Video autofocus

Autofocus for video is a different craft than for stills. A photo’s focus snaps in an instant; a video’s focus is seen as it moves, so the goal is not just accuracy but a pleasing, controllable rate of change.

Two dials that shape the feel

The a6700 lets you tune not just where it focuses but how it gets there:

• AF Transition Speed controls how fast focus racks from one subject to another. Slow settings (around 3 of 7) give a gentle, cinematic pull; fast settings snap like stills AF. For most video, slower looks more intentional.
• AF Subject Shift Sensitivity controls how eagerly the camera abandons its current subject for something new. Low keeps it locked on your subject even when things pass in front; high makes it jump to whatever is nearest. Low is usually what you want, so a passing hand does not steal focus.

Together these turn autofocus from a nervous, twitchy assistant into a smooth operator that holds its subject and changes focus like a human would.

Face and eye priority

In movie mode the same Real-time Recognition from stills keeps a person’s face — and eye — sharp as they and you move. Turn it on and a walking, talking subject stays in focus without a focus puller. For interviews and pieces to camera, this alone makes the a6700 feel like a much bigger rig.

Tap-to-track

The fastest way to direct focus is the touchscreen: tap a subject and the camera tracks it, tap another to hand focus over, tap away to release. A deliberate tap from a foreground object to a background one, with a slow transition speed, gives you a controlled focus pull with no rig at all — a classic, expressive move made trivial.

In the field

Set transition speed slow and shift sensitivity low. Film two objects at different distances and tap between them, watching focus glide rather than snap. Then raise transition speed to maximum and repeat. Choosing that speed on purpose is what separates footage that looks directed from footage that looks like a security camera.