Railfan Technology > Sony a7RV Has “Train” Autofocus

Rail fans rejoice.  The new Sony a7RV has "train recognition autofocus."  This could get very interesting.  

From the Sony website:  Recognise a wider range of subjects.  In addition to humans, animals and birds, the camera now recognises insects, cars, trains and airplanes, providing even greater flexibility and reliability when shooting both stills and movies. Heads and bodies are now recognised in addition to eyes (Real-time Eye AF) for the Human, Animal, and Bird settings.

 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/22 02:07 by SD40T-2.

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How would "recognizing" a train be any different than recognizing a fence or building? Will the camera autofocus on a moving train as well as one that is stopped? What about if you are the one who is moving and the train is stopped? If a regular camera can't focus on a train then I can't see how the a7RV is going to help. If there is any glowing example of pure marketing hype, in my opinion, this is it.

If there's a train, a building and a fence in the picture, the camera will probably focus on the train. The camera (well, the camera software programmer) assumes that would prefer to have the train in focus. Doesn't matter who is moving, unless someone is moving so fast that the train/person/insect is unrecognizable.

How and why does a camera do this? Computers have gotten so powerful that we're searching for things to keep them occupied. Recognizing specific objects is one of those things.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/15/22 23:33 by clem.

> If there's a train, a building and a fence in the picture, the camera will probably focus on the train.

Here's a thought... why not have the camera focus on what you point it at? Isolate what you think is important, focus, re-frame, and shoot! Of course, this might force the photographer to have to actually think for themselves, instead of leaving it to the camera to decide for them... this will never catch on... forget I ever brought it up!

NBF Wrote:
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> > If there's a train, a building and a fence in
> the picture, the camera will probably focus on the
> train.
>
> Here's a thought... why not have the camera focus
> on what you point it at?

The "train" autofocus likley means the camera will tend
to lock onto the train even as it moves from one part of
the composition to another - no need to move the focus
points as the train moves across the screen.   That, and
anything object that might get close to the train will be
disregarded.

This is a nice feature for pets - though some of the tech
had not yet matured on some earlier models.

Been wondering when the art of panning will instead 
become something less a skill and instead, a menu
option.

/Mitch