View Full Version : manual focus
Cees Mutsaers
08-13-2007, 03:36 PM
Is it easy with the hpx500 to manual focus using the EVF ? In other words does it have a higher definition EVF or better add-ons to get the focuss spot on compared to the HVX ?????
mule ferguson
08-13-2007, 05:46 PM
Yes There is a user setting to bring up a visual scale it increases or decreases to achieve the best focus.. This was posted by Barry awile back. at the present I can not locate the site. Do a search or Go to your menu setting and you can set this up in your user file. I have the HPX2000 and it is my fav user setting along with gain.
Mule Ferguson
Simon Wyndham
08-16-2007, 12:55 AM
That graph can be brought up with one of the user buttons on the side of the camera if I remember right. It's quite useful as the EVF is a bit pants.
The graph works on edge frequency. Should be standard on all cameras!
AFAIK you can also use any good 16:9 crt viewfinder on the HPX. Only SD though - but probably still better for focussing than the standard viewfinder.
If you're comparing ease of focusing the 500 to the HVX, or any 1/3" camera, you will find that it is not a problem.. 2/3" cameras, like 16mm and 35mm cameras, have much shallower depth of field, which makes critical focusing much easier.. that said, it is also more likely that a moving subject will pop in and out of focus occasionally (I always shoot at f4 or less, even outdoors)... but that's okay, because it looks good even when slightly out - more like film (how many features have you seen where the subject is slightly soft?).
joe 1008
08-19-2007, 03:16 AM
The focus assist on the 500 works really fine. When the monitor or viewfinder canīt show the sharpness anymore (because of lack of resolution) the focus assist indicates exactly when everything is in focus. I tried it in a showroom, focused, went over to the HD monitor and everything was in focus. It even works when you work with shallow DOF or a more complex scene with different objects at different distances. In those more complex cases there is certainly a lerning curve: You have to interpretate to what object in the frame the graph of the focus assist is related. But it works fine!
Vincent Pascoe
08-20-2007, 12:06 AM
"focus assist indicates exactly when everything is in focus."
it does just that it its really good at telling you when everything is in Focus...like I was shooting a wide out side hard to see the Viewfinder and the LCD I had just shot a Macro shot the Focus assist was great for me to quickly assess when the hole picture was in focus...
also If your long lens shallow depth of field and your back ground is far off from your foreground it will help you "make sure" your dead on...
it just wasn't helpful on more complex shots 0r where theres foreground and background that are closer to each other or inter mingled...For these shots that new Panasonic Monitor with the red in focus looks like a promising tool.
you have to use common sense... The Focus assist will tell you when the majority of the frame is Peeking...if you remember that it works great...
VP
www.vincentpascoe.com
www.myspace.com/vincentpascoe
TimurCivan
08-20-2007, 12:34 AM
but that's okay, because it looks good even when slightly out - more like film (how many features have you seen where the subject is slightly soft?).
When i got an HD tv, i was surprised to see how many films are slightly out of focus....
joe 1008
08-20-2007, 06:13 AM
When i got an HD tv, i was surprised to see how many films are slightly out of focus....
How long that you didnīt walk into a cinema? :D