Sony FE 70-200 MM G F/4 OSS Lens not focusing at minimum focus distance

[mhoal]

I am shooting on an A7IV body and both firmware on the lens and body are up to date. The minimum focus distance per Sony is 3.28 ft at 70 mm. To get the lens to focus I need to be at a distance of about 10 ft from the subject. I don't recall having this issue on my previous A7iii body with the same lens. Has anyone else experienced this? I've searched online and can't find anyone else experiencing this. Any info is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Which focus mode are you using? Also, have you checked you haven't clicked the focus limiter on?

 

[mhoal]

Hi Kevriano. Thanks for the reply. I am shooting in Continuous AF. You bring up a good point with the focus limiter. I haven't changed any of the settings here so the default setting show everything with a check mark. I'll have to play around with this to understand it a bit more. Thanks again.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Hi Kevriano. Thanks for the reply. I am shooting in Continuous AF. You bring up a good point with the focus limiter. I haven't changed any of the settings here so the default setting show everything with a check mark. I'll have to play around with this to understand it a bit more. Thanks again.

By focus mode I meant centre, zone, wide etc., and the lens has a focus limiter switch on the side, which may have got knocked.

 

[mhoal]

Very helpful info. Thanks again. I was shooting in Wide. I'll check out the switch on the lens when I get home.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

If you are shooting in wide you need to ensure your subject is at viewfinder center and in front of anything else in the viewfinder otherwise if you have artifacts at the viewfinder periphery you may be picking up focus on these......the Sony focus system is very good but you need to understand the algorithms for each area shooting mode......maybe this is the source of your problem....

if you have a cluttered viewfinder shot it would be wise to set up individual button control of Zone shooting(smaller than wide area) or even expanded spot ........this avoids inadvertant focus outside of your intended subject....just a thought.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

What Ray said is why I asked. I use single centre for everything like this.

 

[spudhead]

Very helpful info. Thanks again. I was shooting in Wide. I'll check out the switch on the lens when I get home.

wide is difficult because basically the camera does not know what you want to focus on

 

[mhoal]

The culprit was the focus limiter switch on the lens. It must have been bumped like Kevriano had said. Thanks everyone for the help.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Glad it's sorted.