Sony A7R V Focus Bracketing is an Unreliable Engineering Dumpster Fire
Related: botched design, focus stacking, focusing, imcompetence crisis, please fix this, please fix this camera, please fix this Sony, Sony, Sony A7R, Sony A7R II, Sony A7R III, Sony A7R IV, Sony A7R V, Sony FE, Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM, Sony Lenses, Sony mirrorless
re: Focus Stepping for Focus Stacking (FOCUS BKT, “focus shift”): Engineering Dumpster Fire from Sony and Fujifilm
re: Reader Comment: “Given up on Sony A7R V automatic focus shift shooting/focus bracketing”
I first reported on how Sony focus bracketing fails to reach infinity ("INF") focus way back early this year, which readers like Glenn K confirm.
I reported the bug to Sony way back then, but my only Sony contact has now gone radio-silent, for reasons I do not understand. I fear the worst: reversion to the mean, as in not wanting to hear any issues, as in the ugly experience with Sony back with the Sony A7R and its shutter shock problems (not with this contact, but with the organization). But I'm probably wrong—basic managerial incompetence tends to rule within companies most of the time.
I’m spitting mad: waiting years for a time-saving and hit-rate-boosting feature and getting served a shit sandwich instead. WTF.
Thing is, fixing the focus bracketing problem should be trivial. Nikon nails it every time by taking more images than needed, a bit annoying but fail-safe, and that alone would be fine by me. Fujifilm gets it right most of the time with wide and normal lenses, but screws the pooch with longer focal lengths, at least sometimes. C'mon guys, it’s not that hard—test your shit out in the field or pay someone like me to verify it. I’ve written software since I was 12 years old, and I know how hard it is to get it right—that’s why you test it, before shipping. WTF.
Sony seemingly has zero interest issuing firmware updates to fix problems. As in nothing at all. In 8 months, one crapware firmware update is all we’ve seen for the Sony A7R V.
I retested my findings here in July, and the focus bracketing results are as dismal as back in December 2022. I gave the A7R V every chance, trying five times and each time it failed in an obvious way.
Example — Aspen
Focus Bracketing Example @ 16mm: Failure to Reach INF, Aspen
Includes the final stack made with manually focused frames, along with crops showing the disastrous results.
Sony A7R V + Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM @ 16mm
ENV: Lee Vining Canyon, altitude 7750 ft / 2362 m, 60°F / 15°C
RAW: LACA corrected, vignetting corrected, WB 5200°K tint 16, +20 Whites, +10 Clarity, diffraction mitigating sharpening
[low-res image for bot]
