Auto focusing when shooting in manual focus mode?

RieniO

RieniO

Well-known member
Maybe I am just missing something... but when shooting in manual focus mode with a video camcorder you can always push a button to use the auto focus for a few seconds, then release the button and you're back in manual focus again.

The only way I found to do this on my GH1 is by temporarily turning the focus knob on the top left of the camera into the AFS or AFC position. Now this works but pushing a button would be simpler and cause less camera movement.

So my question is... is temporary auto-focusing by pushing a button possible on the GH1?

Rieni
 
I think there's a way to do it the other way round - make manual focus corrections when in auto focus - but not what you want. Damn, can't remember the setting... ah yes, use "AFS" on the knov, have AF/AE lock set to AF/AE in the custom menu, and in the same menu have AF/AE lock hold 'on'. Then when you are in auto focus, press AF/AE lock button, and now you can focus manually.
 
There is an option in menu through which you can turn on Manual focus with Auto focus. What that does is, when you half press the button, it will auto focus and then you can fine tune it by turning the manual focus ring.
 
On a related note, I've found the manual focus too touchy in some situations -- was jumping into magnified assist at the slightest touch. Discovered there's a setting where you can disable that and have the left quad button do the same thing instead.

It's found in the Custom Menu under MF Assist. Set that to Off.
 
Trouble is, any half press of the shutter button in AF will cause an obvious focus test /refocus operation, so you wouldn't ever what to touch that when you planned to use that bit of the footage.
 
Ozpeter said:
I think there's a way to do it the other way round - make manual focus corrections when in auto focus - but not what you want. Damn, can't remember the setting... ah yes, use "AFS" on the knov, have AF/AE lock set to AF/AE in the custom menu, and in the same menu have AF/AE lock hold 'on'. Then when you are in auto focus, press AF/AE lock button, and now you can focus manually.
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Hello Peter,

I just tried this and it doesn't work that way. The AF/AE lock button it totally ignored when shooting in movie mode. It will only work when you you are not shooting yet, it will then lock the AE and maybe AF (depending on settings) and when you press the lock button when shooting it will unlock and after that it won't work anymore at all until you stop shooting.

Rieni
 
Ozpeter said:
Trouble is, any half press of the shutter button in AF will cause an obvious focus test /refocus operation, so you wouldn't ever what to touch that when you planned to use that bit of the footage.
Click to expand...

I think most pros will never use autofocus during actual shooting, unless you're shooting news maybe. Usually you would use autofocus only to prepare for the next shot.

For me personally the auto-focus in its current form is quite useless but it's not a big deal because I prefer to focus manually most of the time anyway, this means I can also use lenses on the GH1 that do not support auto-focus.

What I will do though is self build a focus handle with a simple distances scale to attach to the lens. I looked into the follow focus systems but I figured that to change focus from 0,5 to 3 meter, the focus ring on the lens needs to be turned almost 360 degrees so this would mean a few full turns on a follow focus knob (correct me if I'm wrong) which would take too long.
 
ajamils said:
There is an option in menu through which you can turn on Manual focus with Auto focus. What that does is, when you half press the button, it will auto focus and then you can fine tune it by turning the manual focus ring.
Click to expand...

The problem with this is that as soon as you release the button, the camera goes back into normal auto focus mode again.
 
RieniO said:
The problem with this is that as soon as you release the button, the camera goes back into normal auto focus mode again.
Click to expand...

Not if you lock the focus first. In AFS mode, I ususally half-press shutter to get GH1 auto focus set, then I can lock it to focus manually with its focus ring.
 
I tried to duplicate this but without luck. Are you doing this in still mode or movie mode? On my camera, when recording in movie mode the ae lock button doesn't function (the manual confirms this). In addition to full time auto focus I can focus by half-press shutter button and as long as I keep that half pressed, focus will be fixed and I can finetune manually with focus ring on lens, basically this is what I want, but I don't want having to keep the shutter button half pressed all the time.
 
I'm curious as to why you would want to do this? You have much more control using the Focus Assist feature on the GH1 then flipping it to AF to get a focus and back to MF. I wouldn't trust it is focused on the right spot doing that. It's hard to tell if it is in focus at times on the LCD but using the focus assist allows you to make sure.
 
I guess you are right. I have been testing this focussing yesterday and today with the kit lens fully zoomed in, but I would never shoot like that. But it's a routine I am used to. I used to work with normal camcorders (who didn't lol) like the Canon XH A1, always in manual focus mode and using the "push AF" button to focus when shooting a simple scene without risk of the auto to focus on the wrong spot. But lately I used the manual focus ring in combination with distance indicator on the LCD screen. When shooting with a lot of light in wide angle you can easily set focus on 0,5 meter and have almost everything in focus due to the large depth of field. So again the lack of a "push AF" option on the GH1 isn't really a problem when shooting with a lot of light and after adding a focus handle to the lens but when shooting outdoors in low light a "push AF" would be nice, but I guess for that I just need to get used to having to turn the AF knob during a second. Then on the other hand, the Canon 7D does have the "a half-press of the shutter button or a press of the AF-ON button will trigger the AF" (quoting dpreview) so it can't be that hard.
 
In low light I find the AF has a harder time myself. I usually have to go to MF in low light with no other option. And bumkicho is correct on that one.
 
Nitsuj said:
I'm curious as to why you would want to do this? You have much more control using the Focus Assist feature on the GH1 then flipping it to AF to get a focus and back to MF. I wouldn't trust it is focused on the right spot doing that. It's hard to tell if it is in focus at times on the LCD but using the focus assist allows you to make sure.
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No I don't trust it is focused on the right spot and that is why I enabled AF/MF on plus MF assist on. That way I could simply set focus mode AFS, half press to get rough focus on the subject, and then lock it. Once it is locked, you can fine focus with manual ring with MF assist.
 
Nitsuj said:
In low light I find the AF has a harder time myself. I usually have to go to MF in low light with no other option. And bumkicho is correct on that one.
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In low light, AF does not perform well. I wonder if this new firmware update fixes it.
 
bumkicho said:
Use AF/AE lock button but you'll need to enable AF lock on from the menu and set focus mode to AFS.
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Ok I believe you but I can't do it on my camera so I guess I am still doing something wrong. But on my camera, when camera is recording, the AF/AE lock button just doesn't work, also when AF lock is enabled in the menu and with focus set to AFS. In that setting the camera will always auto focus, regardless of what I do. It will only not focus when I half press the shutter button and keep it like that after the focus box turned green.

My manual also says that the AF/AE lock button doesn't work when the camera is recording. What does your manual say about that?

There is one other setting though that I don't understand and that is "AF+MF", how should that be set? And there is also "Pre AF", how do you have that set?

And could you please confirm that you can use the AF/AE button while the camera is recording to be sure we're on the same page?
 
bumkicho said:
No I don't trust it is focused on the right spot and that is why I enabled AF/MF on plus MF assist on. That way I could simply set focus mode AFS, half press to get rough focus on the subject, and then lock it. Once it is locked, you can fine focus with manual ring with MF assist.
Click to expand...

Ok I was able to duplicate this, but only when camera is not recording. Then once focussed I start recording and focus will remain fixed until I touch focus ring or push AE lock button, after that camera goes in continuesly focusing mode again.
 
bumkicho said:
No I don't trust it is focused on the right spot and that is why I enabled AF/MF on plus MF assist on. That way I could simply set focus mode AFS, half press to get rough focus on the subject, and then lock it. Once it is locked, you can fine focus with manual ring with MF assist.
Click to expand...

Thanks, bumkicho! I was totally missing this feature because I knew the camera always uses AFC in video mode so that's where I had it set. Didn't realize the manual focus assist doesn't kick on in this mode (AFC) when AF/AE LOCK is engaged -- it only works when the dial is set to AFS. So now that's where I leave it set when in video mode.
 
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