ALL: 130/160 owners, can you test the auto focus of the camera.

D

Deer Film

Well-known member
I read from a few post where people are having trouble in auto mode for focus. If the 130/160 owners could do some test result. I would like to know if auto focus works on moving objects, close up, wide shots, low light, bright light, face detection, object, and possible to focus on a far away object between close up objects, and vise versa. And this would be in AUTO mode. I lot of times I like to just go out and shoot auto mode. For jobs it will be manual. For wildlife shooting, I hope these cameras can do a good job in auto. I really hope the auto focus can handle itself. I am a little worried of the threads I read about problems. Thank for your time and results.
 
I have another video that goues in and outit t a church what throw the auto focus i think is the stain glass window that about maybe 20 feet or more away from the camera. i have a lite on the camera i use scene 1 and have the iris at 2.0. 6 db

 
Every camera will have hard time focusing with backlight from the window and people walking toward you (just use manual settings in situations like this). And one other thing - do something with that on camera led light (use filter or use some other light) because people look like ET's under it.
 
Thanks for your tips , But i use my hmc 150 under same condition had no problem in wide angle so that why i am a bit up set with the ag 160 also i had the light dim very low church was dark .
i do use manual a lot but when i am tired and it my 3 job i need auto focus in non important shots. I am showing this because i would like to know if any one else have these issue or is it just my camera.
And the focust assit did not tell me it was out of focus it was all red outline which meens it in focust.
 
dhardjono said:
And the focust assit did not tell me it was out of focus it was all red outline which meens it in focust.
Click to expand...

The red outline around the OUTSIDE of the LCD screen only means that the focus assist is active, it doesn't mean that everything is in focus. I'm not sure if that is what you meant or not, but I did want to clarify it for anyone else reading here.

The red outline will be specifically around ONLY those objects that are IN FOCUS at that time. If the focus assist is ACTIVE but there are no outlines around the actual subject INSIDE the frame, then you can safely assume that the AC160/AC130 is hunting for the focal point and will be going in and out in your image...obviously not the typically desired outcome.

Again, just clarifying the feature, since I'm not sure what you intended.
 
Oh, and yeah, that light is awfully green. Check out the Comer 1800 if you're ever in the market for a much better/brighter/cleaner-looking on-camera light.
 
Yes that what i meant inside the box, Out line of the subject is red, but can not tell when in and out of focus.
 
I don't have my camera yet, but I would love to see a photo of the LCD on what you talking about. My canon has face detection and it will follow the persons face and keep it in focus. Does the 130/160 have this and when programmed right, does it work well?
 
My canon has face detection and it will follow the persons face and keep it in focus. Does the 130/160 have this and when programmed right, does it work well?
Click to expand...

Yes it has and and yes, I used it at a wedding last week and was pleasantly surprised!

Cheers,

Vaughan
 
Yes that light is a good lite the corner 1800, My lite was on low so it get green when dim low also church lite was green.

Any way i test my ac 160 in night scene it realy goes out of focus in auto focus i have to use manual or infinity, I also test hmc 150 same spot it did not go out of focus handle it with no problem i will post video soon.
 
Hi,
Have any of you figured out how to aim the AF function with the function joystick. I don't have the time to describe here, but look under the function button. Tell the camera where you want it to look.

Best,

Jan
 
yes i use that for reader at church where there is a lot of light and they don't move, if the light is dark it would make the auto focus completely out . than i must swicth to manual. But i will try that box again under street light at night. Between the 3 focus box and with it off i like with it ofit better.
 
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Jan,
I will give it a try and post my findings. The only thing is if you are doing run and gun stuff, you don't want to have to aim the AF function all the time. If you are shooting a main subject quickly and something passes at the bottom half of the camera, you sure don't want the camera to adjust the focus back and forth, throwing your main subject in and out of focus. That is my main concern.
 
I tested my ac-160 versus hmc-150 at night street light in auto focus here is the video



First clip ac-160 in auto than i went to infinity
Second clip is my hmc 150 in auto than to infinity
third is 160 in auto at 6 db

PLEASE TELL ME IF ANY ONE ELSE HAVE THIS PROBLEM.
 
dhardjono said:
I tested my ac-160 versus hmc-150 at night street light in auto focus here is the video



First clip ac-160 in auto than i went to infinity
Second clip is my hmc 150 in auto than to infinity
third is 160 in auto at 6 db

PLEASE TELL ME IF ANY ONE ELSE HAVE THIS PROBLEM.
Click to expand...

Wow, that really sucks
 
dhardjono, you are making some good cases here. This should not happen on a 4000.00 plus camera. If the camera has auto mode, you should be able to trust it and have fun with it.
You just need to find out if its your camera, firmware, first batch, or problem with all.
For my needs, I need auto focus to work as good as they advertise. I use auto focus most of the time. If the focus works on the 130/160, I will buy the camera.
 
dhardjono,

Please tell the ac160 where you want it to focus but use of the function button and focus window. This is a new function vs the HMC150, the cameras do not function the same way. You should set the function to Focus and set it on the screen where to take its sample for the focusing.

When you do this it works very well.

Best,

jan
 
Jan,
I did purchase this camera as a run and gun type of camera. Before the camera came out, that seemed to be the target audience in all the forums. If this is the case, how do you get that type of shooting done if you have to tell the camera where to focus? If you are moving around capturing footage in that kind of situation, it is next to impossible. So, my question here is if I needed that type of camera, lets say the HMC150 can achieve capturing with looking like the focus is jumping around, did I purchase the wrong tool for the job?
 
dhardjono said:
I tested my ac-160 versus hmc-150 at night street light in auto focus here is the video



First clip ac-160 in auto than i went to infinity
Second clip is my hmc 150 in auto than to infinity
third is 160 in auto at 6 db

PLEASE TELL ME IF ANY ONE ELSE HAVE THIS PROBLEM.
Click to expand...


Do you often shoot video through a window? This is an unusual test.
 
I don't have the camera… but I THINK what Jan us saying is that you can (should) set the window fir the part if the frame you want the camera to autofocus on, and then use your run and gun shooting techniques with the knowledge of what part of the frame the camera is looking at for focus. That is, we are used to the center if the frame being where the autofocus is biased; but that is not necessarily the case with the 130... You have more flexibility to bias what the autofocus does. It may be that the default setting is not one that is close to what people expect?
 
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