How To Master Sony’s Video Autofocus - Part 2
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- Part 2 of my Sony Video Autofocus Masterclass made for Sony Alpha Academy.
Join here for free: www.sony.co.uk...
This covers all forms of tracking and much more...make sure you watch part 1 first, it's very important that you do!
Part 1: • How To Master Sony’s V...
The settings files are at gopb.co/sonyafs...
Sony A7 IV: gopb.co/a7iv
Sony A7S III: gopb.co/a7siii
Sony Alpha 1: gopb.co/sonya1
Sony FX6: gopb.co/fx6
Sony 35mm F1.8: bhpho.to/2TLWUmg
Sony 35mm F1.4 GM: gopb.co/35mmgm
Sony 50mm F1.2 GM: gopb.co/sony50...
Sony 70-200mm F2.8 GM V2: gopb.co/sony702...
this video is a masterpiece. wow. THANK YOU!
Mr. Bloom started it all for me here on YT. The reviews, the calming voice, honest camera critiques, excellent shots. Thanks for the all the inspiration Phillip.
So happy this is on UA-cam 🎉 Just yesterday I was watching on the Sony site, but the lack of transport controls in their player is maddening. I accidentally closed it half way through and as a result had to watch from the start just to get to where I was up to. An absolutely brilliant guide. Thanks Philip.
Thanks for this, Philip!
Ironically, auto focus has become an art unto itself.
Ì work in a camera store and I regularly refer customers to your videos for advice on drones en Sony cameras. Your channel is one of those highly educating channels that makes UA-cam a better place!
Thanks :)
Such beautifully & detailed explaination, i hope this reaches to people who are finding video focus hard in their initial career, Much love :)
Thank you! :)
Thanks a lot for this video!
Great tutorial! Thanks!
I love the FX6 and FX3 eye autofocus, but we have noticed recently that it does not work reliably when there's more than one person in the frame. Anyone else noticed that? Even though the screen shows that the autofocus is locked on one person's eye (and AF subject shift setting is set to "1" which is most locked-on), it always "pumps". It does not do this with only one person in frame. Please help!
Thank you Philip. Your A7S settings seminar got me started 7 or 8 years ago. Your time and effort on your videos is incredibly appreciated!
Much appreciated your time and efforts you put into this lesson. The narrative, the storytelling speed with real life examples - everything was brilliant and absolutely worth watching to the very end. Will be reviewing my camera settings one more time tomorrow morning!
Thank you very much, Sir! God bless you!
4:13 to recap:
I have to switch focus modes in the quick menu to be able to use the selector hold. When i switch focus modes over the af/mf button and then try to use selector hold it won’t work, right?
Fantastic masterclass! 💯 Watched and re-watched again and again since it came out. Beautifully put together and packed with great tips on Sony's autofocus system. Thanks @Philip Bloom
Hopping in late here, but really appreciate both of these videos, as someone trying to finally dip my toe into video on my A1. I have to be honest with you, I've watch the segment on AF/MF Hold (ending at 5:45) about 5 times, and I still cant figure out whether programming AF/MF hold to a button makes sense on an A1. No ability to change mode via FN menu, only via dial, so AF/MF hold is only useful as a temporary AF-C to MF button, but not as a temporary MF to AF-C button, unless you set dial to MF. What is the best way you suggest to get the full benefit of your Manual Autofocus setting on an A1?
Thanks for this! I'm especially enjoying 'manual auto focus' .... 👍🏼📷
Instructions misunderstood. Tried it on my Panasonic S5 and it wouldn't stop focusing on the background!
In all seriousness great guide and I will be sure to try what I can of this on my older A7RIV camera. Sony auto focus is magical if mastered!
The auto focus can be a challenge, your videos clear up the most of the issues I have while shooting with the A7S3 ... Thanks Again ,,,
Mr Bloom, this was really helpful and well explained! Can’t wait for another brilliant video episode. Thank you
Thank you for the guide, Philip!
Did you receive any response about Focus breathing compensation and animal eye AF still missing on the A1?
Note that the a7RV doesn't have "Face/Eye Prior in AF", instead it's called "Subject Recog in AF". It's essentially the same concept, just a different name. It was confusing me to no end. I just wanted to mention it, hopefully it helps someone.
what focus speed and sensitivity would be very good for filmmaking? Focus Racking is no problem it's just the focus for me, I sometimes have jumpy/stuttery focus which doesn't look professional.. ^^ (I currently have a Sony ZV-E1 coming from an A6400 so it's a huge difference for me atm.)
If it was a simple as that I wouldn’t have a 2 part masterclass!
@@philipbloom I really liked the 2 part focus video's they are really awesome and I really learned a lot!
Don't know how I didn't find you a lot earlier.. but I subbed now! 🔥👏🏻
@@SianCKB welcome! Have fun with the zv-e1. It’s very powerful. If I get a chance I will make a settings file for that too.
@@philipbloom would love that! 🔥
awesome, lots of great info. Was that a true split diopter scene with all the tree tests with Sarah?
Thank you. Yes it was.
Thanks a lot for this! I'm taking out my FX3 in the most run'n'gun situation yet, it will definitely be a shot saver to master the autofocus! I have been using a a6400 on some live show filming before buying the FX3 and my setup was a simple AF-C On button with the speed/sensitivity close at hand. Keeping it pressed when tracking a subject and releasing it (MF) when setting up an easier shot.
And also, how bad can this coffee be hahaha 10:25
Will you be reviewing the Panasonic GH5II?
These two videos were so helpful! I can’t believe the mistakes I was making - thank you! Love seeing the cats and their beautiful lives. Well done across the board! Thank you.
Thank you for the kind words, much appreciated. That you’ve benefitted from this is why I made them, it took me so long to understand why things happened and once I finally figured it out it was such a relief! Sony themselves didn’t know because there are so many variables and filming situations that they couldn’t foresee.
Thanks Philip, another invaluable video. Quick question. I mainly use the EVF on my A7SIII and I noticed a difference in the colours of the face detection frame when compared to the Viewfinder. While looking through the EVF, when the camera detects a face the detection frame is black. When the camera determines that autofocus is enabled the detection frame turns grey. Is this correct or am I doing something wrong?
Hey im new to your channel i googled best filmmaker isaw your name first above peter mackonon so I am here.....hope it's worth
Thank you for some level of understanding on this complicated process
What would you recommend to set the auto focus to on sensitivity and speed when recording fight choreography of five people in the shot ?🤔
This series proves that AF in video is not cheating or a cop out when it comes to cinematography. Mastering AF is a skill all in its own.
But the keyboard warriors (that never post any of their OWN work) on DPReview will keep telling us "Pros only use manual focus!" So, it doesn't matter how good any AF system is. The anonymous internet people know best, apparently. ;-)
I know, amateurs are cool though! 😂
Another impressive offering Mr. Bloom. Again, I can't thank you enough for the time and care you put into every review and tutorial. Thank you for being a reliable and honest source of information on this platform and an advocate for contentment creators.
Thank you 😊
Looking fit and suave with those glasses Mr Kent.
Philip, what AF setting you suggest for filming live sports like football? I'm going to film today and obviously will be playing with manual autofocus but curious to hear what your instinctual answer would be? Also, THANK you for this entire video. Just...wow.
Which camera and what lens?
@@philipbloom A1 w Tamron 35-150
@@AnthonyMichaelSneed I with the A1 had autofocus assist as that would help a lot. You aren’t going to be super close with that lens but I would go with face/ eye priority and be prepared to turn it off easily if needed and the same with AF. Keep the speed at 1 and have the sensitivity at 5. This way it will think about switching subjects if someone goes in front but the slow speed will stop it changing hopefully! Avoid having the speed faster than 1 as it good jump to the background.
I personally would be using the AF/ MF selector hold button, probably in manual focus so when you hold that button down AF will be on. It will be fiddly!
@@philipbloom thank you for much for taking the time to answer this question for me. I shot prior to your answer and undoubtedly had people passing in front of the focused subject which, at times, grabbed focus, but it wasn’t too bad and I got good practice with overriding AF to Manual.
Luckily, it was just a practice, so I’m going to take your notes and give that a go again in a few days.
Thank you so much for everything. Your videos are like mini-movies and raise the bar for what’s possible in so many ways.
Finally! I wanted to watch this part two since ever but could not access it via the Sony Academy Europe site as not based in Europe. All my thanks for the great work you do!
thank you for great info! i already changed my setting it is easier for filming
Sony autofocus is tight!
I just got my A7s III last week, this was really, really helpful Phillip! Thank you so much. I actually used the switch between AF and manual and thought I was the only one smart enough to do that lol. One question, will the lens be damaged if I switch between AF and Manual focus on the body instead of the lens or the other way? I am afraid to damage the motors on my new 24-70 GM II lens.
I got so inspired to test this autofocus more as you shared amazing tips here, and the production-value is extremely high! Too bad my A7s III had a dead pixel and are in for repair, only 1 week after I got it.
I kind of am afraid I choose the wrong camera for Auto Fcus as it is older than the new ones, what are your thoughts about that? Can you notice the difference or is the A7S III holding up?
the a7siii is still an amazing camera. Never use the AF/MF on the lens, do it on the body via a custom key!
@@philipbloom ok thank you for the answer, Phillip🙂
Looks very promising! Thank you for the effort you put into your videos!
I watch these two videos constantly..they have been a huge help to me..THANK YOU!!!
Welcome!
Thank you to Philip + Sony for sharing part 2 on UA-cam.
Why does my FX3 stay in MF when I am in AF-C after I touch the screen for a focus point? If is in AF on the lens aswell.
@@junglisttt how are you setting it to MF?
Please tell sarah we appreciate her help in making this video
Mo is wonderful.
She is forever in my heart.
thank you so much for putting this part 2 on youtube :)
I’m sorry to tell you, but your cats are the stars of your video. Thanks for the video.
Don’t need to tell me! That’s why they have their own successful channel! 🙂 @onemanfivecats
Thank you for uploading this to youtube for all the non UK people.
Thanks man. finally I will know what to do... good luck
Philip. As a part time solo documentary filmmaker and UA-cam content creator, which would you recommend, the FX6 or the FX3 for this? :) Thank you.
The FX6 is a superior camera. The internal variable ND alone is a huge bonus.
This is Philip by the way from my other channel.
You need to watch the review of the FX6 V2 firmware I made a year ago
@@OneManFiveCats hello Phillip, this is Peter Suwara, my other channel also. Thanks, I will check out your V2 review.
Amazing video on Sony AF.. pretty much the only video you need to watch from the only guy that truly knows about it.. maybe even better than the Sony people? Thanks so much Philip, you are a master of knowledge, kindness and mindfulness❤️❤️❤️
Thank you.
This is what I wish to see for the Xh2s... but the Sony af is the state of the Art I have to admit :-)
Thank you doctor Bloom.
Yo, are you gonna do a review on the new Panasonic S5 II?
Great video. Thanks a lot
10:30 shout out to the guy that was done with his coffee 😂
Bloom’s review and tutorial films are just phenomenal!
Thanks so much! That was brilliant. Despite using an FX6 for work, it was my personal A7 IV that brought me here, I can't believe how beneficial this has been for both of them! I was resistant to AF for a long time as it used to be wholly unreliable, but the latest generations has seen an enormous leap. I'm now confident that I will never again have to manually flick the AF/MF on the lens at the end of a walking/walk off PTC, so very appreciative!
Mr. Bloom, when you are on a tripod, do you turn off your camera IBIS? Thank you for the informative and insightful videos, as always.
You don’t need it on but you won’t get any negative impact from leaving it turns on
@@philipbloom ok thank you
A masterpiece focus video :) thanks for share, one question;I recently started to use A7IV. I am doing wildlife photography. When bird is in flight on clear sky( no background) wide AF-C is doing’s great job , in a few seconds detects and tracks by self, but Same setting for Video mode doesn’t do same job, it almost can’t find bird ( AF speed and sensitivity is at max), have any recommendations or optinion?
Thank you. Just starting my video journey having got to grips (almost) with stills. This pair of videos has opened my eyes to the new skills (and settings!) I’ll need to embrace. Great content and pace.
Oh Balls - I updated to Firmware 2.0 and it seems your settings files no longer work 😞- Help me OBWAN - Please upload new versions 😀
Nope! I hope you made a note of them! 😂
@@philipbloom It's okay I have you screen shots ... ha ha!
learn So much , thank you
Thanks for the great content and tricks. The Eye/face AF often needs too much time when a subject suddenly enters the frame to recognize it. As its a faster moving subject manuel AF is not possible. With Spot Focus area the composition would change. Any Tips?
Same if the subject is too far away so the subject recognition doesnt work anymore, the AF needs to long to reaquire the face/eye/subject even when its near enough (same as with your example and the tree). As I see the sonys doesnt have the option to set the focus area as AF Starting point, with sony the AF stops tracking when the subject leaves the focus area set.
Incredible video, blending experience with practical information. And so really calming to watch...Thank you so much for creating this masterpiece!
Can't thank you enough for this video!!!! I think you saved many many people hours and hours of work figuring out this system! And I love #ManualAutofocus!!! ;) Thanks again for all the sweat and hart work! Your videos are always a joy to watch and so helpful! :) Keep on the good work!!! Cheers from Germany. Vanessa.
Thank you for your wisdom
4:11 Come on Sony - surely this counts as a bug (it is certainly present in A7IV 1.11 firmware) that deserves to be fixed.
When is AF/MF Hold not AF/MF Hold?
When you have used AF/MF Toggle.
Yet, that is very much something you might want to do: switch from AF-C to MF using a custom button mid-shot or during shot setup, then temporarily re-engage AF-C mid-shot. You can't - and the only quick workaround is to sacrifice a precious Fn menu slot to quickly access a working version of a function you already have in a broken form on a custom button.
There’s loads of space in the fn menu for it, especially on the older cameras that don’t let you put in frame rates etc.
I wouldn’t call it a bug. It’s a quirk, one of many that the AF system has. You can always use the AF/MF toggle to engage/ re-engage during a shot :)
@@philipbloom Call it a quirk if you like, but the behaviour of AF/MF Selector Hold on top of AF/MF Selector Toggle is illogical, non-deterministic and a breach of the Principle of Least Astonishment. I can't think of any reason why you would want AF/MF Selector Hold to behave differently and in the way it does if you switched between AF-C and MF via AF/MF Selector Toggle compared to the entirely logical behaviour of Hold if the focus mode was selected via an Fn menu slot or the Focus Mode menu.
I would far rather the behaviour is the same following AF/MF Selector Toggle as it is following selection via the Fn menu or Focus Mode menu. That way, if I need to change focus mode quickly before a shot, I can press my Toggle custom button and still have my Hold button working as expected.
My primary body now is an A7IV, and I'm always fighting over what to put in the Fn menu. Wasting a slot on Focus Mode as a workaround for Sony's bug (my view)/quirk (your view) is an unnecessary limitation. A7IV is much more nimble than my A7III in a hybrid run and gun shoot with the hard still/movie/S+Q switch and three memory slots per mode, but full agility requires careful choice of custom buttons and Fn menu slots.
I realise that all you can do is explain the current behaviour. Thank you so much for this and the Part 1 video, which together are an excellent explanation of how to get the best of Sony's video autofocus. I'm just frustrated at the non-deterministic behaviour of the AF/MF Selector Hold button.
@@DavidWood2 Agree completely. Trying to get my mind around this took far more brain energy than it should, and that's because it's illogical.
Philip - Panasonic S5ii. Doing a review? I remember your GH2 days.
i don't have one.
I don't understand why they haven't borrowed you one for a month or two so you can test it if you wanted. The only reason I can think of is that Lumix isn't confident about their Autofocus on Cats lol.
I was recently watching your EVA1 review (from 5years ago?) and you said it's hard to work with a camera that doesn't have continuous autofocus after being used to work with it! Panasonic should have send you the S5 ii the day they had one available!
Thanks mate useful as.
HI Philip, thanks for always educating. Do you give one on one Training?
Yes I do. Head to my website for info.
@@philipbloom Did that already. It said noting about online one on one training. Considering we are in different countries.
20:07 pssst, Philip already testing the new Sony Alpha 0,5... 🤫 can't wait for it
This is incredible
Very informative, thanks.
super tuto. very helpful for a beginner on a74. I am interested in a7r5 and I would be interested to see similar videos using IA, pose recognition and new customer settings you do.
Thank you for this video Philip! a wonderful educational work. I'm having trouble loading the settings in to a new FX3, with Firmware 2.0 Is the instructions on the first video enough or are there other secret settings that one should be aware of when configuring the camera?
Thank you very much Phillip! This was extremely helpful. (with excellent sound mixing too)
Happy New Year Philip!
❤❤❤
Part 1 and part 2 are such great videos really helpful, thank you your very much appreciated
Philip you are the Man. Sony website was redirecting but your blog helped, Thanks for this masterclass .
Thank you so much for this extremely helpful tutorial which is the best out there on the Sony auto focus system!!!
This video is a masterclass, thanks Philip, I found a lot of tips too for my old a7iii
Dude, you could post a two hour video on the "off button" and I would drop everything to watch it.
Oh, nice! No need to watch it on the Sony site anymore! Thank you Philip, happy new year!
Happy and healthy 2023, and thanks for another great video!
Incredibly informative in a visually stunning way as always, thankyou sir!
Amazing video! Question - can you turn off face priority/eye AF while recording on the A7SIII? I see in this video you can on the A7IV but I've been dying to figure this out for my A7SIII because i can't do it while rolling!
Yes. Assign it to a custom button or the fn menu
I just tried that on my A7SIII but it doesn't allow me to disable/enable it while recording!@@philipbloom
I will need to check mine and get back to you.
I’ve just checked and no you can’t. Another tiny little thing they need to give it that all the cameras after it have. 🤷🏻
Thank you so much for your response! I'm a huge fan of your work. Really appreciate you getting back to me on this. Wish it was possible to turn it off/on while recording! @@philipbloom
Invaluable! Thanks Philip ❤ good to see you two together again!
Thank you for your dedication, Philip!
A fantastic guide to autofocus and more. Not only this one, but also the previous part is great. 🍻😀😉
By the way, I have a question.
Well, I have a problem maintaining focus when shooting a video with my Sony A7 III.
The same effect that can be seen in your video at 27min51sec
What I mean is that it tries to take a shot that starts very close to the subject and then zooms out and vice versa. I can't keep my subject in constant focus. The Sony A7III sharpens so that first there is sharpness, then blur for a moment and then sharpness again.
The only ways I manage to somewhat maintain focus, but with not entirely satisfactory results, are either
1. Slow motion movement my camera while recording with touch focusing and use a stabilizer
or
2. Setting a large depth of field.
However, I would like to record a video in 120 frames so that I can make a slowmo, which will stabilize the image even more and not have such a large depth of field.
When manually focusing, I can't do it well.
Is there any way to solve the problem of losing focus when moving away from/closer to the subject in the Sony A7III?
Can anyone help and advise me?
Thank you in advance and best regards.
Thank you. The problem you have is what I show at the timecode. The A7III uses the old system for AF and there’s no way round it.
Are you zooming during a shot though?
No I don't. So I only have to focusing it manually? Without follow focus, which I don't have, will it be damn difficult? @@philipbloom
@@VankillaVanil depends on the lens, the subject and distance. AF still works well. It’s just not that fast. Set it to honest sensitivity and play around with the speed.
@@philipbloom So what speed and sensitivity do you suggest for the beginning set in A7III, to record in focus subject like for example yoda from yours first video about focusing? The scenario and subject in my video will be similar
@@VankillaVanil you’ve got very few choices. Experiment! Depends on the lens. You won’t be able to get the same results as the more modern AF cameras.
Thank you for this informative YT... Any chance you will be adding the A7RV to an updated video focus Masterclass in the near future?
Thank you. No, there are no plans to update it. To be honest it’s much the same as the a7iv just with more subject recognition. Everything else is the same.
The shot at 0:20 always surprises me. What a beautiful work of art by such a humble human being.
This video came at the right time, I am struggling at an a7iv at the moment capturing content in an mma gym. Thank you for this
Thanks Philip to share with us your experiences, it is very very usefull in addition with our experiences. You are one of the best since longtime.
At exactly at 6:26 you say, "face eye tracking and ??? tracking". I can't make out ??? word. (Sounds a little like tars or cars.) Maybe one of the other people watching this video will understand it and clue me in.
Thanks for a great channel and sharing your skills and art with the world.
A bit farther down the video you spoke of "wide tracking." I think that's the word I missed and I didn't know that feature. (Haven't bought the camera yet.)
Did you try turning on the captions? :)
You couldn't understand me saying the word "touch"?
@@philipbloom Thank you for the quick response.
By the way are any of the Sony cameras that have come after the A7S III have comparability low light capability?
@@philipbloom Didn't think of that. Will next time. Peace, Rob:-]
Hi, how are you? Excellent channel. Do you know if there is a way to disable vertical video on the Sony FX3?Thank you
hi, nope
watched it in the academy after finally managed to register! glad is here
Very useful and eye opening. Thank you!
According to sony, the best way to master their autofocus is to make you buy a newer lesser camera.
Apart from AF assist the ability to control AF is the same on all the cameras since the a7siii