Bulb mode on Sony A7 IV misbehaviour

[urkelbazinga]

My Unleashed '22 is being updated to the latest firmware on my Sony A7 IV.
That said, when setting it to Bulb mode and select any time the camera shoots after only a few seconds. Always after the same amount of seconds regardless what time I pick.
My understanding of Bulb mode setting in Unleashed is to set it in Bulb and in addition to define the time for the desired exposure (typically over 30 seconds).

[urkelbazinga]

Just updated to latest Unleashed firmware. Still the same behaviour: set the Unleashed to BULB mode and 1.42 min, the shutter ends the shot repeatable after 8 seconds.

[urkelbazinga]

What the heck?! I seem to have fixed it through trial and error, changing different settings.

In the end what seem to have made the difference is to switch from autofocus to manual focus.

How on earth does that influene the BULB timing parameter?

[mopperle]

Using autofokus for timelapse photography is always a bad idea, as it can result in various issue, like wrong focus point, messing up the intervall, when the camera can not focus .....

[urkelbazinga]

Thanks Otto for your kind hint.
Mind to emphasize that my issue was just the simplest BULB mode, means exposing beyond 30 seconds with my Sony, not doing any kind of timelapse?