nannyg wrote:
hi hoggies
anybody have thoughts on best focusing with the sony a7r2? i'm an amateur+ and the focusing piece seems overwhelming with this camera. just leave on auto focus? what focus areas? the pac man dialing for specific manual focus seems a bit tedious. any advice as a to where to start and build from there? thank you and please be kind!
Hi nannyg,
Here are my experiences with this camera. I've been using the a7ii for a couple of years now, since it was first released. I use center-weighted focus about 70-80% of the time. Other times, I'll use spot when I want to focus on something small and specific. I very very seldom use automatic because I'm never sure what it decides to focus on. I had way too many throw aways using automatic focus.
I've moved the focus control from the shutter release button to the AEL button on the back of the camera, i.e. back-button focus. I find this to be much better for me for focus control. Just my preference.
For static scenes, I find that setting focus mode to AF-S is generally more than adequate. I select my subject in the VF, press the back focus button once and shoot away without the camera refocus between each shot. For moving scenes, I set focus mode to AF-C. As I hold the back button down with my thumb, the camera continually refocuses on whatever is in my focusing area, then press the shutter button when I'm ready to shoot.
If I'm on a tripod, then I'll used manual focus to guarantee what the camera is focusing on. The 10x focus assist feature allows me very precise control of my focus point.
To quickly change between focus mode and other routinely used functions, I press the FN button just above the rotary dial on the camera back. It brings up a quick select menu, that allows me to quickly and easily change between shooting modes. It's easy to customize this menu to suit your specific needs and shooting style.
As with any system, photography or not, it takes practice. Eventually it just becomes muscle memory and you no longer even think about it. Everything becomes automatic. Kind of like learning to drive. When I first started, I had to concentrate and think about everything I did. Later, everything became automatic to the point that I would drive back and forth between work, many times not even remember the driving part of the trip.
Hope this helps and good luck with learning your system.
Mike