where I wanted manual focus by distance but I could figure out how to display the distance the camera is focusing on the display. Does anyone know if you can do this? My camcorders when I change to manual focus I can see the focus distance displayed on the overlay. So if I'm doing interview I can glance up and see I'm focused at 5ft away.
Click to expand...

On the A7iv, only available in stills mode. And then it disappears after a couple of seconds. Shame! I'm using that weird Focus Map thing more than I expected. Have it programmed to a button. Once I got used to it, I found it a quick way to chase the focus plane in MF or AF mode.

Chris Young
 
Thanks I started to get the feeling it can’t display focus distance when I googled it and couldn’t find anything. In camcorders there is a menu section where you can choose what info is displayed on the overlay, I don’t see such a thing in the A74.

I was filming a dance performance in a shallow dimly lit room. I was using A74 with a wide zoom to get the entire width. I put a target in the center, with the camcorder zoomed in and set focus (discovering its 15’ away). When I tried to do the same with the A74 because I couldn’t zoom close enough to the target to see if it was in focus. I tried the focus mapping but in a low light/contrast there is nothing for it to highlight. All I needed to be in the ballpark but I have no idea how far I’m focused on. When I got back home it turned out ok but it’s annoying there is no way to know this. There is also no markings on the lens. I often like to make notes of venues I’ve filmed in and one detail I always note is distance to the center of the stage that way I can verify it’s been set correctly.
 
I hear you n the wide lens focusing thing in low light. I'll often use the Zoom Magnifier set to 4x or a combination of the 1.5 crop mode to jump in along with the Clear Image Zoom to confirm my focus. With concerts, I tend to shoot them at 50p 4K which means using the crop mode on the A7iv. I use the A7iv as a locked wide.

In those situations, a lens that has never developed much of a following and that now has many with an FX30 plugging it as the "must have" zoom for that camera is the ageing G Series Sony 18-105mm f/4 OSS. It works very well on the A7iv in crop. It has OSS, is parfocal and has a servo. Great to zoom in and manually focus, knowing that you can zoom back out and maintain that focus. I use it in conjunction with Sony's RM-VPR1 mounted on the pan bar of my close camera. This allows me to stop / start and reframe the zoom if necessary on the A7iv. I have a couple of these and again and again find myself using them in various situations. Good ones can be purchased as cheap as chips. Here is one up used against its bigger brother that costs over six times the price.

Chris Young

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d-w...ew?usp=sharing

Watch this in 4K. Shot with the 18-105 mm

 
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I filmed a second night and I still struggle with manual focus.

How do you easily set the camera to manually focus? There’s a button labeled AF/MF naturally I thought that would switch it between the two modes but now I’m reading the button must be held down continuously to keep it manually focus.

In addition is there any clear indication on the display overlay telling you you’re in autofocus or manually focus? I know there is tracking icon that you switch by using the touch screen but does that stop it from auto focusing.

I eventually went into the menu and found a manual focus setting but wow for something so simple and fundamental they make it very complicated.

Up until now I’ve always used auto focus to film hand held doc work and interviews. I’m going to need to reread the manual, watch some videos on the subject and write notes so when I run into this type of work I’ll know what to do. These cameras can make things really complicated.
 
It's not complicated, but not knowing/learning could make it a nightmare.

There are three main ways (or sometimes more) to switch between manual focus and AF on modern mirrorless'.

(1) Most common and the best - program a button to "toggle" between MF/AF (the center button near the directional pad is one of the best for the thumb)
(2) Switch the lens to MF if it has a switch
(3) Turn off AF in the menu or turn on/switch to MF in the AF/general focus menu (if that makes sense)

There is an overlay on some cameras that says MF when the camera is in manual focus, or any focus box indicator is either not present or grayed out.

This is how 30+ different cameras I've used in the last 10 years operate.
 
NorBro said:
It's not complicated, but not knowing/learning could make it a nightmare.

There are three main ways (or sometimes more) to switch between manual focus and AF on modern mirrorless'.

(1) Most common and the best - program a button to "toggle" between MF/AF (the center button near the directional pad is one of the best for the thumb)
(2) Switch the lens to MF if it has a switch
(3) Turn off AF in the menu or turn on/switch to MF in the AF/general focus menu (if that makes sense)

There is an overlay on some cameras that says MF when the camera is in manual focus, or any focus box indicator is either not present or grayed out.

This is how 30+ different cameras I've used in the last 10 years operate.
Click to expand...

I ended up changing it in the menu. For some reason at the time of the performance when I was trying to use the af/mf button it wasn't working and it was grayed out in the shortcut menu. I'm looking now at the camera and I do see an overlay that indicates AF-C or MF. Also the AF/MF dedicated button seems to be working as intended. Maybe it was user error or I was in some sort of mode the prevented me from changing it.
 
To overcome the MF focusing issues I had, I've set mine up as follows, and so far so good. You may want to experiment. You may also hate this setup :)

Under the Focus> AF/MF menu, page 20/51, I have AF Assist set to ON. This allows manual focus override of the AF mode should it be needed.

Under Setup> Operation Customise, page 41/51 Under (movie camera icon) Custom Key / Dial Set you can move to the next menu down which is Custom Key/Dial Set page 1/5 - Rear 1. In that Rear 1 menu, I have #4, which is the C3 button top left set to AF/MF Selector Toggle. This allows you to toggle between AF-C and MF.

On the same page, I have #2 set to Follow Custom, that's the entry with the little icon of a still camera in brackets next to it. This is the AF-ON button above the joystick.

If I have the C3 button selected to MF and press the AF-ON button, it will go into a momentary AF-S mode whilst depressed. The AF-S icon is displayed on the screen. Once you have your target in focus, release that button and the focus is now locked to that point and the focus icon will on your screen will now revert to MF.

I use this AF-ON button's momentary focusing most of the time now when I want quick focusing and want it to hold on that focus point. I found this MF with momentary focusing setup to be much faster to grab a focus point than trying to manually focus most of Sony's fly-by-wire lenses.

Quite a different focusing experience though with Sony's 28-135 and 18-110 zoom lenses. With those I can happily use manual focus quickly and accurately as they offer much greater focusing precision with their proper focus rings. Plus, they can be used with hard stops either end of the focus travel if the full MF setting is selected on the push/pull focus ring selector.

Chris Young
 
Shooting my canon mirrorless.. ive discovered you need a switch on the lens.. or it will be the menu dig from hell to get MF.

Shooting the recent feature on sony to get manual focus I put on a manual lens!

Dont laugh - a 20 2.8 manual could be your 'wide from the back' lens - it is for me.

---

Ive shot some venues and with various $10 adapters im not sure that one can get infinity focus. I would say it is well worth a test in your street to find where 20foot is and put a mark on the lens.

Ill test/try a setup at home focussed at 5 foot and it looks like honey then I go to the gig and realise I have no idea if Im focussed at 15 or 50 feet.
 
cyvideo said:
To overcome the MF focusing issues I had, I've set mine up as follows, and so far so good. You may want to experiment. You may also hate this setup :)

Under the Focus> AF/MF menu, page 20/51, I have AF Assist set to ON. This allows manual focus override of the AF mode should it be needed.

Under Setup> Operation Customise, page 41/51 Under (movie camera icon) Custom Key / Dial Set you can move to the next menu down which is Custom Key/Dial Set page 1/5 - Rear 1. In that Rear 1 menu, I have #4, which is the C3 button top left set to AF/MF Selector Toggle. This allows you to toggle between AF-C and MF.

On the same page, I have #2 set to Follow Custom, that's the entry with the little icon of a still camera in brackets next to it. This is the AF-ON button above the joystick.

If I have the C3 button selected to MF and press the AF-ON button, it will go into a momentary AF-S mode whilst depressed. The AF-S icon is displayed on the screen. Once you have your target in focus, release that button and the focus is now locked to that point and the focus icon will on your screen will now revert to MF.

I use this AF-ON button's momentary focusing most of the time now when I want quick focusing and want it to hold on that focus point. I found this MF with momentary focusing setup to be much faster to grab a focus point than trying to manually focus most of Sony's fly-by-wire lenses.

Quite a different focusing experience though with Sony's 28-135 and 18-110 zoom lenses. With those I can happily use manual focus quickly and accurately as they offer much greater focusing precision with their proper focus rings. Plus, they can be used with hard stops either end of the focus travel if the full MF setting is selected on the push/pull focus ring selector.

Chris Young
Click to expand...
Thx. I'll have to check out that setup. I mapped the custom buttons according to Matt Johnson recommendations and for the most part they worked good. Part of this issue is I usually don't use the mirrorless for stage shows and I don't use the camera regularly enough so when I do use it with a camcorder it's a bit of a shock how unintuitive it can be in-comparison. After a couple of months I've forgotten what it can't do or what custom buttons are mapped to and why they're set up that way.
 
I have owned the 18-105 twice and both times sold it as fast as I could get it out of my hands. I found the manual focus just impossible with the lens. Yes, it has good sharpness and rendering and yes, it has OSS, but I couldn't manually focus the thing and just hated to use it. I bought its big brother and couldn't have been happier. Now that I own an A7iv, I make use of the 18-110 from time to time. It is very fast on the A7iv and is a joy to use.
 
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