Focus...manual or auto?

Stu Holmes · May 18th, 2006, 09:08 AM

Michael

When you get a chance, if you could find out how long in seconds in takes to go from max.wideangle to max.telephoto on the A1 using the 521Pro controller at the slowest possible continuous speed please. Also does the 521Pro have a menu or something or a way of selecting different zoom-speed rates ? Or is there just one rate? Grateful for any info on this pls!

thanks in advance

Michael Stowe · May 18th, 2006, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stu Holmes

Michael

When you get a chance, if you could find out how long in seconds in takes to go from max.wideangle to max.telephoto on the A1 using the 521Pro controller at the slowest possible continuous speed please. Also does the 521Pro have a menu or something or a way of selecting different zoom-speed rates ? Or is there just one rate? Grateful for any info on this pls!

thanks in advance

Will do Stu, but for your second question...you can set your speed. You basically start zooming at the speed you want with the rocker. When you get the desired speed you hold down the focus button for a second and it will keep that speed for when you choose fixed mode zooming. Nice feature indeed. I will do some speed test tonight (will be late) unless someone beats me to it.

Thanks

Michael Stowe · May 18th, 2006, 12:13 PM

Stu...I just did a quick one time test with my shakey hands. I got 32 seconds from tele to wide. Someone may get slower, but that is what I got.

Thanks

Stu Holmes · May 18th, 2006, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Stowe

Stu...I just did a quick one time test with my shakey hands. I got 32 seconds from tele to wide. Someone may get slower, but that is what I got.

Thanks

Thats great - 32secs is a good result and i think better (i.e slower) than other reports i've read of other LANC products.
Many thanks Michael for that info.

Michael Stowe · May 18th, 2006, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stu Holmes

Thats great - 32secs is a good result and i think better (i.e slower) than other reports i've read of other LANC products.
Many thanks Michael for that info.

I will do it again when I get home later tonight to make sure. I basically set my zoom speed like mentioned in previous post and timed it. 32 seconds give or take 1/2 second...

Michael Stowe · May 18th, 2006, 07:33 PM

Ok...I did it 3 times and was only able to get 27 seconds. Not sure how I got the 32, but I am starting to think I figured wrong since it is 5 seconds diff.

Heath McKnight · May 31st, 2006, 12:33 PM

Manual! (my 2 cents)

heath

Stu Holmes · May 31st, 2006, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heath McKnight

Manual! (my 2 cents)

heath

Bti late to the pardayy hey Heath?! I reckon, with interest, thats about 2.1cents... ;-)

Heath McKnight · May 31st, 2006, 02:29 PM

Yeah, Stu, a bit late, but I couldn't help but jump in. As a film instructor, it kills me when students demand the camera be set to auto, and the DP does so. Then the student gets to editing, he/she blames the DP for it going in and out of focus. (We always try to warn them...)

hwm

Fredrik-Larsson · May 31st, 2006, 02:36 PM

He he... I used to be an auto-user but I am going to learn to work with manual. Oddly I am reviewing a couple of tapes to extract the "best of" and make a HDV-demo reel that I can view on my friends HD-screen. I just noticed a clip that when two people leaves the image the sky becomes slightly darker than it was when they were on the screen. So that is auto-something-else I reckon. Is it the exposure?

EDIT: I ment work with "manual" and not auto as I wrote...

Heath McKnight · May 31st, 2006, 03:57 PM

Probably auto-iris and maybe even auto-shutter.

If you aren't controlling the shutter, the image looks a lot different. Auto-shutter in the noon light can make it go to 1/250 and produce an effect you may not want, similar to the opening of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. In low light, the shutter will go to 1/30 or lower, giving a slow motion look.

You should control the camera and image--never let it control you.

heath

Cole McDonald · May 31st, 2006, 08:32 PM

I've been trying to determine a list of what to have manual/auto in order of visual importance for folks who've asked me how to get better pictures on cameras that don't allow manual control over everything...some do focus or exposure, not both at the same time. Someone care to chime in with their importance list of auto features that should be manual for best pic. Here's what I've come up with.

1.exposure
2.shutter
3.focus

focus fishing seems much less noticable to me, but I could be wrong.

Heath McKnight · May 31st, 2006, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cole McDonald

I've been trying to determine a list of what to have manual/auto in order of visual importance for folks who've asked me how to get better pictures on cameras that don't allow manual control over everything...some do focus or exposure, not both at the same time. Someone care to chime in with their importance list of auto features that should be manual for best pic. Here's what I've come up with.

1.exposure - this is your iris, and it's very important to have total control over. People walk in front of something bright, the image will brighten, then darken. Looks amateurish.

2.shutter - If you don't have total control of it, you're video will look slow-mo (low shutter) or jittery and almost like there's no motion blur (high shutter). Looks amateurish.

3.focus - If you're on auto focus, esp. in low light, the camera will have issues finding focus. I've seen it happen. Or when people walk in front of the camera, the focus will shift once, then again when they walk away. When things are out of focus, or the main object isn't in focus, it screams, you guessed it, amateur.

I highly recommend reading up on some books or training DVDs to learn how to get the most out of your camera. Try these:

1. http://vasst.com/product.aspx?id=aa9...c-274132e686c5 (and any www.vasst.com training products, books, DVDs, etc.)

2. http://www.videomaker.com/scripts/in...e=c10&Ftype=F5 (and anything here: http://www.videomaker.com/scripts/menu_clubvid.cfm)

Remember, manual is the key to great video.

Now, of course, if you can't control it, then control the shot. More indoors than outdoors, where light can be controlled (iris, shutter and focus). And take care in how subjects come into the scene, to keep things from going in and out of focus.

heath

Cole McDonald · May 31st, 2006, 09:13 PM

I'm personally shooting with an XL1s and run everything manual, I was wondering how you would prioritize them if you had to.

i.e. I'd pick auto-focus/manual exposure if the camera only gave the option of one at a time...or is the focus more important than constant exposure for getting a good picture.

Michael Stowe · May 31st, 2006, 09:39 PM

I keep my shutter set at 1/60 all of the time unless I need a different effect. I agree that exposure is a major key as well since you will get that bright/dark/bright amateur effect as mentioned. Focus is a little tricky depending on the cirumstance. I do like the LANC controller I have since I can keep it in manual and use one push auto focus to get a quick result. I started this thread a little while back and have found that manual, on most settings, is needed. I do like to use the one push focus as I mentioned and also like spot metering for exposure. Another key point, for me at least, is proper white balance which I use an 18% gray card and then adjust accordingly.

May 31st, 2006, 12:33 PM	#52
Heath McKnight MPS Digital Studios Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Palm Beach County, Florida Posts: 8,531	Manual! (my 2 cents) heath __________________ My Final Cut Pro X blog

May 31st, 2006, 02:29 PM	#54
Heath McKnight MPS Digital Studios Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Palm Beach County, Florida Posts: 8,531	Yeah, Stu, a bit late, but I couldn't help but jump in. As a film instructor, it kills me when students demand the camera be set to auto, and the DP does so. Then the student gets to editing, he/she blames the DP for it going in and out of focus. (We always try to warn them...) hwm __________________ My Final Cut Pro X blog

May 31st, 2006, 02:36 PM	#55
Fredrik-Larsson Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: Malmö, Sweden Posts: 395	auto-something-else He he... I used to be an auto-user but I am going to learn to work with manual. Oddly I am reviewing a couple of tapes to extract the "best of" and make a HDV-demo reel that I can view on my friends HD-screen. I just noticed a clip that when two people leaves the image the sky becomes slightly darker than it was when they were on the screen. So that is auto-something-else I reckon. Is it the exposure? EDIT: I ment work with "manual" and not auto as I wrote... __________________ The Russian Captain (upcoming feature) http://trc-movie.blogspot.com/ My movies http://www.larssonfilm.com/

May 31st, 2006, 03:57 PM	#56
Heath McKnight MPS Digital Studios Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Palm Beach County, Florida Posts: 8,531	Probably auto-iris and maybe even auto-shutter. If you aren't controlling the shutter, the image looks a lot different. Auto-shutter in the noon light can make it go to 1/250 and produce an effect you may not want, similar to the opening of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. In low light, the shutter will go to 1/30 or lower, giving a slow motion look. You should control the camera and image--never let it control you. heath __________________ My Final Cut Pro X blog

May 31st, 2006, 08:32 PM	#57
Cole McDonald Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Sauk Rapids, MN, USA Posts: 1,675	I've been trying to determine a list of what to have manual/auto in order of visual importance for folks who've asked me how to get better pictures on cameras that don't allow manual control over everything...some do focus or exposure, not both at the same time. Someone care to chime in with their importance list of auto features that should be manual for best pic. Here's what I've come up with. 1.exposure 2.shutter 3.focus focus fishing seems much less noticable to me, but I could be wrong. __________________ Web Youtube Facebook

May 18th, 2006, 09:08 AM	#46
Stu Holmes Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: Europe Posts: 844	Michael When you get a chance, if you could find out how long in seconds in takes to go from max.wideangle to max.telephoto on the A1 using the 521Pro controller at the slowest possible continuous speed please. Also does the 521Pro have a menu or something or a way of selecting different zoom-speed rates ? Or is there just one rate? Grateful for any info on this pls! thanks in advance

May 18th, 2006, 12:13 PM	#48
Michael Stowe Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 177	Stu...I just did a quick one time test with my shakey hands. I got 32 seconds from tele to wide. Someone may get slower, but that is what I got. Thanks

May 18th, 2006, 07:33 PM	#51
Michael Stowe Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 177	Ok...I did it 3 times and was only able to get 27 seconds. Not sure how I got the 32, but I am starting to think I figured wrong since it is 5 seconds diff.

May 31st, 2006, 09:13 PM	#59
Cole McDonald Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Sauk Rapids, MN, USA Posts: 1,675	I'm personally shooting with an XL1s and run everything manual, I was wondering how you would prioritize them if you had to. i.e. I'd pick auto-focus/manual exposure if the camera only gave the option of one at a time...or is the focus more important than constant exposure for getting a good picture. __________________ Web Youtube Facebook

May 31st, 2006, 09:39 PM	#60
Michael Stowe Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 177	I keep my shutter set at 1/60 all of the time unless I need a different effect. I agree that exposure is a major key as well since you will get that bright/dark/bright amateur effect as mentioned. Focus is a little tricky depending on the cirumstance. I do like the LANC controller I have since I can keep it in manual and use one push auto focus to get a quick result. I started this thread a little while back and have found that manual, on most settings, is needed. I do like to use the one push focus as I mentioned and also like spot metering for exposure. Another key point, for me at least, is proper white balance which I use an 18% gray card and then adjust accordingly.