xl1s focus problem
 

Hi everyone. This is my first post and your advise would be appreciated.

I have owned a canon xl1s for over 6 months. From the first day I found that where there was motion it appeared to have trouble maintaining focus. Recently I filmed a wedding where everyone was on the dance floor. My colleague used a sony pd150. When I compared both footage I realised that sony always had a sharp picture whilst the canon footage showed continous problem with holding focus on the people. Similar to cameras from 20 years ago.

Is this normal for a canon xl1s or have I got a faulty model?

If this is a fault I am assuming i can get it repaired under warranty.

Thanks
Trev

hello trevor fox,

wow, i had the same problem. got my new xl1s about 3 weeks ago, and my first theater dance show last saturday.

several people at the time dancing at the stage, and my auto focus would go nuts. i did took it out of the auto focus mode, but the mf was a pain in the neck and the tape is terrible, in either mode.

used in the past a sony ...730, this was never a problem. i hope there is somebody out there with an answer.

help

greetings

karl

Hi Guys,

If you'll do a few searches on this forum, you'll find a lot of good information about the XL1s and focus--from people who explain things better than I do. But here's something to get you started:

First off, autofocus hunts continuously. Don't use it unless you have no other choice.

In manual focus, if you're going to have the camera in one position for a while, zoom in to the tightest point, focus, then zoom back out to where you want the shot. It should hold, but you still need to check it.

However, people have complained about the focus drifting over time, so in that case, you need to keep an eye on it and use the "push AF" button a lot. Be aware that this will undo any zoom focusing you did (as described earlier).

If none of that helps, you may actually have a problem with the camera and need to send it to Canon Service. If so, call Canon and they'll tell you about the warranty.

Karl, did you run into trouble because of other settings in manual mode, or just the focus?

I think this focus problem is ridiculous. You can't manually focus if the camera's on a steadycam or crane. This camera defocuses just sitting there in autofocus mode. Pan or zoom it goes out of focus. Canon needs to fix this. XL2 probably does the same thing. Audio drift is another pain in the ass. I love the quality of the video, but it isn't worth a shit if the shot's out of focus. I have a cheap old Sony consumer cam. Nuts on with focus unless you're shooting through a screen or something. This is probably the MOST annoying thing with the Canon XL series. I don't care if you're a "pro" camera user and you "need to get used to it". I watched a Madonna concert and the guy had a Sony on a crane. I really don't think he had to concern himself with focus as he was moving the camera all over the place.

Also, keep in mind that with the XL1 and perhaps the XL1s the auto focus needs about 50 lux to work reasonably well. It is the nature of the beast.

Thanks for ur replies guys. Filming wedding dances is quite common for me and this focus problem is putting me off the camera. I've decided to sell & move to a sony as I am not confident that the new xl2 will also suffer from this.

I am quite dissappoiinted after years of being in the business i have used panasonic cameras before moving to xl1s this year. None of my previous cameras had problems with focus.

Its a shame that such a great camera is let down by something so fundamental.

50 lux? How about a bright sunny day? Took some footage of a soccer game with the xl1 on a crane. Zooms in or out, a quick pan, or sitting there the lens goes out of focus or hunts.

<<<-- Originally posted by Lorinda Norton : Hi Guys,

If you'll do a few searches on this forum, you'll find a lot of good information about the XL1s and focus--from people who explain things better than I do. But here's something to get you started:

First off, autofocus hunts continuously. Don't use it unless you have no other choice.

In manual focus, if you're going to have the camera in one position for a while, zoom in to the tightest point, focus, then zoom back out to where you want the shot. It should hold, but you still need to check it.

However, people have complained about the focus drifting over time, so in that case, you need to keep an eye on it and use the "push AF" button a lot. Be aware that this will undo any zoom focusing you did (as described earlier).

If none of that helps, you may actually have a problem with the camera and need to send it to Canon Service. If so, call Canon and they'll tell you about the warranty.

Karl, did you run into trouble because of other settings in manual mode, or just the focus? -->>>

hello lorinda,

well, off course this was the first time i used the camcorder, so i have to learn a lot about the xl1s.
the show was 2 1/2 hours, constand light changes, way to much red...gh...from one to 15 people on stage. my set up is off course a tri-pot, sitting on a chair, lcd monitor, and no way to adjust or press any buttons in front of the camcorder while shooting, since i am controlling the camcorder by remote control, watch a field monitor/ recording set up, and i am way behind the camcorder. i was stressed out, more then the dancer since i saw the final product only the day after within a group of about 50 people!!!

here are the settings i used:
a auto mode
nd filter off
stabilizer on
m focus (after the auto focus went nuts)
gain +18db
white balance indoor light

after reading the instruction and the canon web site, i could not find out where the point is within the field of view of the lence, where the camera starts to focus. did i say that right?

overall the video turned out ok, we still can burn dvd's, much better then past tapes with my sony. even i don't understand everything 100% yet, i liked that i was able to adjust color/ gain, and audio, oh, i was shooting in a mode and indoor light position, since you can't adjust anything in the automatic position.

have an other indoor show nov. 17 with the same group, but different light condition, no colors, no theater set up, just neon light, so lets see how that will turn out.

thanks for your input and advice and i wonder if other xl1s owner could comment.

greetings

Hey Karl. You said the cam was on a tripod? If I'm not mistaken people always say to turn the stabiliser off if you have your camera on a tripod.
I could be wrong, though.

<<<-- Originally posted by Mathieu Ghekiere : Hey Karl. You said the cam was on a tripod? If I'm not mistaken people always say to turn the stabiliser off if you have your camera on a tripod.
I could be wrong, though. -->>>

hello mathieu,

thanks for your post. yes i did read that and did put it in mf at the second show, but the af still was on the run. after reading/ searching here i found a lot of postings in regards to that problem. it seems to me that the professionals here just shoot in mf because of that problem, or because they are professionals?.

i did find one post which recommends to clean the contacts from the lense and the camera body, which i did. the next show i have is on nov 17, so lets see.

greetings

Hey, Karl.
I certainly am not a professional, but I think many people just shoot on manual focus because you have much more control, and you can choose on what to focus. If I am not mistaken, AF mainly focuses on things in the middle of your frame, so if you want to have a rather special composition, that already is almost lost, because your camera sets focus on the wrong thing

And it's very annoying to see in a shot that in the middle of your shot, the focusing changes. If you set focus manually, it doesn't shift, it's really annoying to see that, and in narrative work really unacceptable.
(If you would think I know a lot of it... I don't :-p I have the XL1S only since a couple of days, but I come from a simple 1CCD camcorder, and I shoot narrative work (I'm still in high school, but the lesson package I'm taking is Audiovisual Forming (now it sounds stupid in English :-p)) so I already made some little shorts with my little camcorder, and if you set up a dramatic scene, focus shifting is sooo disturbing :-) :-)

But if you just want to shoot a little around or make documentaries in the style of the guerilla filmmaking, than it's very handy ofcourse. Manual focusing is offcourse only to use if you have much time and ofcourse are willing to put much time in focusing on that specifically thing you want

Hope it helps a little bit :-)
**bye****

If you use green box mode the camera takes over and reosrts to auto everything , regardless of the position you put the swiches in ,eg. manual focus resorts to auto focus in green box.DON'T use green box.
Mathieu you are correct.If on a tripod and you use the image stabilizer the camera may assume subject movement as camera movement and try to stabilize the subject movement.How do you spell disaster?
Try Lorinda's suggestion of the search because many focus problems are operator inducted BUT some can be camera problems whuch can be repaired by Canon.
P.S. few pro cameras have an autofocus
smitty

<<<-- Originally posted by Jack Smith : If you use green box mode the camera takes over and reosrts to auto everything , regardless of the position you put the swiches in ,eg. manual focus resorts to auto focus in green box.DON'T use green box.
Mathieu you are correct.If on a tripod and you use the image stabilizer the camera may assume subject movement as camera movement and try to stabilize the subject movement.How do you spell disaster?
Try Lorinda's suggestion of the search because many focus problems are operator inducted BUT some can be camera problems whuch can be repaired by Canon.
P.S. few pro cameras have an autofocus
smitty -->>>

hello smitty,

well, i bet it is all operator error, like i said i have the xl1 new, now about 4 weeks, but it seems to be interessting that the af problems has many postings here.

this tuesday i shoot an rehearsal and the show is on wednesday, so lets see if i can put some of the good advice to work.
will keep you posted.

greetings

few pro cameras have an autofocus

Huh? Try manually focusing when the camera's on a steady cam or crane. I have two XL1's and they are both the same when you need to autofocus - going out of focus on quick pans or zooms, hunting, etc. I manually focus when it's on a tripod, or my shoulder. You have to. Is this a topic with other cameras of this caliber? I don't think so.

the rehearsal went fine much better auto focus control because of better lighting and background condition. no "hunting" this time.
the theater was about 42 degree..needed a heater.
will post the show expirience incl. settings.

greetings

Lower corners out of focus.
 

I was shooting some footage with my XL1s at a hockey game through plexi glass and I noticed on play back the the lower left and right corners are out of focus.
The image was quiet distorted in those areas but the rest is fine.

Is this just a normal occurance because of the plexi? or do I have to set up my camera better? Any suggestions would be great!

Thanks

Got a grab you can post???



ash =o)

Problems with Focus and Zoom on 16x Lens
 

For some reason the 16x lens for my Canon XL-1S camera stopped zooming and became unfocused one day when I turned the camera on. It worked fine just the day before when I used it to videotape a nesting quail hen. Anyway, I was wondering why this lens won't zoom and shows a blurry out of focus image. I was also hoping maybe there was some way to fix this without sending the lens to a repair dealer, which is what I think I'll probably do. I used my 16x lens almsot exclusivley for wildlife and outdoor scenery. I thought maybe it had been jarred too much from me carrying it in a backpack or maybe my brief shots of a setting sun had damaged the lens, though I make sure I never get full-on bright shots of the sun because that can mess things up. Anyway, if anybody has any input on this issue I would appreciate it.

Regards,
Tristan Howard

Before getting too excited(I'm sure I would be) you may want to try removing the lense and cleaning the contacts very carefully.If you do alot of outdoor stuff the camera has posibly been exposed to some harsh enviroments and a little clean of the contacts may work.

Hi Tristan

The same thing happened to my XL1s, the len's wouldn't focus or zoom

Had to send it to canon for repair, the len's was ok but there was a faulty ribbon in the camera what ever that is, but thats what canon said and it fixed it and worked fine

Ian

They were referring to a ribbon cable. They are typically flat plastic with individual embedded strips of copper that make up the 'wires' in the cable. They tolerate flexing much more than standard cables and because they are flat, they take up less real-estate.

-gb-

I would second this idea. Many years ago I had a Panasonic camera shift all colors to green a few hours before I was to document an important speech. After a couple hours of troubleshooting to no avail I called Panasonic's tech service line (you could actually talk to a tech specialist then). I was advised to remove the lens and clean the contacts. The tech further explained that to save space and weight the metal body of the camera frame was used to carry the negative side of electrical connections (just as automobiles have done for years). Because many components within the camera use such low voltages even a thin film of grime and dirt residue can alter electrical resistance and cause camera components to behave erratically.

Cleanin the contacts and metal faces of the lens mount make the colors return to normal.

If the camra has not been serviced for a year or more, a visit to a repair center would be worthwhile.

Thank you all so much for the useful information.

Stock lens (ISII) back focus fix/lens overhaul cost?
 

Hello. The to-be-unnamed place where I work has an XL1s that has a fairly screwy stock lens. I don't know if it has other issues, but the back focus is definitely screwed up (won't hold a critical focus). Anyone know how much that repair generally costs?

Dear Josh,

In case you decide not to fix your XL1s lens, I have a slightly used XL2 20x lens for sale.

I'm not the one in charge of the decision. . .I'm thinking if it's a reasonable enough price, I might be able to convince them to have it done. The fixing, I mean.

Focus Canon xl1s
 

First of all when i move camera left to right i see a blur when i stop it comes into focus. I see this in the view finder even without recording. i have tried it stab on and off. When i record i get what i see in view finder. I bought the camera used called canon they said no record of service

www.kbvideos.net/blurtest.wmv
Got another wedding june 9th

go to manual mode, learn to focus by hand...the auto focus is what is doing this to you. Easy mode won't let you focus manually, AF will always be on and annoying you. The more trust you put in machines, the more they will rule your life...Ray Bradbury was sooo right.

Canon XL1 Focus
 

I have noticed recently that my camera is starting to loose focus even on auto mode. It tends to just breath in and out of focus from time to time.

I haven't had my camera serviced so I am wondering if a service will rectify this problem.

For example what might be causing my camera to loose it's focus like this even in auto mode. I have noticed this on static interview shots I have done even when the talent is center since I understand that when on Auto Focus the camera uses the center of frame as its focus point.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Auto focus needs reasonably prominent contrasting vertical edges. Drift and focus hunting can be induced by a combination poor light (less than 50 lux) and/or lack of contrasting vertical edges in the focus zone of the image, or if there are changes in the dominant contrasting vertical edges in the focus sensing zone of the image. Any of these could cause auto focus to struggle.

But I even noticed certain drifting of focus in manual mode.

I focus on a particular point and notice that the focus can slip and even breath. That is without moving the zoom or focus ring.
It just appears on this camera no to be very solid.

Again could this be something which might be tightened up or addressed by giving the camera a service?

If focus is drifting when nothing is going on, including changes in image content or zoom setting or lighting, then worth having the camcorder checked.

If you send it in for a check, it is helpful to also send in a tape with an example of what is happening.

check to see if the lens is dirty as well...we had a lens that a friend had purchased off of ebay (it had a single large finger print on the inside of the back element...the screws were glued down as well...wonder why it was being sold?). It never got good focus ever when in auto due to this.

Make sure your not in green mode, as even if you set manual focus, the camera will stay in auto.Although there are many factors which can affect focus , the "breathing" sure sounds like autofocus.

Hi Cole,

Just a question on cleaning the lens.

What do you use to clean the lens?

Are there any major Don'ts with cleaning these canon lens?
eg Materials or products to stay clear off.

Clean as you would a lens on a high quality still camera.

that one, we didn't...we sent it back for a refund and purchased a different camera.

XL1s 16x auto zoom focus problem
 

I'm experiencing this problem:

I'm in full wide. I set the focus to auto - focus is adjusted automatically. Then I set the focus to manual, then I zoom to full tele not even touching the focus ring. When zooming, the lens is going more and more out of focus, BUT in almost full tele the picture is suddenly sharp again and in full tele it is blured again.

I think the alignment of the lens and body is bad and should be adjusted. But I don't understand, why ther is this "sharp" in almost full tele. Your ideas are welcome.

Depth of field/focus is greatest at wide angle settings so focus accuracy is not as important or apparent. The accuracy of focus is most apparent at full telephoto setting due to the much reduced depth of focus.

The normal procedure for setting focus is to zoom in fully on the subject of interest, focus, than adjust zoom as needed to compose the shot. With this done, the focus should be good through out the zoom range. If it is not, the backfocus setting is off, and for the XL1 series with the stock auto lens, it means a trip for service (special tools requiredm; however, the manual lenses do provide for user back focus adjustments).

In general, setting focus when at full wide angle zoom setting will not provide satisfactory results when you zoom in.

Why the change in focus to sharper and then to not as sharp in the zoom? Assuming the lens is otherwise in good condition, I do not know for sure but given that the lens element positions are computer and servo controlled based on a specific program for the lens motion, and different elements may move differently during the zoom, it likely relates to starting the zoom from what is effectively an "out of focus" position even though depth of field made it look like it was reasonably in focus.

Hi Chris,
I know this has been addressed about a million times, but I thought I'd mention something that my XL-1 service guy told me. After inspecting and tuning up my camera, he told me that I shouldn't have focus-wander problems, if I use a procedure virtually identical to what you outlined above. However, he said that during the shoot, if I ever zoom the camera's lens in past about 80%, it was highly likely that the AF would lose its setting when I zoomed it back out again. This issue, he said, may become worse, if the zoom controls are operated quickly... going in or out (I think, is what he said).
I must confess to not understanding the mechanics behind this issue, but I certainly wish I could wish it away... but I can't.
I did test this information at my last dance recital shoot, however, and I believe his information is/was correct. My AF seemed to stay locked at the manually-set point, unless I zoomed in too far, or pulled back quickly.
But my eyesight (and the resulting "transitional" bifocal glasses!) makes it difficult to always discern perfect focus, even though I use the B&W viewfinder (as opposed to the stock one). I'll soon be working with a larger monitor at my station, so I can get a better sense of accuracy, but I thought I'd just drop in my two-cents worth... for whatever it's worth.

Thanks!

Skip Hall
Homeworks Video Productions
Suffolk, Virginia