Mirrorless focus issues

[ruley74]

Haha... more funny comments on this topic... just learnt the camera, it's not a bug... etc.

Yes it is, the point is you shouldn't have to work around it at this point, and it's something that needs attention within the MILC AF system... I know it pisses me off to no end, when you have a second for a shot and it does it you haven't always got time for the workaround.

Overall the advantages are awesome but this trait really is frustrating and i get why it's a topic for him and many others.

 

[sh1209]

I have had this camera out every day since I’ve owned it and have spent 150-200 hours with it. I can tell you for certain, I still continually have to grab the focus ring on the 500pf whenever shooting small birds with any distractions in the foreground or background. Same with birds in flight. If you’re tracking a bird big or small in flight and transition to a cluttered background it loses it frequently. Just two days ago I had a warbler no more than 15 to 20 feet from me on a stick with a busy background and it would not lock onto the bird no matter what I did. This camera is immensely improved over the other Z cameras but there is plenty room for improvement via firmware updates. It seems a tiny bit better with native glass but still wants it lock onto something behind the bird or in front of the bird it is not going to re acquire Focus until you manually focus the lens.

 

[LTK]

really wish Sony would add option of customising a button to close focus recall or allowing DMF to the 200-600

 

[JDG Photo]

DSLR camaras do this too.

 

[arbitrage]

DSLR camaras do this too.

Yes, but to way less of an extent. Still I remember having more significant issues with this with my 300PF lens and with my Canon system you had to make sure you changed the setting for "Lens drive when AF impossible" to ON.

As I understand things the PDAF sensor of a DSLR that resides down under the mirror "sees" the scene at around f/22 or so. Where as these MILCs are seeing it at our shooting aperture or possibly always wide open. I'm unsure exactly.

Even though this is certainly an issue in certain situations, I've also found times where this "feature" is useful because you can actually benefit from the camera ignoring foreground distractions when the bird is being tracked.

 

[Strodav]

...

As I understand things the PDAF sensor of a DSLR that resides down under the mirror "sees" the scene at around f/22 or so. Where as these MILCs are seeing it at our shooting aperture or possibly always wide open. I'm unsure exactly.

...

Steve covers the dslr PDAF system in his book "Secrets to the Nikon Auto Focus System" in the Chapter "How your autofocus system thinks". Above the PDAF sensor are 2 microlenses that receive light at the widest aperture of the lens. On my D850 and D500 PDAF stills functions at f/8, say a f5.6 lens with 1.4x teleconverter. At smaller apertures the microlenses are obscured by the edge of the lens exit pupil and no longer function.

 

[ruley74]

DSLR camaras do this too.

Agree, however only every now... and then but when you pump the AF you can get it back pretty quickly when it occurs.

 

[dwillar]

I solved this problem for me for a while at least. I cancelled my Z9 order this morning and ordered a Nikon 500 PF for my D850. It has already shipped and should be here Thursday. By the time I have recouped my mad money account maybe Nikon Z9's will be available to normal people and maybe the mirror less industry will have a mirror less camera that has a working AF system. My DSLR is far from dead and shows no sign of imminent demise in the near future. I need to shoot pictures with reliable gear that functions for what I like to shoot and step away from the madness of the mirror less world until it can actually add value to my hobby!

 

[fsi22]

I wonder if the new OM-1 resolves the issue with its quad pixel AF. It’s the only area mirrorless AF is still inferior to DSLR but it’s usually a minor issue.

The E-M1 iii / X don’t do it. It was the one area where the E-M1 series blows the A1 away, particularly low contrast in close up situations.

Olympus uses a scan setting that will scan a few times and lock on. The A1 locks on the background or gives up after a few seconds.

The OM-1 scanning works differently to the E-M1 series. The E-M1 series is 3 scans, the new OM only does 1 scan. How that will affect close up, I’ll know in two weeks.