A1 not focusing

H

highdefvideo

Member
At one particular scene where I'm shooting an MC standing in front of a newly wed couple sitting at a head table. Neither the MC nor the couple are in focus. I'm not zooming, and the camera is not even focus hunting. This lasted some 10 seconds until the MC moved closer to the center of the view.

At other times it seems to focus hunt. The scene is slightly backlighted (a window at the edge of the scene). But there are also high contrast objects (groom in black tux against a white background).

The out of focus problem happened several times during the reception. It didn't happen as much during the ceremony and the church was darker than the reception area.

Previously when I used a sony TRV900, I did not have any noticeable focus problem.

Does anyone have a list of what causes A1 to not focus properly?? Since people are constantly moving, it's hard to use manual focus.
 
I had this problem. Your IAF is likely turned on and defective. I had a problem with focus and hunting issues, so I switched to regular AF and it seemed to subside considerably. Then, during a down period I sent it in and Canon fixed the focus assembly.

Good luck,

Kegan
 
Is there a way to check if the IAF is defective? Is there perhaps some scene that would confuse the IAF?

Also, the out of focus problem happens only at the wide end. When I zoom in without changing subject camera distance, it focuses correctly.
 
Hm, that's odd. Mine would focus hunt during slow zooms as well as staying wide and static. The Canon tech will just tell you to point the camera at something near you and push the IAF button. If it focuses, they say you're good - if it pulses, they tell you to send it in.

I'd send it in regardless if you get a chance, but I haven't found any other alternative tests.

-Kegan
 
It's definitely bad. This is how I tested: put the camcorder in Manual focus mode. Zoom all the way out, point the cam at some object 10 feet away. Push and hold the IAF button. Upon releasing the button, the display shows the focus distance. In my case, it shows anywhere from 1.6 to 3 feet, and I did this test in very bright scene with a very high vertical contrast item. It also doesn't matter if I turn on or off the quick focus option. And it is definitely not focusing (not just reporting the wrong distance) because when I zoom in without re-focusing, it's blurry.

Now if I zoom in a little, it would report a slightly greater distance, until I zoom to z80 or more would it be able to focus and report the correct distance. Could someone perform this test and tell me if this is "normal"?
I'm definitely going to contact canon about this.
 
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