A7 cannot get magnification and peaking working

[ohaya]

I am just starting with a Sony a7, and I'm doing testing with manual focus.

I have enabled focus assist and also set peak level to high and color.

I am using an mc-11 with a canon 90-300 lens w the switch set to mf.

However, when I tried to turn the focus ring it is focusing, but I don't see the peaking and also the magnification is not happening.

Is there something else I need to do to get the picking in the magnification to work? Also is it possible for maybe peaking a magnification or working because I'm using the MC-11?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Only suggestion I can offer is to check which focus mode you're using/set to.

 

[ohaya]

I am pretty sure I am definitely in MF. It shows I'm done LCD display also.

Actually regarding peaking, I noticed that it is actually working but the colors are almost invisible when I am shooting an outdoor shot. The colors are more visible when I shouldn't get it darker area.

However I still can't get the magnification to work at all.

 

[AlwaysOnAuto]

I've programmed my A7ii for the focus magnification to be activated by pushing the C2 button.
Yes, I've found the focus peaking to be hard to see, especially on the LCD, in broad daylight type situations. Through the viewfinder is always easier, though still not perfect if light gets in from the side of your eye.

 

[ohaya]

I will try I said you can put it for the focus magnification, but isn't it supposed to automatically happen when you turn the focus ring?

 

[Ad Dieleman]

... isn't it supposed to automatically happen when you turn the focus ring?

Only when you enable the appropriate setting for that and the lens transmits the focusing action to the camera via the lens mount's electric contacts. It doesn't work with a "dumb" adapter, i.e. no electrical connections.

 

[bdbits]

Focus peaking works by contrast, particularly vertically, as I understand it. And it uses the JPEG rendering. So if you are shooting raw, you can use a picture profile with enhanced contrast to boost peaking a bit and it will not affect your raw data (but will affect the preview image). Some people will switch into a black and white profile, which obviously makes it easier to see the peaking color in a busy scene.

For manual focus, I was very enamored of peaking when I first got into mirrorless. As time went on, the pendulum has swung to using magnification instead, almost exclusively. Just a thought, whatever works for you is what you should use.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I've programmed my A7ii for the focus magnification to be activated by pushing the C2 button.
Yes, I've found the focus peaking to be hard to see, especially on the LCD, in broad daylight type situations. Through the viewfinder is always easier, though still not perfect if light gets in from the side of your eye.

I will try I said you can put it for the focus magnification, but isn't it supposed to automatically happen when you turn the focus ring?

That's a different function to the one AlwaysOnAuto is talking about. A dim brain cell suggests that the works-with-focus-ring function is called focus assist.

 

[ohaya]

Hi

That's a different function to the one AlwaysOnAuto is talking about. A dim brain cell suggests that the works-with-focus-ring function is called focus assist.

Thad,

I already have "Focus Assist" on in the A7 settings, but as I said earlier, turning the focus ring on the lens doesn't cause the image in the viewfinder to get bigger (to help doing the manual focus).

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I have enabled focus assist

as I said earlier

Oh yes, sorry, so you did.

 

[ohaya]

Oh yes, sorry, so you did.

no problem - just checking if we might be talking about different things...

Jim

 

[AlwaysOnAuto]

I was just looking at my A7ii to see what settings it is set to.
I think you might have a conflict between the focus peaking and the magnification setting.
Have you tried turning the peaking off to see if magnification will then work?

 

[Dan Euritt]

I already have "Focus Assist" on in the A7 settings, but as I said earlier, turning the focus ring on the lens doesn't cause the image in the viewfinder to get bigger (to help doing the manual focus).

For the early cameras in particular, I believe that magnify only works as a programmed button with lenses that aren't native e-mount, see if this helps, fwiw it's A7ii:

http://silvermac.com/2015/07/29/sony-a7-ii-using-mf-assist-with-the-lens-adapters/

 

[ohaya]

For the early cameras in particular, I believe that magnify only works as a programmed button with lenses that aren't native e-mount, see if this helps, fwiw it's A7ii:

http://silvermac.com/2015/07/29/sony-a7-ii-using-mf-assist-with-the-lens-adapters/

I tried turning peaking off but still couldn't get magnification working.

I tried assigning focus magnification to the mf/af button and that does allow me to get the magnification working.

The above was with the MC11 and the Canon 400 mm lens. I have one native e-mount lens and I will try that later.

Jim

 

[ohaya]

Ok tried it w a7, mc-11, and Sony 28-70 and in af mode, when I turn the focus ring on the lens, it does magnify the view.

 

[WNG]

For enabling focus assist magnification, you may need to set AF to DMF. It enables the manual override focusing via the focusing ring. Focus assist enables the moment the ring is moved. Don't know if this will work with the MC-11 though.

BTW. Focus peaking works better if set to Low. This reduces false positives. As mentioned it's contrast detect based. It's more precise set to low with high contrast images.

 

[Petrochemist]

With my A7ii I think I have Peaking set to medium. With many lenses the contrast is not high enough to show peaking in most of the image (or even at all).
Peaking was visible last night using AF as well as just when focusing manually.