soft at wide angle

[mindhead]

Hi all,


I bought a used dvx100b a while back and have been shooting some test footage following Andy Starbuck's tips. Anyhow the wide angle shots im getting look soft/out of focus, i've been doing thread searches here regarding focus but im still not sure if my camera is focusing properly when at the wide angle, as it looks soft to me. Heres some footage i shot a couple of days ago, all using auto focus, auto iris, scene file 1 factory settings. Is the focus correct? Is it a back focus problem? Any advise would be appreciated thanks.

https://vimeo.com/42847641 f.4.0 i think. detail level 0

https://vimeo.com/42849221 f.48, detail level +2 i think

https://vimeo.com/42886966 f 6.8 detail level 0

[joot]

The reason it's soft is because you are using auto focus. Never use auto focus, always use manual focus and I will guarantee you will get sharper video.

[kplo]

Search this forum for the proper way (distance,F stop, etc.) to test for a back focus problem. Such problems can often be resolved with a "software alignment" at an authorized repair facility..
Ken

[mindhead]

To get the camera serviced costs $$$. Bet it would cost nearly more then the cameras worth. I thought the auto focus on the dvx was accurate, like if your shooting documentary style with spontaneous camera moves it would be difficult with out the auto focus. I'll have to shoot some new footage trying the zoom in focus and zoom out method / test the back focus. If the back focus is out i'll have to improvise some how like find the widest angle the camera will focus correctly on and shoot no wider then that. In general is the lcd reliable for judging focus? I guess it depends, in my case i would not have a focus puller, i could use a bigger monitor though. Thanks

[tmuss]

A couple of those clips don't look overly soft to me for SD footage. You won't be able to get HD sharpness from a SD cam, although if you manually accurately focus you can improve it some for Vimeo/YouTube by uprezzing the footage. How does the video look straight from the cam on a TV?

[Macrobbs]

thanks, you right have nice day

[mindhead]

A couple of those clips don't look overly soft to me for SD footage. You won't be able to get HD sharpness from a SD cam, although if you manually accurately focus you can improve it some for Vimeo/YouTube by uprezzing the footage. How does the video look straight from the cam on a TV?

Yes i'd kinda forgot how low rez dv is, i watched the 'the puffy chair' again which was shot on a dvx100 and it put things in perspective, also checked out '28 days later' and man is that soft. Had my camera checked on a focus chart and the focus is correct. Happy days.