While the Sony α7 II had an impressive autofocus system in its heyday, it falls far short of the standard set by the Sony cameras that have followed. With 119 phase-detection AF points, coverage is good, but the tracking system is nowhere near as sophisticated as the increasingly AI-driven autofocus systems that we’ve seen on cameras like the Sony α7 IV or Sony ZV-E1.
Tracking on the α7 II is called ‘Locked-on AF’ and as far as performance goes, it can track moving subjects fairly well in less busy scenarios, when you have just a single subject in the frame. However, because the camera lacks a touchscreen, there’s no way to manually select a particular subject if there happens to be more than one face in the frame, so you’re at the mercy of what the camera decides to focus on. Alternatively, if you want a little bit more control, you can use the ‘Flexible Spot’ or ‘Zone’ area modes to narrow down the focus area. In the ‘Wide’ area mode, the camera continually prioritized the mannequin head in the foreground over our moving human subject, so we used the ‘Flexible Spot’ mode to get the results above. It’s worth noting that you’re likely to get a better hit rate in a more straightforward scenario, but overall, the AF isn’t the most reliable.
