Sony 4D AF versus Canon Dual Pixel AF - the differences explained

[Andrew Reid]

Early adopters have put the Sony A6300 image quality and autofocus to the test - the results are incredible (see below).

Could Sony have achieved something very special with their combination of 6K sensor readout and 425 phase detect points?

Read the main post

[Cinegain]

Only... my thing is. I come from a M43 background... have a couple of Nikon-mount lenses and vintage stuff. So I would be able to adapt a bunch of things, sure.

But what would I get for this Sony to have some electronic native mount glass, that would be great for both stills and video, benefit from these excellent AF features, which is preferably small in size (no need for fullframe glass with an APS-C sensor either) and not over the top expensive?

-- I guess the Sigma 24-105mm F4 would be a nice contender (needs alpha -> E-mount adapter though). Or an affordable Tamron f/2.8 zoom combo. Sony's zooms aren't much faster than f/4 anyways or then cost more than the camera.

-- Do we know yet how well the AF works with smart adapters and lenses of other mounts?

[Xavier Plagaro Mussard]

Either a SpeedBooster or this is nearly mandatory: http://cvp.com/index.php?t=product/sony_sel1670z.ae

[CMB]

The discussion about which is better on paper is kinda silly. Until we have 80D's in the wild to compare it too - or direct video comparisons between an a6300 and a 70D, 7D2, 1DX, ect.. it's just hot air.

I remember when the A7s came out and Sony released all these videos saying the auto focus was great.. same with Panasonic's GH4 - but in every comparison video seen online every DSLR implication of auto focus pales in comparison to the 3 year old 70D. There's something organic and natural about the way Canon implement it that can't be quantified on paper. Everything else either hunts too fast or looks like a robot is doing it.

[Timotheus]

Yeah, I'm all for waiting for real life comparisons.

But Andrew sure has a nice bite "...although Canon’s implementation of the technology is A-ok, the marketing of it is highly targeted at Video Oligarchs and people who like moire." ZINGGG

[Erik Naso]

Wow! Those samples are impressive. The next generation a7r and a7s are are going to be insane. 

[Sawstory]

NX1 did similar AF 2 years ago

[Andrew Reid]

7 minutes ago, Sawstory said:

NX1 did better AF 2 years ago

Please show us your A6300 vs NX1 comparison and prove it.

[levisdavis]

Finally, an example of rolling shutter on the A6300. Thanks for the link... Really impressive dynamic range! There appears to be next to no moire too.

[Sawstory]

46 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said:

Please show us your A6300 vs NX1 comparison and prove it.

Edit done to my post, now its more accurate!

[Tiago Rosa-Rosso]

The a6300 doesn't have a touchscreen? So how exactly do you pull focus from a subject to another? Do you talk with the camera? I'm just wondering.

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

Buttons/joystick.

Not that hard on the 7DII to pull perfect focus with buttons. Actually I almost prefer it to moving my hand off the grip to touch.  

And No you can't talk to the camera.

Well, you can,

if you really want to 

 

[MBFrancis]

38 minutes ago, Ebrahim Saadawi said:

Buttons/joystick.

Not that hard on the 7DII to pull perfect focus with buttons. Actually I almost prefer it to moving my hand off the grip to touch.  

And No you can't talk to the camera.

Well, you can,

if you really want to 

 

That doesn't seem like it would go well during recording as those hard presses can potentially cause jitters. The 7d Mark ii looks plenty robust and weighty to offset that kind of force, but Sony a6300's little body on the other hand is definitely questionable for that sort of use.

I would definitely prefer using the camera's respective smartphone app for any touch focus application even if it's a bit out of the way for quick shooting. 

[Robin Sen]

At 5 seconds into the 1st clip in Andrew's article, you can see "fluttering" focus as the SUV first comes into focus.  I saw another example of this fluttering focus in another short a6300 clip (I will try to find this clip) on Youtube that was demonstrating the AF.  That concerns me a bit. I have never seen this kind of AF behaviour with the 70D/7D MK II dual pixel AF.  It is a shame the the video quality is otherwise so poor in these canon cameras compared to what they could be.  Hopefully the 5D IV (or whatever it is called) will have higher quality video to go along with the dual pixel AF.

Back to how do you pull focus on the a6300.  There is no joystick.  In continuous AF with face detection on how do you jump from one face to another.  (I know you can reframe to center one particular face and press the button in the center of the dial to lock on to a face but this means reframing every time you want to change which face to track-not ideal).

[nathanleebush]

What a beautiful, clean image. 

[TheRenaissanceMan]

I need to see more image samples out of this camera; I'm still not convinced the skin tones, motion, and overall "look" are to my liking, despite its impressive spec sheet.

If it is, I'll buy one. My work gives me a 40% rebate on one Sony a year, so trust me, I'm rooting for them.

[CaMeRa QuEsT]

Love how the reviewer describes the AF: "It's like Spider Man: takes a really vicious grip on the subject".  Outtakes from the first video : "focusing is as easy as using a camcorder", "each frame is like a perfectly focused 8MB still picture" and "viewed on a 75" 4K TV the image has a natural movie look to it (refering to front/rear bokeh)".  But the most important outtake comes from the second video: "the A6300... allows us to get rid of the follow focus crew member altogether".  Brilliant, just brilliant.  This camera is going to put a lot of people out of work!

[/Chop N Shoot Films/]

I would like to see see how good this autofocusing is with a third party lenses and adapters or do you I have to buy into the whole Sony system. Either way they are about to get my money.

[VanWeddings]

5 hours ago, /Chop N Shoot Films/ said:

I would like to see see how good this autofocusing is with a third party lenses and adapters or do you I have to buy into the whole Sony system. Either way they are about to get my money.

i'm pretty sure you have to get sony lenses. i'm starting to get native sony lenses now, especially now that they have f2.8 zooms. shows they are serious about the platform

[MartyB]

My plan is to get the Batis 25 F2 as my base lens for my A6300 and as a gimbal lens. Hopefully the autofocus is as good as I hope.

  Otherwise the Voigtlander Emount 10mm as an alternative stopped down for my hotel work, use my nikon mount Zeiss 100mm Makro Planar as my main portrait lens. Will consider the 85mm Batis as well because of the stabilisation and the bokeh looks buttery (could also make a great gimbal long lens!)

Still building up my PL lenses from SLR magic, loving that 50!

But I think for what I do now, the Batis 25mm and my Zeiss Makro Planar I could live on for a while.