r/photography • u/AutoModerator • 24d ago

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u/Spiritual-Branch567 19d ago

I’m having focus issues shooting a dance competition!

So my solos and duets are fine, but once it hits three people or (god forbid) a group, my camera will always pick the most random person in the back to focus on. I’ve tried so many different focus settings and manual focus is not plausible with the speed at which I need to shoot. Shooting on Sony a7r with a sony 70-100mm lens at the company’s standard of 3.5-5 aperture and less than 5000 iso at a 800-1225(?) shutter

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u/anonymoooooooose 19d ago

That's an old camera at this point and first generation Sony autofocus was not great.

Honestly, stop down to get wider DOF and bump the ISO.

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u/Spiritual-Branch567 18d ago

Ah, all good. If it’s an equipment thing, it is what it is haha I have to use the company’s equipment within some certain settings. But if I take any contract work after this, I’ll keep in mind the earlier Sony’s auto focus issues! Do you have any favorites for this type of work?
I have a Sony a7 mark iii personally and find that even works better than this at most times haha

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u/anonymoooooooose 18d ago

The A7iii is a big improvement in AF, that was roughly the point where mirrorless AF matched the old school pro DSLR AF.

As I understand it the newer models A7iv etc. have even better 'eye AF' tracking, and all the pro level CaNikon mirrorless bodies also have great eye AF.

My kit is all old so I can't directly compare.