Sony G Master 85mm f/1.4 Focus Accuracy
Related: focusing, Sony, Sony 85mm, Sony FE, Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM, Sony G Master, Sony Lenses
Get Sony G Master Lens at B&H Photo.
It is always unwise to put new gear into production use without verifying its reliability. That is particularly true for fast lenses with autofocus.
UPDATE: it seems that Sony A7R II firmware 3.0 is not advised, and version 3.1 should be used. Why doesn’t Sony put a bright red note in the box? (There is a “for optimal use keep firmware updated” innocuous sheet with the other useless printed stuff). Maybe it will fix things, maybe not. I’ll update and see.
UPDATE 2: does not look like a firmware issue at all.
Right away with the Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM, I noticed a disturbing tendency for Sony A7R II autofocus to be off enough to seriously degrade results at f/1.4, enough to call it a “2 stop error” in some cases, meaning at least f/2.8 would be needed to obtain the quality that ought to have been captured wide open at f/1.4. Or put another way, an error that turns a 42 megapixel camera into a ~12 megapixel camera. Or something akin to that.
Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM: Focus Accuracy at f/1.4
Includes an example with two large crops showing manual vs autofocus quality.
I am *so* glad I noticed this right away. I will have to do all my evaluation using manual focus, or at least confirm all AF results with full magnification Live View before exposing.
A local friend reports similar issues.
