FS700 tames kit lens - Spot Focus demo

[Matt Davis]

Actually more of an exercise in expectation management, but FYI:

FS700 - Spot Focus demo on Vimeo

It's not going to replace a focus puller, and it's not quite the Epic/EOS combo, but whilst this mode is engaged, you can do the 'tap to focus' trick using Sony E-Mount lenses. It's not faultless, but it certainly helps drive the kit lens: once tapped and focus found, focus will hold until you tap somewhere else or exit the Spot Focus mode by hitting one of the menu keys.

[Alister Chapman]

The A/B focus memories are very nice too. When using an E-Mount lens you can programme two focus points and do a timed focus pull between them much like the A/B shot memory on an EX1 or EX3. Also the face tracking focus is pretty good at following a face.

[Matt Davis]

It's getting quite a trick to juggle the assignment of buttons to all these new features. With the loss of the dedicated Expanded Focus button on the camera body (it's now on the handgrip), one has to assign three buttons to the A-B focus transition.

I note one can have up to 99 camera setups on a card. Maybe it's easier to have a setup for each situation: "Hmm, this looks like a shot for the kit lens with AB focus using LED lighting.... [consults pocket book] Upload setting number 47!"

(AFAIK, rather than saving individual Picture Profiles, the FS700 stores an entire snapshot of the setup of the camera including button assignments, profiles, preferences and individual settings).

Alister, did you try lenses other than the kit lens? I noticed a bit of hesitation (reminiscent of the sticky zoom on EX1s) on the kit lens with the camera, I may try mine to see if that helps.

[Alister Chapman]

If you mean focus hesitation, I did notice a lot of lag which made focussing the kit lens supplied with the demo camera very tricky. The only other lenses I used were PL mount and a couple of Canons via a metabones adapter. These all performed fine.

[Matt Davis]

Hmm - thanks. I was specifically thinking about E-Mount lenses using the Spot Focus. Watching my tests back, there seemed to be hesitation there, but uneven hesitation. Sometimes it would snap to and fro, other times it would hunt, snap, overshoot and drift back. You can see this happening in the silly video above.

Or maybe most human mortals don't, unless they're told specifically to look for it and then when finally they see what you're complaining about they suggest you take a break. :-)

I don't think the LE-EA2 is entirely redundant yet...

[Peter Corbett]

I bought the LA-AE2 adaptor fro A-mount lenses. I'm leaning towards getting a Sony 70-400mm AF Alpha as the phase detection AF should work a whole lot better than the kit lens. If anyone has a suggestion for a great fast AF-focus telephoto lens for the FS700, please post your thoughts. Here is a nice demo of the SAL-70400G by Andrew Young.

4 Days with the Sony NEX-FS700 on Vimeo

[Steve Rolufs]

Does anyone know if Spot Focus and A/B Focus work with Alpha lenses and the LA-EA2 adapter?

[Matt Davis]

I can get a definitive on that next Friday (assuming plans come together) but the logic part of me says probably not, as it's the mount that's doing the AF smarts, and that got over the initial issue with Alpha lenses in that the data bus between lens and camera was too slow for continual tracking AF. Though lord knows what magic was applied to make it into the superfast action it has now.

And the corollary to your question is 'does the LE-EA2 perform its magic on the FS100 as well?'