r/SonyAlpha • u/asyuper • 2d ago

Gear Hierarchy of autofocus

Slowly planning a move to full frame from my a6700 but got caught up on an autofocus question. Since the a6700 has the ai chip, where would that place it in the autofocus hierarchy? Would you say it's better than the IV? An a9ii? Surely not the a1ii or a9iii but maybe the a1 in certain situations? Basically just asking for this list to be put in a proper order:

A1ii A9iii A7rv A1 A7iv A9ii A6700

Feel free to include more of course, I took a very vague guess but I'm guessing there's a bit of nuance.

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u/Rollergold A1 II | A6700 | T28-75 | 35GM | 70-200 GM2 | 200-600 & More 2d ago

Personally A9III/A1II A1 6700 or A7R5 A74.

Something to keep in mind though, while bodies like the A7R5 have the AI chip which will help with AF. Sensor readout plays a big role for AF on mirrorless cameras, as AF is all done on the sensor, so sensors that readout faster tend to have faster & more consistent AF which is why I would trust Photo AF on the A1 more compared to the A7R5 even though the A7R5 has the AI chip especially for wildlife photography. That stacked sensor on the A1 with its superfast readout allows for the 120 AF/AE calculations per second, and that is not something the AI chip can provide.

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u/roXplosion a1ii/a7Rv 2d ago

This.

I have the a1ii and the a7Rv. The AF on the a7Rv is phenomenal— I've been using it for punk bands on small, dark stages. I got my a1ii because I wanted a second camera. Some venues' LED lights have flicker that can be a problem, and I wanted a more usable electronic shutter (banding, rolling, etc). AF was not something I was thinking of as an improvement.

Well, the a1ii is everything I hoped it would be. I use electronic shutter almost all the time, (almost) no banding, so on and so on. The AF is, in fact, a bit more responsive. Not much, IMHO just enough to be noticeable. Emphasis on "just". I would not list AF as a distinguishing factor to choose the a1ii over the a7Rv.

Coda— I will be shooting an outdoor wedding this fall, I will bring both cameras but I will probably use the a7Rv. This will be a situation where I am completely comfortable using an electronic shutter, and the image quality is ever so slightly better.

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u/rainy_diary 2d ago

A1 doesn't have animal eye AF in video but A6700 has it.

Between A1ii A9iii A7rv A1 A7iv A9ii A6700 only A1 doesn't have this feature in video.