DV Info Net - XL1 / XL1S focus hunting backfocus problems

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XL1S Focus Hunting

I bought an XL1s 3 months ago. Prior to the XL1S, I had bought a Sony TRV900. The Sony was easy to use right away. Focusing wasn't an issue. Same with my Sony VX1000. I can manually set the focus, or set the focus to infinity, and the focus stayed exactly there (I was videotaping a high school football game). I loved it. After buying the XL1S, I decided to use it for a different football game. It was a complete disappointment. I would zoom in, focus, and zoom ouot.... and lose focus. It was a complete disaster.... Since then, I made it a point to really learn how to use it. I attended any field hockey, football, volleyball, soccer... anything that I could practice on and not have to give a DVD out to anyone. Well, just last Friday, I finally decided to use the XL1s again, on the last football game for Helix High School (Highlanders) against Steele Canyon (Cougars). Wow! The clarity of the video just blew me away! My wife watched the footage, which I had transferred to DVD, and she wanted to know if I had spent money on a new camcorder. Even I was astonished how much better the footage was compared to my first 2 months of using it.

If you just want simplicity, the Sony camcorders are excellent, or even Panasonic ones. If you want to be in control (and really, that's the issue here. With the XL1S, you are in control, good or bad), then the XL1/XL1S, XL2 are definitely capable of jaw-dropping videos. I remember the first time I used my Canon 20D (still camera). I was so disappointed because of the many images that didn't seem sharp, or where the exposure wasn't right. It seemed that my point and shoot, which cost $1200 less, did a better job. Then I learned to stop using the 20D as a point and shoot. That made all the difference!

XL1s Focus Hunting

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simon Duncan (Post 692152)

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?

The manual says that even on manual focus, it can drift, depending on variables like temperature.

I had an XL1 and XL1s.

The IS lenses were nearly useless when it came to setting focus. So I got the fully manual 16x lens and that made a big difference. Not having any automatic features didn't matter at all to me since I never used them anyway.

The XL1 and XL1s CCD had a tendency to color shift over time. I sent the cameras in annually to get re-calibrated. Otherwise one corner would start to shift slightly cyan and the other magenta. Never had that happen in any other camera, and I worked with several different Sony cameras, and a couple of Canons, over the past several years.