Two silly questions

[Tinopener]

Hi all this question goes to Mr Tim Mayo I have just discovered you on you tube and have just watched your first video on how to set up the duel card slot and fingers crossed I have set it up correctly .. Question when you delete a photo does it delete both .. Also watched your video comparing the Sony 70-200 and 100-400 when you focused on the birds did you half press the shutter button to focus or did it focus on its own .. The reason I ask is my set up Sony A911 with Sony 200-600 lens and I have to half press the shutter button to focus just wondered if I have the lens and camera set up correctly .. Look forward to watching the other videos PS if any body else would like to answer these questions feel free to do so ...... Thank you

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Calling @Tim Mayo

 

[Alan Clark]

When you delete a photo it deletes it from the main card, but does NOT delete it from the other. If you store each image on both cards as insurance you do not want to delete both copies if you delete one by mistake.

 

[AlphaWorld]

Hi all this question goes to Mr Tim Mayo I have just discovered you on you tube and have just watched your first video on how to set up the duel card slot and fingers crossed I have set it up correctly .. Question when you delete a photo does it delete both .. Also watched your video comparing the Sony 70-200 and 100-400 when you focused on the birds did you half press the shutter button to focus or did it focus on its own .. The reason I ask is my set up Sony A911 with Sony 200-600 lens and I have to half press the shutter button to focus just wondered if I have the lens and camera set up correctly .. Look forward to watching the other videos PS if any body else would like to answer these questions feel free to do so ...... Thank you

You always have to initiate the focus - half press the shutter button, or press AF On, or define another button to do it. So no, you have not missed something.

The rationale is that focusing consumes quite a bit of power, and you don’t want the camera consuming that power while you are trudging from one viewpoint to another.

 

[Tinopener]

When you delete a photo it deletes it from the main card, but does NOT delete it from the other. If you store each image on both cards as insurance you do not want to delete both copies if you delete one by mistake.

Thank you

 

[Tinopener]

You always have to initiate the focus - half press the shutter button, or press AF On, or define another button to do it. So no, you have not missed something.

The rationale is that focusing consumes quite a bit of power, and you don’t want the camera consuming that power while you are trudging from one viewpoint to another.

Thank you

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

You always have to initiate the focus - half press the shutter button, or press AF On, or define another button to do it. So no, you have not missed something.

What do you make of Pre-AF which seems to suggest an ability to be attempting focus just about all the time?

I have it turned on (A7iv) but it doesn't seem to much if anything.

I do agree that if it did actually try to focus continually, it would cost a lot of battery capacity. But then, sometimes I spend long minutes with the shutter half pressed.

 

[AlphaWorld]

What do you make of Pre-AF which seems to suggest an ability to be attempting focus just about all the time?

I have it turned on (A7iv) but it doesn't seem to much if anything.

I do agree that if it did actually try to focus continually, it would cost a lot of battery capacity. But then, sometimes I spend long minutes with the shutter half pressed.

I’ve never turned it on - I’d like to know what it’s supposed to do first

At least you are choosing to do that And if you are anything like me, it may seem like a long time, but it’s probably a lot less than the time you spend not (deliberately) pressing a button.

 

[Richard A]

My Sony RX100M3 has Pre-AF. I found it to be very annoying and have turned it off.

Just had a look at the online guide for my a7RV. It also has this feature but I have never tried it on this camera.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I’ve never turned it on - I’d like to know what it’s supposed to do first

Menu item details
On:
Adjusts focus before you press the shutter button halfway down.
Off:
Does not adjust focus before you press the shutter button halfway down.

Will that do you? lol.

David Busch seems to confirm that it does do what, literally, we might expect from the above description, but that (a7iv) it can be slow to respond, especially in low light. I don't see it even making much of an effort. Maybe it's one corner of Sony's AF technology that is, perhaps, a bit dud.

I'll turn it off and see if I miss it. I hadn't even thought about it until this thread, and the question about focussing without pressing a button first.

 

[AlphaWorld]

Will that do you? lol.

David Busch seems to confirm that it does do what, literally, we might expect from the above description, but that (a7iv) it can be slow to respond, especially in low light. I don't see it even making much of an effort. Maybe it's one corner of Sony's AF technology that is, perhaps, a bit dud.

I'll turn it off and see if I miss it. I hadn't even thought about it until this thread, and the question about focussing without pressing a button first.

I'll be interested to hear if you notice the battery lasting longer with it off.

I wonder if there's a somewhat more detailed explanation of what it's supposed to do. I can picture it trying to focus on my feet as I walk from one picture taking spot to another., and then annoying me because it has moved the point of focus to minimum focus distance

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I'll be interested to hear if you notice the battery lasting longer with it off.

I didn't get around to turning it off. I did get around to testing it again, and, after a fashion, it does work!

did you half press the shutter button to focus or did it focus on its own

The "Pre-AF" menu item does cause the camera to focus on it's own. To a point, and if you are prepared to wait.

It has been turned on in my camera (a7iv) but, as I said, I hadn't observed such a benefit actually happening. This evening, I pointed the camera at an out-of-focus face. The viewfinder is showing, with a rectangle, that the face is recognised as a face. After three or four seconds, biff!, the face comes into focus. I moved the camera from face to face, and each time (excepting when it got stuck on one face and wouldn't recognise another nearby one) the camera focused on that face. Each time, it took from one to several seconds to do so. And it is giving face rectangle: one has to press the shutter half way to refine that to eye focus. With the half-shutter press, you'd be right there, focussed, long before this pre-AF had even started to work.

Back to the question: can the camera focus on its own?

Answer: Yes.

But not, according to me, in a way that is much use. But there is probably someone, somewhere, who does find it useful.

Thanks for sparking my curiosity on this one. With a new camera (about 8 months old) one activated menu entries just because they seem like a good idea. I did, and then forgot about it.

 

[AlphaWorld]

I didn't get around to turning it off. I did get around to testing it again, and, after a fashion, it does work!



The "Pre-AF" menu item does cause the camera to focus on it's own. To a point, and if you are prepared to wait.

It has been turned on in my camera (a7iv) but, as I said, I hadn't observed such a benefit actually happening. This evening, I pointed the camera at an out-of-focus face. The viewfinder is showing, with a rectangle, that the face is recognised as a face. After three or four seconds, biff!, the face comes into focus. I moved the camera from face to face, and each time (excepting when it got stuck on one face and wouldn't recognise another nearby one) the camera focused on that face. Each time, it took from one to several seconds to do so. And it is giving face rectangle: one has to press the shutter half way to refine that to eye focus. With the half-shutter press, you'd be right there, focussed, long before this pre-AF had even started to work.

Back to the question: can the camera focus on its own?

Answer: Yes.

But not, according to me, in a way that is much use. But there is probably someone, somewhere, who does find it useful.

Thanks for sparking my curiosity on this one. With a new camera (about 8 months old) one activated menu entries just because they seem like a good idea. I did, and then forgot about it.

Sounds like they are doing it in a way which is conserving battery power. That was my main concern. However, I tend not to point my camera at my subject without pressing a button :-D Sounds like it might conceivably be useful if you put the camera on a tripod.

Thank you for the information!

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Sounds like they are doing it in a way which is conserving battery power.

Yes! It isn't trying to get focus all the time. That would be very wasteful. I don't know how clever they have been with the delay: it might be why I see it sometimes working quicker. Something it is understanding as "he's actually taking a pic here, lets get sensitive."

Who knows!

I do spend long minutes with the shutter button half pressed and the camera tracking an eye. Waiting for the moment. But I think that needs to be button controlled.