Autofocus in Video mode not working?

T

tall_sided

Active member
I just received my GH1 today and I've been fairly happy with my tests thus far. I have one concern though, which seems to be the fact that the camera (no matter what setting I have it in) seems to auto focus. If I hold down the shutter button, it focuses like it would if you're about to take a photo. Maybe I just got the wrong impression, but I thought the GH1 was supposed to support full auto focus during recording? Is there something I'm missing?
 
I have three options on the left side knob:
- AFS
- AFC
- MF

I have the camera in the "(camera) M" mode and when I switch to MF on the knob to the left, it works as a Manual focus camera. However, when I switch between AFS or AFC, nothing happens. I lose manual control of focus and the camera doesn't seem to adjust focus automatically.
 
In AFC, while recording, and holding down the shutter button, it doesn't adjust focus automatically depending on what it's pointing out? Open your iris up, zoom all the way in, and try moving around from close objects to far objects while holding the shutter button...see what happens. I am pretty sure this is how it works. I haven't gotten mine yet but this is what makes sense to me after skimming the manual.
 
Page 104.

When recording motion pictures, the focus is continuously adjusted for both [AFS] and
[AFC].

Press the shutter button halfway when it is difficult to focus on the subject.
 
Thanks Ben. Holding down the shutter button seems to do the trick.

I guess I was under the false impression that the GH1's auto-focus feature worked like the xh-a1's auto-focus (i.e. the camera automatically selects a focusing point without the operator having to hold down any buttons).

Back to doing some testing. I have 14 days to exchange / return the camera to the retailer if I'm not in anyway satisfied. I'm pretty sure (as it stands now) that I'll be keeping this little beauty.
 
Auto focusing during video is not something you should be doing too often anyway, and the pushing for it really makes a lot of sense if you think about it.
 
Actually it does focus on its own without a button press in AFC mode. I just tried it myself. It's not fast but it does autofocus.
 
Yeah I think it auto focuses slowly adjusting and then you hold it down for faster or major focus changes.
 
Hmmm. You don't have to press anything during recording movies on the GH1 for it to AF.

It should do it continuously without any prompting, however you can (during video recording) use the faster and more sophisticated half press AF, the same as when taking stills should the video mode auto focus fail you.

Put the AF dial in AF-S mode.
Don't press the shutter.
Record a movie and see if AF works.

If not you have a faulty camera or there is something in the menus switching off continuous AF that I'm not aware of.
 
Yes, there should be no need for focus intervention in video mode, the cam does it automatically. However, keep in mind that while zooming, the autofocus is not always stable. As you zoom in, I've noticed that the focus gets a bit wonky at times before it settles in.

It doesn't behave quite like a dedicated videocamera that generally has much more stable autofocus. It's also far more difficult to zoom smoothly with the GH1 than it is with a dedicated camcorder that has power assist. You need to overcome the resistance of the zoom ring, which I've found to be a bit variable from start to finish. Add to that the fact that it's a bit awkard to get a full zoom with a turn of your hand since you need to rotate the lens quite a bit.
 
The zoom ring is quite good as far as DSLR lenses go, but yes, not as easy as on a camcorder.

AF is much faster when the shutter speed is high.

Try it in bright light with a shutter speed of 1/200 or higher.

If it still doesn't work perfectly without having to half press the shutter then there is DEFINITELY something wrong with your camera.
 
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It will definitely focus continuously without having to press any buttons. Be careful with the half press of the shutter button while videoing too because it causes a little click (audio) and it also causes a visible focus "bounce". Try it and you'll see what I mean.

Mike
 
You can lock focus with AFS/AFC set by holding the shutter button halfway. There's no need to set to MF. I verified this by focusing on a foreground object, locking focus via shutter button, re-positioning AF area to a background object that stays out of focus until I release the shutter from its depressed state and the camera automatically focus to the background object. I hope this helps.
 
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