Any Improvement in Autofocus on Xacti HD1010? at DVinfo.net

Wacharapong Chiowanich · July 29th, 2008, 09:46 PM

Has anyone got the New Xacti HD1010? I'm just wondering if the autofocus hunting issue (real bad on the HD1000) has been improved. I and a few people around here want to get the HD1010 for its 1080p mode as well as the high-speed shooting.

The HD1000 has issues with poor focusing and stabilization. I don't think they can do anything with the stabilization on the new cam as the HD1010 is essentially the HD1000 with minor upgrades.

Best
Wacharapong

John Hedgecoe · October 24th, 2008, 08:06 PM

I just bought the HD1010 about a week ago, and I have already given up on autofocus. Even when it works, it continues to hunt. You can watch the video and see it going in and out of focus. So I would have to say, manual focus only.

You might also want to consider a wide angle attachment lens. The 0.7x is HUGE, almost bigger than the camera, but the 0.4x is a nice small lens that just looks like an extension to the camera. However the 0.4x vignettes at full wide, so you need to zoom in about 20% to be rid of the vignetting. Even then, it is still wider than the 0.7x.

Unfortunately no one seems to carry it. I had to go to the Sanyo service center way out on Rama 9 to get mine. But at least they do stock it. I also bought a battery charger.

Wacharapong Chiowanich · October 26th, 2008, 11:22 AM

Oops! Manually focusing the HD1000, how could you do that shooting hand-held? I guess one of the reasons we would need a wideangle adapter for is just to increase the depth of field so that we can safely pre-focus before we hit the record button?

Wacharapong

John Hedgecoe · October 27th, 2008, 08:36 PM

Yes, manually prefocus then shoot. I don't think you can change focus WHILE shooting. This works very well due to the large depth of field and by stopping the camera from hunting for focus, as it would if you were to use autofocus.

The HD1010 lens is not very wide at all, and I find I need much wider field of view for most things I shoot. Hence my need for a wide attachment. Your mileage may vary.

July 29th, 2008, 09:46 PM	#1
Wacharapong Chiowanich Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Bangkok, Thailand Posts: 400	Any Improvement in Autofocus on Xacti HD1010? Has anyone got the New Xacti HD1010? I'm just wondering if the autofocus hunting issue (real bad on the HD1000) has been improved. I and a few people around here want to get the HD1010 for its 1080p mode as well as the high-speed shooting. The HD1000 has issues with poor focusing and stabilization. I don't think they can do anything with the stabilization on the new cam as the HD1010 is essentially the HD1000 with minor upgrades. Best Wacharapong

October 24th, 2008, 08:06 PM	#2
John Hedgecoe Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bangkok, Thailand Posts: 146	I just bought the HD1010 about a week ago, and I have already given up on autofocus. Even when it works, it continues to hunt. You can watch the video and see it going in and out of focus. So I would have to say, manual focus only. You might also want to consider a wide angle attachment lens. The 0.7x is HUGE, almost bigger than the camera, but the 0.4x is a nice small lens that just looks like an extension to the camera. However the 0.4x vignettes at full wide, so you need to zoom in about 20% to be rid of the vignetting. Even then, it is still wider than the 0.7x. Unfortunately no one seems to carry it. I had to go to the Sanyo service center way out on Rama 9 to get mine. But at least they do stock it. I also bought a battery charger.

October 26th, 2008, 11:22 AM	#3
Wacharapong Chiowanich Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Bangkok, Thailand Posts: 400	Oops! Manually focusing the HD1000, how could you do that shooting hand-held? I guess one of the reasons we would need a wideangle adapter for is just to increase the depth of field so that we can safely pre-focus before we hit the record button? Wacharapong

October 27th, 2008, 08:36 PM	#4
John Hedgecoe Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bangkok, Thailand Posts: 146	Yes, manually prefocus then shoot. I don't think you can change focus WHILE shooting. This works very well due to the large depth of field and by stopping the camera from hunting for focus, as it would if you were to use autofocus. The HD1010 lens is not very wide at all, and I find I need much wider field of view for most things I shoot. Hence my need for a wide attachment. Your mileage may vary.