Focusing on an animal’s or bird’s eyes (Shooting movies)

The procedure for shooting by focusing on the eyes of an animal or bird is introduced below.
There are three shooting methods. Use the method that is suitable according to the shooting conditions.

  • This function is recommended when shooting an image while viewing it on the monitor, so that you can focus on the subject easily by touching and selecting the subject on the screen.
  • When you want to focus on a subject with higher priority on the eye but want to continue focusing using [ Focus Area] in case detecting an eye is difficult.
  • This function is recommended if you want to adjust focus by key operation when it is difficult to perform touch operation, for example, when shooting an image while looking through the viewfinder.
  • When you want to focus temporarily on an eye within the whole range of the monitor, regardless of the setting for [Focus Area]
  • When you want to focus temporarily on an eye using [Eye AF] after focusing on a subject using (Manual Focus)

When you want to focus on an eye by touch operation ([Touch Tracking])

Setting the camera

Set the Still/Movie/S&Q dial to (Movie) to select movie recording mode.

  1. [Face/Eye Prior. in AF]

    MENU → (Focus) → [Face/Eye AF] → [Face/Eye Prior. in AF] → [On].

  2. [Face/Eye Subject]

    MENU→ (Focus) → [Face/Eye AF] → [Face/Eye Subject] → [Animal] or [Bird]

  3. [Focus Mode]

    MENU → (Focus) → [AF/MF] → [Focus Mode] → [Continuous AF].

  4. [Touch Operation]

    MENU → (Setup) → [Touch Operation] → [Touch Operation] → [On].

  5. [Touch Panel/Pad]

    MENU → (Setup) → [Touch Operation] → [Touch Panel/Pad] → the desired setting.

  6. [Touch Pad Settings]

    MENU → (Setup) → [Touch Operation] → [Touch Pad Settings] → the desired setting.

  7. [Touch Func. in Shooting]

    MENU → (Setup) → [Touch Operation] → [Touch Func. in Shooting] → [Touch Tracking].

    Hint

    You can change the setting for [Touch Func. in Shooting] by touching // (touch function icon) on the shooting screen.

Guide to using the camera

Focusing on an eye by touch operation ([Touch Tracking])

Select an area close to the eye of a subject by touch operation ([Touch Tracking]).
When the eye of the selected subject is detected, a white frame appears around the eye and you can continue to focus on the eye.

When the eye detection frame (white) is displayed

Note

Using the tracking function together with [Face/Eye AF].

If you set [Face/Eye AF] to focus on eyes beforehand, a focusing frame will automatically appear around any detected eye while tracking a subject.

  1. Tracking distant subjects

  2. If an animal eye is detected when the subject comes closer, a focusing frame will automatically appear around the detected eye.

Switching the eye to detect

* When [Face/Eye Subject] is set to [Bird], you cannot switch the eye to be detected.

You can switch the eye to be detected (left or right) by touching the area around the eye on the monitor.

Touch the periphery of an eye that you want detected on the monitor.

The eye to be detected switches.

When you want to focus on an eye using the focus area

Setting the camera

Set the Still/Movie/S&Q dial to (Movie) to select movie recording mode.

  1. [Face/Eye Prior. in AF]

    MENU → (Focus) → [Face/Eye AF] → [Face/Eye Prior. in AF] → [On].

  2. [Face/Eye Subject]

    MENU→ (Focus) → [Face/Eye AF] → [Face/Eye Subject] → [Animal] or [Bird]

  3. [Focus Mode]

    MENU → (Focus) → [AF/MF] → [Focus Mode] → [Continuous AF].

  4. [ Focus Area]

    MENU → (Focus) → [Focus Area] → [Focus Area] → the desired setting.

Guide to using the camera

Focus on an eye using [Focus Area]

Since the camera focuses on the eye of an animal/bird inside the focus area, set [Focus Area] to [Wide] if you want to detect the eye in the widest possible area.
If you want to limit the range for detecting an eye, set [Focus Area] to settings such as [Spot] or [Zone].

Example of condition where the camera can focus on an eye

In this section, the procedure for setting the focus area is explained in the condition where [Face/Eye Frame Disp.] is set to [On].

  1. Point the camera so that the animal’s eye to be focused on are within the focus area.

    When [Focus Area] is set to [Zone]

  2. When the camera can focus on the eye of an animal, a white eye detection frame is displayed over the eye.

    Hint

    • Setting [Swt Face/Eye Sbjc Dtc] to a custom key is useful when you want to switch [Face/Eye Subject] quickly.
    • When you want to focus on a specific eye of an animal when the face displayed in the screen is small or several animals are displayed at the same time, select a subject to be tracked using touch operation or focus on the subject by setting [Focus Area] to [Spot] to make it easier to detect the eye.

    Note

Switching the eye to detect

* When [Face/Eye Subject] is set to [Bird], you cannot switch the eye to be detected.

You can set which eye to detect (left or right) in advance by selecting MENU → (Focus) → [Face/Eye AF] → [Right/Left Eye Select], but you can also switch eyes as follows.

Switching with a custom key assigned to [Switch Right/Left Eye]

* [Switch Right/Left Eye] operations are possible when you are not pressing the shutter button halfway down.

If you have set [Right/Left Eye Select] to [Right Eye] or [Left Eye], the eye to be detected can be switched between left and right each time you press the custom key assigned to [Switch Right/Left Eye].

If you have set [Right/Left Eye Select] to [Auto], the eye to be detected can be temporarily switched between left and right by pressing the custom key assigned to [Switch Right/Left Eye].

Note

If you have set [Right/Left Eye Select] to [Auto], any of the following actions will cancel the temporary right/left selection and the camera will revert to automatic eye detection.

  • Pressing the center of the control wheel
  • Pressing the center of the multi-selector
  • Pressing the MENU button
  • Change the shooting mode using the mode dial.

When you want to focus on the eyes using the [Eye AF] function via a custom key

Setting the camera

Set the Still/Movie/S&Q dial to (Movie) to select movie recording mode.

  1. [Custom Key/Dial Set.]

    MENU → (Setup) → [Operation Customize] → [Custom Key/Dial Set.] → Select a button to which the function is assigned. Then, set (Focus) → [Face/Eye AF] → [Eye AF].

  2. [Face/Eye Subject]

    MENU→ (Focus) → [Face/Eye AF] → [Face/Eye Subject] → [Animal] or [Bird]

Guide to using the camera

Focusing on an eye by pressing the custom key to which [Eye AF] is assigned

When you press the custom key to which [Eye AF] is assigned and the eye of an animal or a bird is detected, a white detection frame appears. If you zoom in on the subject under the condition where the camera cannot detect the eye, the eye detection frame may appear in some cases.

Note

Switching the eye to detect

* When [Face/Eye Subject] is set to [Bird], you cannot switch the eye to be detected.

You can set which eye to detect (left or right) in advance by selecting MENU → (Focus) → [Face/Eye AF] → [Right/Left Eye Select], but you can also switch eyes as follows.

Switching with a custom key assigned to [Switch Right/Left Eye]

If you have set [Right/Left Eye Select] to [Right Eye] or [Left Eye], the eye to be detected can be switched between left and right each time you press the custom key assigned to [Switch Right/Left Eye].

If you have set [Right/Left Eye Select] to [Auto], the eye to be detected can be temporarily switched between left and right by pressing the custom key assigned to [Switch Right/Left Eye].

Note

If you have set [Right/Left Eye Select] to [Auto], any of the following actions will cancel the temporary right/left selection and the camera will revert to automatic eye detection.

  • Pressing the center of the control wheel
  • Pressing the center of the multi-selector
  • Pressing the MENU button
  • Change the shooting mode using the mode dial.

About Eye Detection

Even when the subjects have cat-, dog-, or bird-like faces, the camera may not be able to detect an eye depending on the shooting environment such as the type of animal or bird, the direction of its face, and the conditions of the scene (e.g. two or more animals or birds moving around).
Use the following examples as guidelines.

Examples of easy-to-detect subjects’ eye

When [Face/Eye Subject] is set to [Animal]

Cat-like face

Dog-like face

Size and direction of a subject where its entire face such as an eye or nose is seen properly
(Example:Face shown in front view)

Size and direction of a subject where its entire face such as an eye or nose is seen properly
(Example: Face shown sideways)

When [Face/Eye Subject] is set to [Bird]

Face like that of small birds

Face like that of eagles or hawks

Entire face of the subject is seen properly and it is not too small

Direction of face where the shape of an eye and beak is seen properly

Examples of difficult-to-detect subjects’ eye

When [Face/Eye Subject] is set to [Animal]

The subject animal has a spotted or striped face and body

When shooting in dark places or animals with dark hair

Animals that do not have cat- or dog-like faces

When two or more animals are moving around

When [Face/Eye Subject] is set to [Bird]

Cases where an eye or body outline of bird is not sharp
(Example: Patterns of body feathers make it difficult to identify eyes)

Cases where an eye or body outline of bird is not sharp
(Example: Dark environment, black body feathers)

Cases where an eye or body outline of bird is not sharp
(Example: Colors or patterns of body feathers that are similar to the background)

Birds with a face not like those of small birds or eagles/hawks
(Example: Eye shown in front)

Birds with a face not like those of small birds or eagles/hawks
(Example: Birds with long neck and big beak)

Birds with a face not like those of small birds or eagles/hawks
(Example: Birds with complicated ornamental feathers or comb on the head)

Scene where many birds have flocked together

Hint

  • If the face of an animal is out of focus, the camera may not be able to detect the eye. In that case, adjust the focus on the face once. After that, the camera can detect the eye more easily.
  • When shooting a fast-moving subject, the camera may have difficulty detecting an eye if the recording frame rate for movie shooting is low or the shutter speed is slow. To give higher priority to eye detection, try the following.
    • Set the frame rate to the highest setting.
    • Set the shutter speed to higher settings. (For example, set the shutter speed to 1/125 or 1/250 in accordance with the moving speed of a subject.)