Auto Focus "BAD" Hunting Problem at DVinfo.net

Tomas Chinchilla · February 2nd, 2007, 05:53 PM

ARGGGG, It's happening to me too, it's so bad that even when it finally decides to focus on something and you think "well finally" it starts pulsating in and out.

"It's worse on HDV24" "Handheld or tripod" "Zoomed all the way in or Wide Angle"

I never had this issue with any other camcorder whether DV or HDV.

I don't mind pulling manual focus here and there, but this is definetly not right, not for casual shooting, running behind kids, etc.

Just bought it 4 days ago so it's going back to the store. I even tried turning Instant AF off (I believe that's the name), even when pushing the assist button it struggles to find it. I have seen footage of people who didn't even know how to use the cam so they used it all auto and focus looked great, I tested another cam here in ATL and it was fine too.

Suggestions/comments?

Jeff Rhode · February 2nd, 2007, 06:32 PM

The demo that we have had for 2 weeks from Canon has been doing the same thing. We ar inclined to go with the V1's, or maybe the Z1's again. the focus was slow to respond and was hunting even when there was good contrast. Then the problem with manual focusing was that the screen and viewfinder are very difficult to see what is sharp. One of our guys shot wrestling with it and it was hunting all over. The next night he shot wrestling with the V1 and it was sharp, and even held focus when the ref. walked through the frame.

Funny thing is that the demo tape from Canon had examples compairing the A1 focus to the "others"--you should have seen how fast the Canon focused in that tape. It was more like a still camera.

Tomas Chinchilla · February 2nd, 2007, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Rhode

The demo that we have had for 2 weeks from Canon has been doing the same thing. We ar inclined to go with the V1's, or maybe the Z1's again. the focus was slow to respond and was hunting even when there was good contrast. Then the problem with manual focusing was that the screen and viewfinder are very difficult to see what is sharp. One of our guys shot wrestling with it and it was hunting all over. The next night he shot wrestling with the V1 and it was sharp, and even held focus when the ref. walked through the frame.

Funny thing is that the demo tape from Canon had examples compairing the A1 focus to the "others"--you should have seen how fast the Canon focused in that tape. It was more like a still camera.

Interesting!

I hope they don't give me any issues and just exchange it. I know them pretty well so I don't think that will be a problem.

Jeff Kellam · February 5th, 2007, 03:18 PM

Ha!

My old JVC GR HD-1 did that.

Almost pulled my hair out. Something is wrong.

Tony Tremble · February 5th, 2007, 03:30 PM

Is something really wrong or are the expectations of auto focus too high?

Check against a target object that is well lit and has plenty of detail. It is possible to confuse any auto focus system under adverse conditions.

I have been extremely impressed by the IAF system in conjunction with manual focus. I get as close as I can manually then push IAF to make sure I've hit focus. The more you assist the AF system the better the results will be unless you really do have a fault then get the camera checked out by Canon asap.

TT

Tomas Chinchilla · February 5th, 2007, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony Tremble

Is something really wrong or are the expectations of auto focus too high?

Check against a target object that is well lit and has plenty of detail. It is possible to confuse any auto focus system under adverse conditions.

I have been extremely impressed by the IAF system in conjunction with manual focus. I get as close as I can manually then push IAF to make sure I've hit focus. The more you assist the AF system the better the results will be unless you really do have a fault then get the camera checked out by Canon asap.

TT

Been there done that, and the answer was all the same. One weird thing I noted though is that if you pay detailed attention while the cam is hunting for focus, the zoom actually moves slightly back by itself, I found that strange.

Something is wrong.

Piotr Wozniacki · February 5th, 2007, 07:45 PM

Do you have high speed zoom activated in the custom functions file you're using? It makes the pulsing worse!

Tomas Chinchilla · February 5th, 2007, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piotr Wozniacki

Do you have high speed zoom activated in the custom functions file you're using? It makes the pulsing worse!

Nope! not at all.

February 2nd, 2007, 05:53 PM	#1
Tomas Chinchilla Major Player Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 212 Images: 8	Auto Focus "BAD" Hunting Problem ARGGGG, It's happening to me too, it's so bad that even when it finally decides to focus on something and you think "well finally" it starts pulsating in and out. "It's worse on HDV24" "Handheld or tripod" "Zoomed all the way in or Wide Angle" I never had this issue with any other camcorder whether DV or HDV. I don't mind pulling manual focus here and there, but this is definetly not right, not for casual shooting, running behind kids, etc. Just bought it 4 days ago so it's going back to the store. I even tried turning Instant AF off (I believe that's the name), even when pushing the assist button it struggles to find it. I have seen footage of people who didn't even know how to use the cam so they used it all auto and focus looked great, I tested another cam here in ATL and it was fine too. Suggestions/comments? __________________ Tomas A. Chinchilla \| CANON XH A1, HV20 & HC3 \| Retired Cams: GL2, HC1, FX1, Z1, \| Final Cut Studio 2

February 5th, 2007, 03:18 PM	#4
Jeff Kellam Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 656	Ha! My old JVC GR HD-1 did that. Almost pulled my hair out. Something is wrong. __________________ Panasonic HMC150/Canon A1/JVC HD1/Sony Vegas 8.0c

February 5th, 2007, 07:45 PM	#7
Piotr Wozniacki Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Poland Posts: 4,086	Do you have high speed zoom activated in the custom functions file you're using? It makes the pulsing worse! __________________ Sony PXW-FS7 \| DaVinci Resolve Studio; Magix Vegas Pro; i7-5960X CPU; 64 GB RAM; 2x GTX 1080 8GB GPU; Decklink 4K Extreme 12G; 4x 3TB WD Black in RAID 0; 1TB M.2 NVMe cache drive

February 2nd, 2007, 06:32 PM	#2
Jeff Rhode Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: NJ, USA Posts: 169	The demo that we have had for 2 weeks from Canon has been doing the same thing. We ar inclined to go with the V1's, or maybe the Z1's again. the focus was slow to respond and was hunting even when there was good contrast. Then the problem with manual focusing was that the screen and viewfinder are very difficult to see what is sharp. One of our guys shot wrestling with it and it was hunting all over. The next night he shot wrestling with the V1 and it was sharp, and even held focus when the ref. walked through the frame. Funny thing is that the demo tape from Canon had examples compairing the A1 focus to the "others"--you should have seen how fast the Canon focused in that tape. It was more like a still camera.

February 5th, 2007, 03:30 PM	#5
Tony Tremble Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 451	Is something really wrong or are the expectations of auto focus too high? Check against a target object that is well lit and has plenty of detail. It is possible to confuse any auto focus system under adverse conditions. I have been extremely impressed by the IAF system in conjunction with manual focus. I get as close as I can manually then push IAF to make sure I've hit focus. The more you assist the AF system the better the results will be unless you really do have a fault then get the camera checked out by Canon asap. TT