Ok just picked up a Sigma 2.8 18-50 4/3 lens

[Steve Montoto]

Just received it today with the Panasonic adapter and it was pretty hard to find, but it was worth it. It gives the camera some heft and feels like the real deal now. Ive shot a few clips and the picture quality is awesome, plus the 2.8 should make it quite useful for low light weddings.

How are you guys using it? Manual focus? Max Iso setting you used with good results? Any tips are welcome.

Thanks!

[Jeff Harper]

Steve, contratulations on your purchase! I'm still learning how to focus with it. Use it, use it use it till you're sick of it. Practice following people and focusing manually. It will seem impossible to do, but it can be done, and must be done during the processional anyway, if you're going to use it that way.

What I've been doing is setting the focus at about halfway down the aise, then I adjust and attempt to follow focus. I might jump ahead, focus wise, and the when I catch them in focus, or just before I ever so slighthly adjust to follow. If you're down front don't pan around, just let the subjects pass by.

If you use auto focus in some situations, you want to use the spot focus on the GH2, touch the screen where you want to focus, and do it that way.

Now the hard part begins, but it's the price of using these damned cameras. If you are running a great fast lens from the rear with a steady shot, you'll just have to rely on that for your screw ups, which you'll have plenty of. Accept it and just get better!

[Steve Montoto]

I have been practicing a good part of the day, I am going to try some of the things you suggested this weekend and see how it goes. One thing I am wondering, is that I seem not to have the manual focus assist anymore. I have it set to on but it doesnt zoom in anymore, I just have auto and manual with no assist. Am I supposed to do something else to get the manual focus assist back so I can zoom in what I am focusing?

Thanks!

[Jeff Harper]

I know I know, I had the same problem, and with that lens I can't remember if I ever got it back. I run so many lenses I can't remember half of what I've learned.

You might have a problem there my friend. Wait, did you set to shoot w/o lens? Try that, or vice versa and see if that helps.

[Steve Montoto]

So there are only certain lenses that you can magnify/focus assist with? That is so weird, makes it very challenging. So are you mainly using the AF or are you mainly manual focus then? I think the AF works but it does mis-focus sometimes on objects.

[Jeff Harper]

That's why I use the touch focus if on the GH2, as Jim Snow has recommended, or maybe William H did, I don't recall who.

The focus reliability is OK, it's how you have your focus setting, I think. You kind of have to be specific with telling it exactly where to focus, because left to it's own devices, it will often select the wrong object.

I thought mine had front focus issues, and realized it was me, not the camera. It's not like using autofocus on a videocamera, which is what I expected when I got the camera. If I knew then what I know now I'm sure I would never had gone down this road!

[Steve Montoto]

How are you using your touch focus? I hate to go messing around with my settings and get something out of wack. Right now i can touch the screen on what I want focused then I need to press half shutter button to focus till box is green. For tripod mount that seems fine, but I use manual quite a bit and far off objects are a bear to make sure they are infocus with no zoom assist.

[Jeff Harper]

Off tripod you just have to guess, or hold the camera with one hand and touch the screen with the other.

You get better at it as you shoot, edit, and you get a better sense of how far off you are.

The touch focus I use just as you said. The focus assist will work, as long as your in manual mode, which is as good as it gets, I'm afraid.

Another drawback with the lens is you have to manually set white balance in low light, but I have to do that with my Tamron also. If you're down front during ceremony with it, you might want to stop recording just prior to vows, focus, and restart or just use touch screen.

[Steve Montoto]

From what I understand from reading, is that the Focus Assist(zoom focus) in manual mode works only with Panasonic Lumix lenses, and the non pany lenses with an adapter. The lenses like the Sigma with the Panasonic adapter that keeps the autofocus functions don't work with the focus assist, which is quite odd. I don't understand why non panny lenses like my FD's work just fine.

[Jeff Harper]

Steve I tested the Focus Assist with my Sigma and it worked in manual mode by touching the screen.

[Steve Montoto]

Well then I must have something turned off or something. I cant get it to work at all. The only thing mine does when I touch the screen is show the box which I can make bigger or smaller but it doesn't zoom the screen for accurate focus. It only adjusts the size of the box for the adjustment of the autofocus algorithm.

Im no pro with this camera, so I could have something all screwed up.

[Jeff Harper]

Do you have the MF set on the camera and on the lens barrell as well?

[Jeff Harper]

Steve, the barrel AF/MF switch has no effect on using the MF assist, so forget I mentioned it.

I just tried the MF assist again for you and it worked fine by touch screen, but I can't activate it by any button, which I hate.

I brought up this problem that you are having in a thread, by the way, and while people chimed in, no one could help, there was no resolution.

I wish I could tell you how to fix your menu settings, but I cannot, and I'm sorry. It is a very frustrating thing, I know. Try resetting your camera settings in the menu, see if that fixes it.

I had the problem, and apparently it "fixed" itself. I was going crazy to make the feature work, and now it does, and I don't know what I did to fix it.

Good luck. Try some other forums also, see what is out there.

[Steve Montoto]

Im in the process of filming a Quincanera today, heading to the party part I will test some tonight. Thanks for the input. I do have the touch focus, but it doesn't zoom in.

[Steve Montoto]

Tested it tonight. Its working now, I did not change the settings in the camera. All I did was put on a FD lens to see if it worked and it did, when I put the sigma back on it started working. Glitch?