FOCUS and hand held verite shooting

doondoon

doondoon

Well-known member
Hi.

I'm curious if anyone has perfected a technique for focusing with the HVX while shooting hand held 'run and gun' verite style shooting. Obviously without an external native HD montior.

The focus assist doesn't really help in this situation (for me). By the time you dial in the focus assist the shot is gone.

eyeing the distance perhaps?
 
Stay on the wider end of the lens and you will have more room for error. You can also snap zoom in quickly manually and hit the auto focus button while staying on manual settings.
 
bosindy said:
Stay on the wider end of the lens and you will have more room for error. You can also snap zoom in quickly manually and hit the auto focus button while staying on manual settings.
Click to expand...



Yeah, i've been playing with that. It seems to work about half the time. The other half the auto focus gets confused for several seconds before it grabs focus and then I lose the shot. Also, if I'm on the move with a subject during a critical moment I would love to be able to 'ride' the focus and stay with the shot rather than zooming in focusing and going wide again. If i did this every time I needed focus the footage wouldn't be very useable.

Staying wide and closing down does give me deeper focus... but if I need to stay open for lighting reasons or need to be tighter on someone then that technique doesn't work.

I really think I'm going to have to work on very accurately eyeing distance and then using the distance on the LCD for focus. I can't think of another way.

It would help if Panasonic would put an HD LCD on their HD Camera. Instead they put a SD LCD on their HD camera. geeesh
:furious3::violin:
 
doondoon said:
It would help if Panasonic would put an HD LCD on their HD Camera. Instead they put a SD LCD on their HD camera. geeesh
:furious3::violin:
Click to expand...

Which would have upped the price of the camera how much ?

You can purchase the accessory of course.
 
What would be the point of having a HD LCD of the same size as the current one? Realistically all you can use a built-in LCD for with HD cameras is framing and monitoring the camera.

What Panasonic should have done is to allow the Focus Assist to be a toggle instead of letting it revert back to a normal display after a short delay. I recently discovered that they have implemented this for MACRO mode, so it should be possible to fix this in a firmware upgrade to be available at all times.
 
I would LOVE to pay panasonic for this upgrade. I'd happily pay another 1000-1500 bucks! I do have an external HD monitor which I paid 6000 for and I use it all the time... but it's impossible to use in any sort of practical way while shooting in the style/environments that I shoot in sometimes.
 
THoff said:
What would be the point of having a HD LCD of the same size as the current one? Realistically all you can use a built-in LCD for with HD cameras is framing and monitoring the camera.

What Panasonic should have done is to allow the Focus Assist to be a toggle instead of letting it revert back to a normal display after a short delay. I recently discovered that they have implemented this for MACRO mode, so it should be possible to fix this in a firmware upgrade to be available at all times.
Click to expand...

Do you mean that the a "true" HD LCD on the HVX would be so small that it would be difficult to see focus anyway?
If so, I know for example, that the Sony Z1 HDV camera has a better LCD than the HVX. I'm sure Panasonic could design something that would work way better than that.

They could use peaking. Think about the Varicam EVF.... it's tiny but it's also an effective tool for focus.
 
doondoon said:
I really think I'm going to have to work on very accurately eyeing distance and then using the distance on the LCD for focus. I can't think of another way.
Click to expand...

A young man approaches and old man in mid town Manhattan.

Young man: "Excuse me Sir, How do I get to Carnegie Hall?"

Old Man: "Practice, Practice, Practice!"
 
bosindy said:
A young man approaches and old man in mid town Manhattan.

Young man: "Excuse me Sir, How do I get to Carnegie Hall?"

Old Man: "Practice, Practice, Practice!"
Click to expand...


yeah, you're absolutely right.
I wonder how accurate the feet readout on the HVX is?
 
doondoon said:
Do you mean that the a "true" HD LCD on the HVX would be so small that it would be difficult to see focus anyway?
If so, I know for example, that the Sony Z1 HDV camera has a better LCD than the HVX. I'm sure Panasonic could design something that would work way better than that.

They could use peaking. Think about the Varicam EVF.... it's tiny but it's also an effective tool for focus.
Click to expand...
I'm not saying Panasonic couldn't have used a better LCD, but a 3.5" LCD with 720 or even 1080 lines of resolution (which doesn't exist AFAIK) would have such tiny pixels that you wouldn't be able to use it for determining focus without magnification.
 
THoff said:
I'm not saying Panasonic couldn't have used a better LCD, but a 3.5" LCD with 720 or even 1080 lines of resolution (which doesn't exist AFAIK) would have such tiny pixels that you wouldn't be able to use it for determining focus without magnification.
Click to expand...

well i vote they try! :2vrolijk_08:
 
Not sure, Iv'e never tried this way.

Are you using a follow focus? I find it hard using the HVX ring while handheld. If I started a wish list for the HVX I would ask for some sort of focus lock and more resistance on the ring.
 
bosindy said:
Not sure, Iv'e never tried this way.

Are you using a follow focus? I find it hard using the HVX ring while handheld. If I started a wish list for the HVX I would ask for some sort of focus lock and more resistance on the ring.
Click to expand...

I've tried using a follow focus but it's REALLY awkward during hand held... it didn't help me. I think a bit more resistance on the focus ring would be nice... perhaps there could be like three resistance settings.
 
THoff said:
I'm not saying Panasonic couldn't have used a better LCD, but a 3.5" LCD with 720 or even 1080 lines of resolution (which doesn't exist AFAIK) would have such tiny pixels that you wouldn't be able to use it for determining focus without magnification.
Click to expand...


Actually, they do make small HD screens.. even 1080p.. I know Seiko-Epson make some very small high resolution screens... We're going to see these types of screens implemented into cell phones over the next year or so.. But Panasonic decided to save a few bucks per cam and slap a SD screen on us.. I've been thinking of a way to mod the on-camera screen.. but I haven't figured it out yet..
 
AbstracTheory said:
Actually, they do make small HD screens.. even 1080p.. I know Seiko-Epson make some very small high resolution screens... We're going to see these types of screens implemented into cell phones over the next year or so.. But Panasonic decided to save a few bucks per cam and slap a SD screen on us.. I've been thinking of a way to mod the on-camera screen.. but I haven't figured it out yet..
Click to expand...


please. do it.
 
AbstracTheory said:
Actually, they do make small HD screens.. even 1080p.. I know Seiko-Epson make some very small high resolution screens... We're going to see these types of screens implemented into cell phones over the next year or so.. But Panasonic decided to save a few bucks per cam and slap a SD screen on us.. I've been thinking of a way to mod the on-camera screen.. but I haven't figured it out yet..
Click to expand...
There are small screens that accept HD inputs, but they don't have the full 720 or 1080 line resolution.

An LCD that can display all 1080 lines in the form factor of the HVX flip-out LCD would need a resolution of about 500 dpi, which is about five times the resolution of Apple's Cinema HD Display.
 
I'd be happy if the viewfinder was a B/W sd crt screen. I hate LCD viewfinders.

I come from the old school of looking through the viewfinder while run and gunning.

I really would like to know what is supposed to be different with the hvx200A I've been hearing about being released in the spring.

Have you tried a varizoom and just used the focus part while running (using the camera zoom but varizoom focus)?
 
Denwa said:
I really would like to know what is supposed to be different with the hvx200A I've been hearing about being released in the spring.
Click to expand...

There is no "a" coming. the hvx updates will take place in the Firmware updates.

As far as focus goes, switch it to Ft/inches and practice judging distances. set up distance markers at home a nd get a feel for distance, dial it in quickly, then use focus assist to make final corrections.
 
I'm with Tim, your friend is the footage readout in the viewfinder. This was a Panasonic innovation and a fabulous help.

i also mount a Marshall monitor to the top of my camera and wear glasses with a diopter so my tired old eyes can focus close. It's heavy as hell, but i can see what i'm, doing.
 
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