Sony ZV-E10 II Autofocus Settings: A Beginner's Guide

The Sony ZV-E10 II autofocus settings you will touch most are the focus area, the tracking options, face and eye priority, and the Product Showcase button. For most vlogging, a Wide focus area with face priority plus Product Showcase for demos covers you, and you switch to Spot or Tracking only when a scene asks for it.

How the ZV-E10 II autofocus system works

The original ZV-E10 used a 24-megapixel sensor and the older Bionz X processor. In Sony's Alpha Universe write-up, creator Miguel Quiles cites 759 phase-detect autofocus points and real-time subject recognition for humans, animals and birds.

Sony's ZV-E10 II help guide says that when phase detection AF points fall inside the autofocus area, the camera uses phase detection AF and contrast AF together. In plain terms, you don't choose between the two systems. The camera blends them for you.

One thing the ZV-E10 II does not have is the dedicated AI processing chip found in the a6700 and many of Sony's recent cameras. PetaPixel's review says this makes the ZV-E10 II's autofocus not quite as sticky as the a6700 in demanding situations, but the same as the FX30, which the reviewer describes as generally a good focuser. Sony still promises better autofocus than the original ZV-E10. If you are deciding between the two cameras, the Sony a6700 autofocus guide covers Eye AF and tracking on the model that has the AI chip.

ZV-E10 II vs ZV-E10: autofocus-related differences

Feature	Sony ZV-E10	Sony ZV-E10 II
Sensor	24 megapixel APS-C	26 megapixel Exmor R BSI APS-C
Processor	Bionz X	Bionz XR
Phase-detect AF points	Not listed in these sources	759
Product Showcase	Yes	Yes, on the Delete (C2) button by default
Background Defocus	Yes	Yes
Mechanical shutter	Yes	No

The missing mechanical shutter matters for stills of fast action: Digital Camera World notes that fast-moving subjects can turn into a "house of mirrors" on the ZV-E10 II. That is a shutter issue rather than a focus issue, but it can make a sharp, well-focused subject look wrong. PetaPixel lists the ZV-E10 II at $999 body only or $1,099 with the 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS II power zoom kit lens at launch.

For a full rundown of the generational changes beyond autofocus, see Sony ZV-E10 vs ZV-E10 II: What Changed and Which to Buy.

Focus areas explained

The focus area setting tells the camera where to look. Sony's help guide says to choose the mode according to the subject.

Focus area	What Sony's help guide says it does	When to use it
Wide	Focuses on a subject covering the whole range of the screen automatically	Vlogging, casual video, anything where you appear in frame
Zone	You pick a zone and the camera picks the focus point inside it	When Wide keeps grabbing the wrong thing
Center area	Focuses on a subject in the center, for use with focus lock	Recomposing stills after locking focus
Spot	A movable frame for focusing on an extremely small subject in a narrow area	Product close-ups, details, macro-style shots
Expanded spot	Uses points around the Spot as a backup if the single point can't focus	Small subjects with low contrast
Tracking	Follows the subject within the chosen area while you half-press the shutter	Moving people, pets, objects

Wide and Zone

In Wide, a green frame appears around the in-focus area when you half-press the shutter while shooting stills. With Wide or Zone, the help guide notes the frame may switch between a larger and smaller display depending on the subject or situation. Wide is the setting to leave on for most handheld vlogging, because the camera does the choosing.

Center, Spot and expanded spot

The center option is meant to be paired with focus lock so you can frame the shot the way you want. Spot lets you move the frame anywhere and target a tiny subject. The expanded version falls back on surrounding focus points when the single point cannot lock. Use Spot when Wide keeps picking your face over the small object on the table, or when you want one exact detail sharp.

Tracking

To start tracking, point the cursor at Tracking on the Focus Area screen and pick the starting area with the left and right sides of the control wheel. Photography Blog's review describes the process as placing the AF point over the subject and half-pressing the shutter, after which the camera follows the subject as it moves, whether it is a person or another object.

Moving and resetting the frame

Pressing the Delete button returns the focus frame shape and size to the default settings. While you are moving the focusing frame, functions assigned to the control wheel and the Product Showcase Set button are unavailable. If a button seems dead, check whether you are still in frame-moving mode.

If you own the original ZV-E10, its help guide says only Wide, Zone, Flexible Spot: L, Tracking: Zone and Tracking: Flexible Spot L appear by default, and you add other areas with the Focus Area Limit function.

Continuous AF and the tracking buttons

On the original ZV-E10, Sony's help guide says tracking works only when the focus mode is set to Continuous AF. For video and for anything that moves, set Continuous AF as your default.

The ZV-E10 II lets you assign Tracking On + AF On to a custom key through Custom Key/Dial Set., and while you hold that key during still shooting, autofocus and tracking work together to keep the subject in focus. With Tracking On + AF On, the camera tracks the subject in whatever focus area you had set before pressing the key. On the original ZV-E10, holding a key set to Tracking On temporarily switches the focus mode to Continuous AF and the focus area to the matching Tracking setting.

This is a handy setup for stills: leave a simple focus area in place, and press and hold the tracking key only when your subject starts moving.

Face, eye and subject recognition

Reviews agree that face and eye detection is the ZV-E10 II's strong point for creators. Digital Camera World's reviewer reports no issue getting the camera to recognize their face and eyes for vlogging. The same review found animal recognition weaker, with a lower-than-ideal hit rate on domestic animals and poor results on exotic animals at a zoo, and attributes this to the missing AI chip. Photography Blog's verdict also criticizes Sony for leaving out the subject-recognition AI chip from the A6700.

Sony's help guide for the original ZV-E10 explains how the Face/Eye AF Set. menu behaves, and the logic is a good guide to what you will see on screen:

• The setting decides whether the camera focuses with priority on faces and eyes, with an On/Off choice for detecting faces or eyes inside the focus area.
• A gray frame appears when a face is detected and turns white when autofocus is possible, with up to 8 faces detected.
• If no face or eye is found in or around the focus area, the camera focuses on another detectable subject.
• Assigning Eye AF to a custom key applies eye focus across the whole screen while you hold the key, regardless of the Focus Area setting.
• A Subject Detection option sits inside the same menu, and AF Area Auto Clear makes the detection frame disappear after focus is achieved.

Menu names on the ZV-E10 II can differ from the original's, so use these as a map of what to look for rather than an exact path. For human subjects, leave face and eye priority on. For pets, expect to help the camera with a smaller focus area or Tracking.

Product Showcase

Product Showcase solves a common vlogging problem. In Sony's Alpha Universe piece, Miguel Quiles explains that cameras with face and eye focus usually keep focusing on the presenter and ignore the item held up to the lens, while Product Showcase switches to the item and back to the person. Digital Camera World's review says the ZV-E10 II focuses on whatever object is nearest the camera and snaps back to a face when the product is lowered, and calls the autofocus seamless in this mode. PetaPixel's comparison review also says it works very well for YouTubers demonstrating a product.

According to Photography Blog, the Delete button doubles as the C2 custom button, which is set to Product Showcase by default. Turn it on for unboxings, beauty tutorials or gear demos, and turn it off for regular talking segments so the camera doesn't jump to a hand or a coffee mug that drifts close to the lens.

Background Defocus and focus

Background Defocus is not an autofocus mode, but it changes how sharp your background looks. PetaPixel describes the button as toggling between the shallowest and deepest depth of field your lens allows. Digital Camera World notes it uses the widest aperture available, so the effect depends on your lens, and its reviewer did not notice a massive difference with the kit lens. PetaPixel points out that experienced shooters can get the same result by setting the aperture manually.

Shallow depth of field leaves less room for focus error, which makes face and eye priority more important when the button is on. The Sony ZV-E10 Background Defocus guide explains the button and lens choices in more detail.

If you shoot with the kit lens, PetaPixel reports that the new 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 II can retain autofocus while zooming.

When the autofocus seems to miss

Busy scenes

Digital Camera World found the autofocus slow to adjust in complicated scenes, giving the example of a flower bed where the camera struggled to pick the most prominent flower. PetaPixel's comparison notes that the camera can occasionally second-guess itself and briefly snap to the background or foreground. In scenes like these, switch from Wide to Zone or Spot so you decide where the camera looks.

Blur that isn't a focus problem

PetaPixel reports that without in-body stabilization, slower shutter speeds produce odd blurry frames that make it look like the autofocus is struggling, when the whole frame is actually blurry. Before you change focus settings, check whether everything in the frame is soft, which points to shake or motion blur rather than missed focus.

Digital zoom

The zoom rocker around the shutter handles digital zoom as well as optical zoom on certain power zoom lenses. On the original ZV-E10, Sony's help guide says that using any zoom other than optical zoom disables the Focus Area setting and focuses with priority on the center. If your chosen focus area suddenly stops working while zoomed in, that is the likely cause. The ZV-E10 blurry photos and video fixes guide walks through the common causes.

Starting settings for beginners

Situation	Focus area	Extra settings
Selfie vlogging	Wide	Continuous AF, face and eye priority on
Showing products to camera	Wide	Product Showcase on
Small details on a table	Spot	Product Showcase off
Kids, pets, moving subjects	Tracking	Continuous AF, tracking key assigned
Busy backgrounds	Zone	Face and eye priority on

Set these once, then change one thing at a time when a shot fails. Most focus trouble on a camera like this comes from the focus area being too wide for the scene, or from motion blur being mistaken for missed focus.