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

In bright snow conditions you will be stopped way down even with ND filters and you enjoy significant DOF. Lock the focus and unless the subject matter moves in an extreme range during the shot you will remain in focus. Any camera in AF can be affected by falling snow and panning across light and dark areas.

Cannon will also let you preset a zoom so during the shot you can press the preset and tighten or pull back depending on the way you set up.

Cannon's AF is fast especially with the infrared sensor but shooting video with any video cam in AF mode is taking chances.

S Cannon
 
So what you are saying is technically, the Canon AF system is no different or at least the Sony AF system is not technically superior to the Canon?
 
He actually gave you the superior method to film your work!

With the camera stopped down (f stopped down) you have a much greater depth of field (more things in focus at once)!

If you get it from the start, it should be in focus at the bottom.


Is the cinematographer stationary or moving?
 
I usually shoot stationary. Only exception would be from a chopper.

Problem is, the person I am filming will move large distances over the course of a shot. As much as several thousand feet. So locking the focus won't work.
 
Tom Films:

In a chopper it would not be wise to shoot AF as the optical or infrared sensors on the Canon will shift with terrain variations in height or dark and light areas of contrast and if using AE as well, the brightness and DOF would shift depending on how much sky was in the frame.

On the ground if the starting point of the subject is several thousand feet away and you are stopped down to 2.4 for example you probably can track the subject to within 100 feet with the standard lens and still be in focus. If the subject is mainly parallel to the camera then focus shift is not a concern. Try some tests so you get a feel for the DOF at different settings.

Again AF is problematic because the more sensitive its is (more accurate) the more likely it will shift as you track moving subjects. It's not the camera brand it's a function of the way optical focusing works.

With a single camera shoot you are limited and you need to pre-plan the shots that are possible and or the most desired and be able to change your set ups quickly to accomodate.

Good Shooting,

S Cannon
 
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tom, it does not seem as though you are zooming in your image, therefor once your camera is set to a decent focus, regardless of his range of motion or distance traveled, will he come to be blurry, at least fro ma visual standpoint.

Also, the canon has focus settings that can be read as feet and meters, perhaps you should rely more on your senses and judge the distance to the rider.

Don't worry about being bang on, as i am sure you understand depth of field, you would know that it depends on camera to object distance, the f-stop setting and the lens ( for apparent depth of field ). So since you are shooting a rider so far away, you really needn't worry about falling out of focus once you set it initially. He seems to be far enough away to fall into that range of hyperfocal distance.

i saw give the A1 a shot. As you say, it has a great image. Why sacrifice the most important aspect of what a camera does, when all you need to do is perhaps shift the way in which you operate? (which would be to your advantage anyway)
 
Thanks for the info guys. I really do want to go with the A1 if I can be assured on the AF issues. I will talk to the other 'filmmaker' and ask if his AF issues happened when stationary shooting as well.

PAPA, I do zoom alot when filming from great distances. Usually start out zoomed all the way out, as the rider starts, I zoom in to my desired distance and then slowly zoom in, keepin him the same size in the frame as he moves further away. When complete I zoom all the way out to show the scale of the scenery.
 
seems to me then, that your best option is to focus at the end of your lens, near inifinity, and step your lens down to reassure the deepest depth of field possible. Set your focus, and leave it, this should suffice.
 
PaPa said:
seems to me then, that your best option is to focus at the end of your lens, near inifinity, and step your lens down to reassure the deepest depth of field possible. Set your focus, and leave it, this should suffice.
Click to expand...


Well I took the plunge and bought an almost brand new A1 for $2800. Figure I'll give it a go and if worst comes to worst I can always let 'er go on ebay.

After buying it, I got a quick tutorial from the best film maker in our tiny industry and I think this camera will do excellent when operated properly (ie, no auto settings).

First thing he showed me is exactly what you said Papa, focus at the end of the lens and then zoom out to ensure focus as the subject gets further away.

I do wonder how well it is possible to manually focus based off the sub HD quality lcd screen? Should I use the auto focus button to ensure focus?

I'm picking up the manual next weekend, so I have alot of learning to do.
 
Congratulations. Another way to get around the focusing problem, should you experience it, is shoot at f/22. If DOF doesn't matter much.
 
Not on an A1 you won't. The A1 limits its iris to f/9.5 (A1 owners correct me if I'm wrong). You don't want to stop down any further on any 1/3" (or smaller) HD camcorder or you risk your footage going all blurry due to diffraction. Canon limits its cameras to f/9.5 to prevent the issue from ever occurring; Sony has menu options to limit how small the iris can go, and with the HVX we just have to remember that f/11 = bad (in HD; it's fine for SD).
 
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