GH2 Can AF be used in lieu of manually pulling focus?

[Bill Clar]

My pardons if another thread highlights this subject. I liked high and low.

My question revolves around the quality of the GH2's AF capability. Is it good enough to be used as a cheap alternative to manually pulling focus? One reviewer on Youtube says it has decent face recognition technology which makes AF fairly easy for the novice (like me).

My goal with the GH2 (which I have yet to buy - still researching) is filmmaking, not live events. I would like to tackle DOF, but not if my lack of experience results in blurry shots.

So if I have a scene where the actor constantly faces the camera, and the facial recognition can pick him/her up, can I get away with AF for pulling focus?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[ras815]

Is it good enough to be used as a cheap alternative to manually pulling focus?

Not from my experience, no. Get used to pulling focus on your own; it'll give you vastly more control over your shots than even the best AF system would provide.