Choosing the Best Autofocus Modes on your Sony Camera

Today, we're going to look at some of the differences between Autofocus modes on your Sony camera.

Transcript:

Hi, everybody. His is Sam with Sony. Today, we're going to look at some of the differences between AutoFocus modes on your Sony camera. So you could, of course, always just become a master of manual focus. But not everybody has time to become a professional photographer. And with Sony cameras you really don't have to. So when choosing between the autofocus modes on your Sony camera, the question you want to ask yourself is, is my subject going to be moving around? For example, if you're taking generally relaxed portrait pictures of your friends or family and they're not going to be moving around too much, then you want to select AF-S. When you select AF-S your camera will lock focus when you press the shutter button halfway down.So I'm using a remote in this example, but you can see by looking at the Green Square where the focus has been locked. If I move around while holding the shutter button halfway down, then the focus will stay on that point. Are you taking pictures of people moving around, maybe playing a game of football, some kind of sports, maybe animals, your pets running around the house? Then you want to select AF-C. When you have AF-C selected, your camera will still lock exposure when you press the shutter button halfway down, but it will continue to search for focus right up until the point when you take the shot. This option will drain your battery a little faster. So if you know you don't need it, then it might just be best to stick with AF-S. Alternatively, if your camera has AF-A available, then you can select this option and it will automatically determine the autofocus mode depending on what is happening in front of the camera. But if you do know what your subject is going to be doing in advance, you might as well select the better option of the two yourself as that's always going to give you the best results on top of this, if you're using either of these autofocus options, then you can also take advantage of Sony's excellent face and eye tracking autofocus options. You can find these options by navigating to the autofocus or AF section in your camera menu and then ensuring that it is switched on. Selecting this option will always ensure that the focus is hitting in the correct spot, which should be the person's eye, giving you the best focus across their face possible. On top of this, you can also select this option for animals as well as humans. This is great if you're taking pictures of your pets around the house. For example, it'll always ensure that the focus is on their face as it's a little difficult in my experience, to convince them to sit still for any extended period of time. Got some more questions about your Sony camera? You can always visit the Sony support website for more information or check out some of the other videos linked in the description. Thank you for watching.