Sony Alpha 57 Manual

[Florian Peitz]

Problemis it seems there are only two choices: Manual OR Autofocus buttons on the lens., With some of my old lenses (Nikon), if I had it in autofocus, and then turned the manual dial I could jump to manual.

With this lens, with the selector switch set to Autofocus, if I want to change to Manual, it seems I have to take my eye away form the viewfinder, search for the Manual button and click that on. Is there no override on this lens?

And reading what you sent me got me to understand a lot more about focusing using this lens. Specifically about 'MF Assist (still image)' which was driving me crazy, but now I know how to turn it on or off!

I had this question too. It's very strange for sony not to hava any kind of manual override focusing. I was so used to use it on my Pentax system. Fortunately, Sony has a very good AF, but it would still be useful in cases where automatic AF struggles.

Regarding DMF mode? Sure, but it requires an extra action. Manual focus override is, in my opinion, useful in cases when you are in AF-C and an animal sneaks behind some branches or any other situation where you need to be quick.

NOTE: this was only on a handful of lenses UNTIL the A7RV, which supports Full-Time DMF on most lenses - so on the A7RV you enable it in the body, and most lenses allow the focus ring to override AF.

Tip 1: I can only recommend to assign the focus magnifier function to an easily accessible button. The default position is C1 but I find that button hard to reach. My choice is the AF/MF button.

Go to menu/ gear wheel/ 6 or 7 /Custom Key Settings/ AF/MF Button and select Focus Magnifier.

Tip 3: Top improve precision with focus peaking first try to get focus about right. Then focus a little back and forth and observe how the peaking color wanders. This will give you a better feel for the optimal focus position but it also slows operation down so you could use focus magnification right away.

If you want to focus fast and precise you can take advantage of a technical shortcoming of the electronic viewfinder (EVF). The camera does not use all the sensor information to generate the live-view image but it skips lines which results in the moir-effect which we can use to our advantage.

You can learn to use it like this: The sharper your lens, the easier it is to see. Any 1.4/50 at f/2 should make it easy to see. Pick a subject with fine structures with some contrast like print or a carpet. Hold your camera steady and slowly focus. Now you should see sharp parts of the image to flicker. Once you know what to look for it is easy to see with softer lenses and

I also find that for landscapes and nature images my results are more reliable than when I use AF and I enjoy the process more because it is me who is focusing, not the camera guessing were I want to focus.

Of course there are many situations were AF is superior. If you have a young child a a7III with a 2.8/24-70 is a much more handy tool than a manual focus prime. With some experience you should be able to capture friends and family with manual lenses.

If you want to explore manual lenses I would recommend you to start with a normal lens. Normal lenses can be used for a wide range of applications so when I decided to limit myself to only one lens for a whole month I decided to use a Minolta MC 1.7/55. Here is my selection of a three very different normal lenses you should consider to get started with manual lenses.

I like to recommend the Minolta 1.7/55 as first manual lens so well balanced and for me it stands for all the good qualities of legacy lenses. It is small yet very solid. It comes with a few optical compromises but these usually do not really affect the quality of your images. And last but not least it is dirt cheap at $20-30.

If you look for a set of lenses have a look at this article: A $400 lens kit for your Sony a7 series camera in which I present a very affordable set of manual lenses and a few alternatives.

It is priced very attractive and a good option if you are on a very tight budget. You will have to live with a few trade offs but overall it is still a very capable camera, especially with manual lenses. I used mine a lot for two years and still use it occasionally.

It has two design issues you should be aware of: The sensor is unusually reflective which can be a real issue for some applications and the mount can become loose which can be fixed by a replacement. For much more information check out my Sony a7 vs a7ii post.

If you have a not that tight budget the a7rII might be the camera for you. The a7rII uses a BSI 42mp sensor which allowed to increase the resolution and high ISO performance over the a7II at the same time. It is nicer to handle camera with some additional features like silent shooting with a better EVF compared to the a7II. If you intend to adapt rangefinder lenses (like Leica-M or Contax-G) this camera is your best bet. Take a look at this article for further information.

About $1100 used at ebay.com* or new at Amazon.com*

The Sony Alpha 7s is a specialist. It can be an exceptional tool if you are into video or do lots of high ISO work but for most users its 12 MP sensor will bring more disadvantages than advantages.

Or you might find that you enjoy working with manual lenses a lot. When I got my first Sony and discovered manual lenses, I found more joy in the process. That in turn improved my photography noticeably. Just like me you could find more enjoyment in photography and you could save a lot of money.

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For a f4 lens I would save the money and go for the Minolta 70-210 beer can and a la-ea4 adapter..f4 is not adequate for any serious indoor photography without a flash anyway and the adapter opens up all the a mount 2.8 glass with quick autofocus

If fast focus is your priority or you value exif information a lot that is a viable path.

Personally I would prefer a truly manual lens over a AF lens because of the process and also because a Minolta MD adapter is smaller and the available lenses cheaper

I have read several reports about bad quality control from Metabones and never about issues with Novoflex adapters and I am very happy with my own Novoflex adapters so I am a bit biased towards the Novoflex adapters. The Metabones mounting system seems to be better though.

I agree in general, but I DID have some reliability problems with both the III and the IV while shooting underwater, they would lose the lens from time to time, and opening the housing and reattaching the adapter is no real option there. No such problems with the MC-11.

Da dies meine einzige Canon FD-Linse ist, kann ich nun schlecht einschtzen ob es am Adapter liegt oder an der Linse. Daher meine Frage an Dich: Hast Du ggf. Erfahrung mit dieser Linse bzw. kannst Du (ggf. ganz allgemein) FD-Adapater empfehlen?

MF lenses are my favorites. I am also using LensTagger for updating exif info. Is there any way to automatically record aperture or you have to remember and update manually each photo using LensTagger?

I have just happened across your website after searching for manual focusing with Sony A7. I have read all your posts on the subject with great interest. My main reason for wanting to find out more about manual focusing on the A7 is because I have two legacy Nikon lenses that I still use on my film SLR. This are a 28mm 2.8 Ais and 105mm 2.5 AiS. I have bought myself a Fotodiox adaptor and have been practising manual focusing via the Peaking method and I have to say I am very hit and miss with regards to getting the main element of the image in focus.

So, I was very interested in two points you make in your blog post, one is the peaking sensitivity. I have it set on high sensitivity at the moment using the assumption that this is better, but you mention having it on low sensitivity. Should I set mine to low, and of yes why is that, is there a benefit to having it set to low?

the higher the peaking setting, the less selective it will be in highlighting areas which are not really sharp. Even in the lowest setting focus peaking will highlight areas which are not really sharp.

Yes Phil. I have Zebra and Focus Peaking turned off and Sharpness in Creative details set to +3. To me it just looks like manual focusing with any manual lens. I am not seeing any shimmering. What am I missing?

which lens do you use? at what aperture? what are you focusing on? I would suggest a sharp lens like any 50mm lens at f/2.8 and some fabric to focus on. You should definitely be able to see it then. if you know what to look for you will see it much more easily

Which lens am I using? Thanks to your recommendations, I now have pretty much every lens you have recommended except the 85mm ones. I will try with all my minolta lenses by focusing on a fabric (I take it you mean like a blanket or other cloth).

so, which Minolta lenses do you have?

I think a decent lighting setup is more important for your reproductions than the camera (unless you have some patience and nice window light). For reproductions I would buy a cheap Nex-5n and a cheap macro like the Minolta MC 3.5/50 Macro. Should be less than $300.

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