I was going to buy an A1, until......

T

Tom Films

Active member
I heard the auto focus is garbage when filming on snow. I talked with another film maker who shoots on snow and he said the darn thing won't focus. Lots of back and forth and never finds its focus many times. You commented it was so bad, you wanted to throw the darn thing out of the chopper and went back shooting with a DV cam.

And I've read on these forums about bad auto focusing, but didn't realize it was so bad. I guess it's amplified when shooting in white conditions from far distances.

I shoot with a VX2100 and have no auto focus issues, so I guess it's time to look at an HD sony or Panasonic. Bummer, as I really liked what the A1 had to offer.

Anyone else have auto focus problems?
 
Are you filming snow? If not then I think it wouldn't matter. Autofocus is never a problem for me. But then again I seldom use autofocus.
 
Take the IF setting off...it searches in brightness. Tell that to the "FILM MAKER" before he throws out the camera. :-)

Tom Films said:
I heard the auto focus is garbage when filming on snow. I talked with another film maker who shoots on snow and he said the darn thing won't focus. Lots of back and forth and never finds its focus many times. You commented it was so bad, you wanted to throw the darn thing out of the chopper and went back shooting with a DV cam.

And I've read on these forums about bad auto focusing, but didn't realize it was so bad. I guess it's amplified when shooting in white conditions from far distances.

I shoot with a VX2100 and have no auto focus issues, so I guess it's time to look at an HD sony or Panasonic. Bummer, as I really liked what the A1 had to offer.

Anyone else have auto focus problems?
Click to expand...
 
If I were you I would borrow, or rent one before letting on persons bad experience dictate your own. For me the good by far out ways the bad. I love this camera. Never filmed snow before, but by the same token hardly never do I use the auto-focus anyway. Good luck with what ever camera you go with.
 
Can you explain the IF setting further?

The situations we frequently film are bright days, most of the background is solid white (except for rocks, trees, etc) and we are filming a small black dot (the person) often from great distances of 1/4 mile away or more (10x-20x zoom).

Other times we have the weather factor. Heavy snow, fog, whiteout conditions. My Sony did awesome in this as well. Only time it ever BRIEFLY lost focus was when the deep snow completely covered the rider, so he wasn't at all visible. Again just for a split second and then it would regain focus.

So are there literally settings that can be adjusted to aid in using autofocus under these conditions?

This 'filmmaker' I talked to is nothing more than a point and shoot guy, so I doubt he strayed away from the auto settings. But I do shoot 100% auto focus, so it's of the most importance.
 
Oh, got ya! I figured he was referring to snow shooting, and thus thought your statement was directed at me. My bad

Bottom line, I dont think its auto focus with the XH A1. It may be HIS A1 or something obstructing the auto focus eye.
 
Never had a problem shooting snow before. Of course, I live in Texas and I've only shot snow once.

No auto-focus issues though ever. I like to use manual focus and then press the instant auto-focus button when manual focus is inconvenient.
 
Tom Films said:
I heard the auto focus is garbage when filming on snow. I talked with another film maker who shoots on snow and he said the darn thing won't focus. Lots of back and forth and never finds its focus many times. You commented it was so bad, you wanted to throw the darn thing out of the chopper and went back shooting with a DV cam.
Click to expand...

Who uses auto focus anyway??? Throw away the operator before the camera!
 
Hi Tom,

Ah, we should all be aware how the camera pulls a focus - honest, it's not magic. The camera looks for transitions between black-white zones and zooms in/out based on that black-white area. So anything solid white, black, or simply one color will lead to focus hunt problems when using the auto-focus. A good example is a wedding videographer zooming in on a bride's satin dress using auto-focus - the camera gets lost, zooming in and out looking for white-black transitions... and never stops.

So when we get in these situations, we simply use manual focus and momentarily press the auto-focuse when we change the focal length.

Okay?

Michael
 
I think your expecting alot of the autofocus. You should use MF for a shot like your describing IMO. If all it see's is white, your zoomed in, and the thing you want it to focus on is really small can you blame it really lol? I love the autofocus on the cam personally....its great.

- Kyle
 
I know I SHOULD use MF, but I never have with my Sony and 99% of the time I didn't need too. And if a Panasonic and a Sony have no problems in the same conditions the A1 struggles with, what's that say about the AF in the A1?

So to summarize, I will primarily be using AF, the only review I have in similar conditions I face is it's terrible, I've read on this forum people have AF complaints in normal conditions (delays). So, as much as I love the picture from an A1 and as much as I love the features & price, I don't see how I can pull the trigger without testing one (which sure as heck isn't possible where I'm from) or hearing otherwise from someone who films in the backcountry.
 
Well come on.

Are you filming in whiteout conditions?

Then it won't matter anyway.

Are you filming just snow? or people and things in snow?


If worst comes to worst do what I did and buy a Snow Cam 6000! ;-)
 
ESTEBEVERDE said:
Well come on.

Are you filming in whiteout conditions?

Then it won't matter anyway.

Are you filming just snow? or people and things in snow?


If worst comes to worst do what I did and buy a Snow Cam 6000! ;-)
Click to expand...

Not complete whiteout conditions. But yes we face fog and heavy snow. Here's an example from my Sony SD cam.

revybis07.gif


The grain you see is the heavy snow. The snow would take a second to fit the rider on his ascent, and then lock on with zero AF issues. Basically if the AF on the A1 matched my Sony cam, i'd be happy. But I hear it doesn't and have nothing to prove otherwise.

I'm not filming snow, I'm filming riders in snowy environments.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top