A7 IV focus help

[Dakoo0387]

Hi all

I was hoping someone here could help me with my autofocus settings on my Sony A7 IV (with 28-70mm kit lens) please…

I’m a beginner and recently purchased the camera to take pics of my newborn. I’ve found when trying to take a photo of him alongside his teddy the camera either focuses on him and blurs out the teddy, or focuses on the teddy and blurs out my child (example attached).

I’ve had a similar issue when trying to take pics of him alongside baby blocks that have his name.

Any thoughts on the best settings to focus on him
And other objects?

Thanks

 

[Angus Cameron]

Hi Damon,

I think it's less about your focus and more about the depth of field. Have a look here for more information

Understanding Depth of Field in Photography

www.cambridgeincolour.com

and

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/photography-tools.htm Depth of field and resolution.

Cheers,

Angus.

​

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Basically Damon the ability for your camera to maintain a number of images reltively close to one another is dictated by the aperture setting you use.

Thee higher the F number the deeper the depth of field and ability of the camera to hold focus on a number of closely grouped subjects.

With your camera and lens suggest taking a step or 2 back, raise your aperture to f7 and in ensuring you have good ambient light levels try again.

If at first you don't suceed play around with your aperture setting and distnce from your child/teddy....the higher the f number the more able your camera will be able to focus on the child and teddy as long as you have enough ambient light

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

In trying the above Damon pls also ensure you have a low shutter speed at 1/100 minimum and thereafter dependant upon the exposure level you see you can adjust the speed up if the ambient light is too high and you need to darken the image.

 

[Brownie]

Hi all

I was hoping someone here could help me with my autofocus settings on my Sony A7 IV (with 28-70mm kit lens) please…

I’m a beginner and recently purchased the camera to take pics of my newborn. I’ve found when trying to take a photo of him alongside his teddy the camera either focuses on him and blurs out the teddy, or focuses on the teddy and blurs out my child (example attached).

I’ve had a similar issue when trying to take pics of him alongside baby blocks that have his name.

Any thoughts on the best settings to focus on him
And other objects?

Thanks

Please edit your post to show your image full size so we can see the exif (the settings your camera was on when you made the image). Just click edit, then go to the thumbnail and change it to full size. You have the option of thumbnail or full size each time you upload, full size is preferred for viewing.

The advice above is good, but I want to try and keep it simple. As stated, your problem is your depth of field.

'Depth of Field' is the distance in front of and behind the subject you focused on, that will also be in focus.

In your case, it is too narrow. This is most likely due to an open aperture, probably 3.5 on that lens. The smaller the number, the more open the aperture, the shallower will be the depth of field.

Follow the advice above to increase the aperture and adjust distance to get everything you want in focus.

This is a good website with a depth of field calculator and simple graphics to get you started.

To illustrate, If I enter the correct camera sensor and assume 28mm, f/3.5-, and 1-meter distance, your depth of field is a mere 0.27 meter total. Of that, 0.12 meters nearer will be in focus, and 0.15 meters behind.

Depth of Field (DoF) calculator | PhotoPills

This Depth of Field (DoF) calculator will help you get the creative control on the design of your photos. Decide the zone of sharpness you need to tell the story you want and get your message across.

www.photopills.com

Your camera has live view. The viewfinder is essentially a tiny TV screen that is showing you exactly what the image will look like. Look through it at a target and change the aperture back and forth. You'll see it in real time.