I have the Pfaff 4.2. It is the only machine I use, sewing, piecing, FMQ. The feed dogs do drop for FMQ. There is a manual switch on the front of the machine. There are three settings, using different feet for FMQ. I have my machine set to automatically slightly raise the presser when I stop, leaves the needle down in the fabric. Most of the time I need to adjust the fabric when I stop, so I love it. If I don't need to adjust fabric, it doesn't matter because the needle is down so nothing moves if you don't want it to. I believe that you can change that setting but I would have to look for sure and I can't do that right now.