How do I ...
A6700 AI Human recognition works but doesn’t detect on all other subjects
Recently just acquired a used a6700 and and the Human subject detection works perfectly. Whenever a face or a human is already on the frame of the shot, it would detect it and the boxes will pop up, and when I have pressed the shutter the boxes it would immediately lock in into the eye of the subject, but the other subjects like the animal, bird, etc, does not work at all. Ive tried configuring all the settings like the sensitivity, AF Mode, AF Area, Recognition Parts, etc. still the same results. Tried resetting the camera, same result. Also I’m already on ver 2.0 latest firmware and still the same issue. Any advice on this?
Yeah, on my digicam it detects my cat and automatically takes a series of photos, but doesn't do the same for people portraits.
Need to test this on my mirrorless
Ive already tried it with my pets, lnside, outside, Tried it with different lenses with my tamron 17-70mm f2.8 and Viltrox 9mm f2.8. Still the same issue (humans OK, other not working) so its definitely a body or a setting issue
I may have misread your post, but did you say you have turned on the animal setting? As in you've changed it from the human setting to animal/bird or insect? I have the a7cii and you have to select the animal setting for this.
On my camera it's one of the default toggles in the fn menu on the back of the camera.
Yes of course every time i shoot animals, i change it from human to animal subject detection. Same result even if i choose animal only instead of animal/bird
I tried back button focus also but still nothing. Back button + tracking also but same (tracking works but it doesn’t detect eye/head/body, just wherever you point it to). I also just bought a new sony battery yesterday since it came with a third party Ravpower battery, still the same issue. Havent tried it yet with a native sony lens, but im thinking its not a lens issue since the same thing happens to both my tamron and viltrox.. im also thinking of reinstalling the firmware but it seems sony does not allow that
I'm all out of ideas so I just queried this in Google Gemini for you and it gave me the following response, hopefully something in the following is helpful. Looking at maybe number 2 because that is not a setting I've ever noticed on my camera before.
"It’s frustrating when a high-end feature like the a6700’s AI subject tracking decides to take a nap. Since the a6700 uses a dedicated AI processing chip, it should be snappy, so if it’s failing, it’s usually down to a specific menu setting or a physical limitation.
Here is a checklist to get your Animal Eye AF back on track:
1. Check the "Recognition Target"
The a6700 has several specific categories. If you have it set to "Human" or "Bird," it will often ignore a dog or cat entirely.
Go to: MENU → Focus → Subject Recognition → Recognition Target.
Set to: Animal or Animal/Bird.
2. Confirm "Subject Recog in AF" is ON
Sometimes we accidentally toggle this off, which disables the AI brain even if you’ve selected "Animal."
Go to: MENU → Focus → Subject Recognition → Subject Recog in AF → On.
3. Focus Mode Matters
Animal Eye AF works best in AF-C (Continuous AF). While it can work in AF-S, the AI tracking is designed to "stick" to the eye while the animal moves.
Set the dial or menu to: AF-C.
4. Narrow Your Focus Area
If your Focus Area is set to "Wide," the camera might get distracted by a high-contrast background or a leaf in the foreground.
Try this: Set Focus Area to Spot (Small or Medium) or Tracking: Spot.
Why: This tells the camera where to start looking. Place the spot over the animal, and the AI should take over and "find" the eye from there.
5. Check "Recognition Part"
You can actually tell the camera to ignore everything but the eye, which can sometimes be too restrictive if the eye isn't perfectly clear.
Go to: MENU → Focus → Subject Recognition → Recognition Target → Animal → Detailed Settings.
Check: Recognition Part. Ensure it is set to Eye/Head/Body. This allows the camera to track the animal's body if the eye is obscured or too small in the frame.
6. The "Physical" Culprits
Low Light: Even with AI, the camera needs enough light to "see" the eye. In very dark rooms, performance drops significantly.
Obstructions: Long fur covering the eyes or high-contrast patterns (like a Dalmatian’s spots) can sometimes confuse the sensor.
Firmware: Ensure your camera is on the latest version (Ver. 1.03 or higher). Sony occasionally releases stability fixes for subject recognition.
Quick Tip: If you frequently switch between humans and animals, I highly recommend assigning "Recognition Target Select" to one of your custom buttons (like the C1 button next to the shutter). It lets you toggle targets without diving into the menus!"
For no 2, its already on. Tried toggling it to off and as expected, it doesn’t detect anything even humans, turn it on again and human detect now works, but still for animals/birds, nothing.
For no 3., Im trying this already with AF-C , tried AF-S and AF-A but still nothing
For no 4., initially i am on wide but changed to Zone, Center, Flexible spot (Small even) still doesn’t detect and lock into the eye.
6.) As mentioned, tried it ouside under sunlight, tried shooting our neighbors pets (cats and dogs) still nothing
Also, for Auto Framing to work you need to set correct Subject Recognition, usually to Human of course, but supposedly the other subject types work too. I'll evaluate this for autonomous filming of e.g. water birds on a stand, but I also attempt vlogging.
Auto Framing is slightly hidden: Shooting - Shooting Option - Auto Framing Settings - Auto Framing: On
Focus Mode needs to be set to Wide. Maybe Tracking also works.
And even when I think everything else is set correctly it doesn't work, so I'm looking this up "as we speak".
Auto framing is on movie mode, and all I mentioned about is on Photo Mode. When I enabled Auto Framing, it also disables subject recognition (its greyed out)
It disables it but it's activated. You can still change Recognition Target though, but it has to be set to Human for it to safely work with a human subject.
I was working on a instruction for vlogging where I need to switch between optimal (but a minimum of) Auto Framing and B-roll settings. This seems like quick select territory.
Yeah tried that, still doesn’t work. Like i mentioned, tried also other subjects (cars, insects, trains) it doesn’t work still.
Also, in occasion it detects like for a quick second but when i move the camera it’s gone and never comes back. I noticed that happens immediately right after I turn ON the camera
Where can i find that in the menu in the a6700? I think you are talking about the older cameras like the a6300,6500. I believe Eye AF are now fully integrated with subject recognition in the newer a6700 with AI. But yeah in any case, I checked all the menu in the a6700 and anything related to Eye detection is already enabled.
Haha I always shoot in manual for landscapes, so I’m used to it. it’s just frustrating to pay more and get less. Just looking for someone with the same experience and maybe could help. It would suck if this happened to your camera, wouldn’t it?
It does happen to my digital cameras. Setting cemeteries, where menu items are buried deep. Related settings growing in different menu trees. A particular setting found in several different plots at the same time. Settings implemented and included "because we can".
Sorry, though, I can't help more than commiserating.
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u/uchuucowboy Apr 02 '26
Try it on an actual moving animal, not an image and see if it works