Autofocus and video with the T2i (or any DSLR shooting video) at DVinfo.net

Jason Lowe · February 26th, 2010, 09:58 AM

The new crop of DSLRs that shoot video have really piqued my interest, but one thing I haven't seen much on is how autofocus works (if it does) when shooting HD video. It's not a dealbreaker or anything, I'd just like some info. The ability to change lenses (shared with my 40D) makes this a very tempting piece of equipment.

Daniel von Euw · February 26th, 2010, 10:16 AM

The Canon DSLRs have only a slow contrast push focus.

But on the other hand i knew no professional camera with a big sensor (APS-C or FF) that have a continous autofocus - so that is not a "problem" of DSLR.

Daniel

Fei Meng · February 26th, 2010, 12:13 PM

The Panasonic GH1 does continuous autofocus, at a sufficient speed, while recording. It can even be set to track faces. Of course, the sensor is slightly smaller than APS-C.

Lance Watts · February 26th, 2010, 11:58 PM

The GH1 is not a DSLR and because it does NOT use a mirror, the camera is able to autofocus while shooting.

Kin Lau · February 27th, 2010, 08:13 AM

Many DSLR's since the Live-view days have been able to do _slow_ contrast based AF. There have been some optimizations in firmware updates, but it's still slow.

Panasonic made it a point to work on making it faster, hence AF on their m43 bodies are much faster than the Olympus EP series.

February 26th, 2010, 09:58 AM	#1
Jason Lowe Major Player Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Smithfield, Pennsylvania Posts: 226	Autofocus and video with the T2i (or any DSLR shooting video) The new crop of DSLRs that shoot video have really piqued my interest, but one thing I haven't seen much on is how autofocus works (if it does) when shooting HD video. It's not a dealbreaker or anything, I'd just like some info. The ability to change lenses (shared with my 40D) makes this a very tempting piece of equipment.

February 26th, 2010, 10:16 AM	#2
Daniel von Euw Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Köln, NRW, Germany Posts: 70	The Canon DSLRs have only a slow contrast push focus. But on the other hand i knew no professional camera with a big sensor (APS-C or FF) that have a continous autofocus - so that is not a "problem" of DSLR. Daniel

February 26th, 2010, 12:13 PM	#3
Fei Meng Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 78	The Panasonic GH1 does continuous autofocus, at a sufficient speed, while recording. It can even be set to track faces. Of course, the sensor is slightly smaller than APS-C.

February 26th, 2010, 11:58 PM	#4
Lance Watts Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 69	The GH1 is not a DSLR and because it does NOT use a mirror, the camera is able to autofocus while shooting.

February 27th, 2010, 08:13 AM	#5
Kin Lau Major Player Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Ottawa, ON Posts: 385	Many DSLR's since the Live-view days have been able to do _slow_ contrast based AF. There have been some optimizations in firmware updates, but it's still slow. Panasonic made it a point to work on making it faster, hence AF on their m43 bodies are much faster than the Olympus EP series.