Sony A7 IV 200-600mm Focus Issues

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Mr Daniel Esterman
Hey all. Is anyone having bad issues with the a7iv and Sony 200-600. Can barely focus. Tried every mode and with high shutter speeds but the subject is a blurry mess
 
None whatsoever. Have you downloaded the firmware update?
 
This is the same setup I have (the rest of my gear is Nikon DSLR) and I have not had any focus issues in the one month I used it. However, after a month one of the SD slots (the one with the dual slot) had the spring break so it was permanently in the eject position. It has been out for warranty repair for over a month waiting parts and is finally being shipped back as I type this.
 
I have changed from Nikon to Sony and this past week i received my new A7IV plus 200-600mm lens. Yesterday was my first day in the field with the setup. To say the least, i was absolutely blown away with the performance, especially tracking birds in flight.

Here are some of my results from my first outing with my Sony.
 

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I have changed from Nikon to Sony and this past week i received my new A7IV plus 200-600mm lens. Yesterday was my first day in the field with the setup. To say the least, i was absolutely blown away with the performance, especially tracking birds in flight.

Here are some of my results from my first outing with my Sony.
very nice
 
This is the same setup I have (the rest of my gear is Nikon DSLR) and I have not had any focus issues in the one month I used it. However, after a month one of the SD slots (the one with the dual slot) had the spring break so it was permanently in the eject position. It has been out for warranty repair for over a month waiting parts and is finally being shipped back as I type this.
Did your A7 IV go to Connecticut? I too had a suspected Slot 1 problem although mine was not mechanical as yours apparently is. I am reasonable certain of two things, I could be wrong.

1. The card slots are an integral part of the Main System Board, and
2. This is not a part that the non-Sony owned repair facility stocks.
My total time of not having my A7 IV was 39 days.

How many other people have you corresponded with that have had A7 IV Slot issues?

I suspect that when you get your M4 back, you will have to initialize it like a new camera. Hopefully you have a copy of your CAMSET file or your are a Mark Galer Patreon and can download a fresh copy of his CAMSET file. Good luck, Fred.
 
Did your A7 IV go to Connecticut? I too had a suspected Slot 1 problem although mine was not mechanical as yours apparently is. I am reasonable certain of two things, I could be wrong.

1. The card slots are an integral part of the Main System Board, and
2. This is not a part that the non-Sony owned repair facility stocks.
My total time of not having my A7 IV was 39 days.

How many other people have you corresponded with that have had A7 IV Slot issues?

I suspect that when you get your M4 back, you will have to initialize it like a new camera. Hopefully you have a copy of your CAMSET file or your are a Mark Galer Patreon and can download a fresh copy of his CAMSET file. Good luck, Fred.
I think it is Connecticut. My local repair shop sent it in for me, but he said there is only one Sony repair facility in USA and it is on east coast. It has been working fine since I got it back, but I have been using slot 2 instead of slot 1. (And yest they reset it so I had to re-enter my copyright info in the menu).

I have not personally spoken with others who had this issue, but this site's moderator says people on his A74 Facebook page report it. My local repair shop also said it happens with all brands, but most often with Sony.
 
Hey all. Is anyone having bad issues with the a7iv and Sony 200-600. Can barely focus. Tried every mode and with high shutter speeds but the subject is a blurry mess
hi, this past Saturday i was in the field and i had a bird perched on a twig, there was nothing interfering with the shot behind the subject. The bird was about 5 to 6 meters in front of me. The sun was behind me. The focal length was at 600mm. Whatever i tried, i could not get the camera to focus, i tried to aim below the bird, no luck. Eventually i reduced the focal length to 200m, go focus and then changed to 600mm and got the shot.

i did try and change the setting on the lens from full, to the next setting and the third setting, none made a difference.

is the reason because i was too close to the subject at 600mm?

see the shot of the Little Bee-Eater which i eventually got. Lucky this species tend to fly off, circle and land on the same spot, so while i was battling to get focus and changing settings, the bird did a few fly by's before i got the shot.
Little Bee-EaterDSC03219uck.jpg
  • ILCE-7M4
  • Sony FE 200–600mm F5.6–6.3 G OSS (SEL200600G)
  • 600.0 mm
  • ƒ/6.3
  • 1/1600 sec
  • ISO 1600
 
@RHerr Yes, I believe you were just a bit too close to focus. I have noticed this on mine as well, where I am used to the closer focus distance of my shorter lenses but find I have to step back to get my 200-600 to focus.
 
It's unlikely that you were too close. The minimum focus distance for that lens is 2.4 meters. It's more likely that the camera couldn't see the subject due to low light. I see you were shooting at ISO 1600. While the A7-IV is supposed to be capable of AF down to f/22 it still needs enough information from the subject. There's not a lot of contrast in that shot, the background and bird are both predominately green. I would chalk it up to nothing is perfect, especially electronics. You may want to consider using DMF focus set up with peaking and zoom for these situations. Just grab the ring and turn and it will switch to manual instantly.
 
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