Video - Our SLT/mirrorless experiences

stiuskr wrote: (no more than 60p and less is better)

Yes 120p disengages face detection, and although tracking still works, it is compromised when using wide AF and letting the camera pick the object. Better to use specified AF point when shooting 120p. Still pretty good on a99II though, on which I can't see any difference in face detection performance between 24, 30, and 60p. And 120p works great with specified AF point.

Yes I use the technology. But only for moving subjects, or when camera is moving along with subject. This short reel clip Is combination AF/MF. Should be obvious which shots benefit from it and which shots it is completely unnecessary.

Edited by Photosopher - 15 March 2019 at 21:33

Excuse me if the question has been asked and answered, but what lens are you using?

That's right, I remember now. And I believe you stated that you were shooting it at f4... Is that correct?

If so, I suggest the only thing that accomplished was to cripple your AF system by one f-stop. The depth of field difference between f2.8 and f4 will be negligible. And shooting crop mode makes up for that d.o.f. difference anyway. E-Mount AF tracking benefits greatly when used wide open.

Also, check your AF menu options for stickiness. Set to "Locked On" rather than normal or responsive. This will help camera stay on target without jumping to background or hands so quickly.

Otherwise, turn on focus peaking (try medium), get a good set of reader glasses, and practice some manual focus.

Consider that it is much much much much more acceptable for a subject to be seen moving out of focus plane a bit (here and there) than it is for any clip to show focus hunting from automation. Tell your talent to get comfortable in the position they will be speaking from, and not move around while talking. That's not an unreasonable request. Not only is it better for the focus plane, but it's more aesthetically pleasing to the viewer to have the speaker hold still.

jkp1 wrote: I guess this hunting have nothing to do w face detection or not. Seen the issue in other scenes as well...

It's a compound. It shares a piece of the pie simply by taking more processing power. But so does light, camera generation, AF tech, lens choice, and probably even how well the subject matches Sony's perfect face detection algorithm. My ex-wife looked less than human in the morning. Face detection didn't work very well on her.

Now here is an interesting contribution to the on-going discussion about face detection autofocus, and how it is effected by using other in-camera focus aids and/or external hdmi monitor.