[Roberto Aita]

Thanks Bill for your hint, the issue is really weird cause the foreground and background ARE IN FOCUS, but the face is always SOFT. Seems to me that SONY is using a face detection algoritm and pushing down too much the detail in this specific area…
It never happened to me such a strange situation, with any camera (analog or digital). Of course I always work in fully manual and never touch autofocus/autoiris/autowhite buttons

Have a good time,

Roberto