REALWORLDTEST SPECIAL
LEARN TO TRUST SONY’S COOL AF for slower, smoother transitions when shooting people. The subject tracking option is
Some traditionalists never switch frommanual focus. But once you get to use the simply stunning AF on the Sony, you’d be a bit insane to not learn how it can work for you. It’s the first Sony mirrorless camera to offer all the advanced AF features in both stills and movie mode, rather than offering a cut-down version for moviemakers. So, the camera has all Sony’s complex autofocus customisation, like eye detection and face detection for humans and animals and subject tracking. The speed of focusing and transition speed can be adjusted from fast to slow, givingmuch more natural focus-pull look. It can be set to superfast, which proved ideal for shooting fast-movingmotorcycles. Or alternatively, it can be tweaked
certainly a benefit fromSony. You use touch-to-focus on the rear screen and then the AF locks on to a subject and tracks it. It really does work well but, of course, you are taking a jab at the screen to make it start. So, you need to be a bit careful to avoid shake.
BELOW The focus modes can be accessed by the main menu or by the quick menu button on the camera body
There might not be an automatic anamorphic option tomitigate squeeze in the Sony A7S III, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be used for Cinemascope. Of course, if you had the cash, you could use a full-frame anamorphic lens. You’d have to use an external monitor to see it as a corrected image, though. It’s not the only option, and we shot some decent widescreen with the budget Sirui 50mm/ f/1.8 1.33x anamorphic lens. This is not a full- frame lens, so the camera needs to be set to APS-Cmode, which is a big crop. And with only 4K to start with, you are losing a lot of information. Instead, we left the camera at full- frame and used Active IBIS to give footage a 1.1x crop. The 50mm lens then offers the same field of view as a 55mm lens, and there’s some harsh vignetting at the corners of the frame. But for creative projects, it’s something youmight live with. Or, you can turn the 1.1x crop off by cancelling IBIS and relishing the extreme darkening in the corners. ANAMORPHIC FOR THE PEOPLE
IMAGES The camera shows a squashed anamorphic image (left), but in post it’s soon corrected. As we shot full-frame, but with a 1.1x crop, there is some vignetting as you can see (below)
“Bring the footage into Sony’s Catalyst Browse software and be simply amazed as the software removes the shakes with incredible efficiency”
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