Focus - not manual?

M

Mirezzi

Well-known member
I read somewhere that the focus is not "true manual" - is this true?

I really really really hate the focus ring on my XL-1 and I love the focus ring on the DVX/HVX. What is the A1's focus like?
 
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY TRUE?

Yes you can manually focus, zoom and change the iris. If you mean is it a true lens, then no it is not, it is servo driven so no repeatable focusing.

If I am not mistaken I believe that DVX and HVX are servo driven as well.
 
The HVX is servo driven, but it's repeatable. I've marked the barrel with tape for rack focusing. It also doesn't matter how fast or slow the focus ring is turned -- as long as I hit the mark, focus is spot on. I wish other companies would have this feature.
 
dpc said:
The HVX is servo driven, but it's repeatable. I've marked the barrel with tape for rack focusing. It also doesn't matter how fast or slow the focus ring is turned -- as long as I hit the mark, focus is spot on. I wish other companies would have this feature.
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What do you mean by repeatable? I'm pretty sure I read the XH-A1's focus is repeatable, though I'm not entirely clear on what that means.
 
Okay, I found the information re: repeatable focus and yes, the XH-A1's focus is in fact repeatable, so that's why we're seeing so many test clips with racks/pulls.
 
Even better, you can program the focus ring to have a slower response when turning it so that you can accurately and easily stop on a number from the distance readout meter, which is very accurate. (in meters or feet)

The A1 also has a focus preset feature where you push a button and it will repeat a focus pull to the same distance readout number, and at three different speeds.

It's pretty easy to do repeatable, accurate focus pulls now.
 
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Elton said:
Even better, you can program the focus ring to have a slower response when turning it so that you can accurately and easily stop on a number from the distance readout meter, which is very accurate. (in meters or feet)

The A1 also has a focus preset feature where you push a button and it will repeat a focus pull to the same distance readout number, and at three different speeds.

It's pretty easy to do repeatable, accurate focus pulls now.
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Can anyone tell me how to slow down the focus ring response the manual say's it is done in customise but cannot find it I think the manual is very vague or it could be me. whichever i would be very grateful if somebody could explain.
Thank you Alan
 
It's in the custom function menu.

What on earth did I mean by "Classic."

I don't remember posting that at all.
 
magichristopher said:
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY TRUE?

Yes you can manually focus, zoom and change the iris. If you mean is it a true lens, then no it is not, it is servo driven so no repeatable focusing.

If I am not mistaken I believe that DVX and HVX are servo driven as well.
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What is meant by "repeatable" focus and "repeatable" zoom?
Thanks.
 
Repeatable means that as you turn the focus ring to a certain position, the internal focus distance in the lens is set to a certain distance, and that you can repeat that over and over. Servo lenses are typically not repeatable; in servo lenses there's a motor driving the focus position and the focus ring is actually more of a "motor switch" than it is a focus position setter. As you turn the ring, the internal lens motor gets turned to "on", when you stop turning the ring the focus motor stops. But the amount that you've turned the ring, and the distance that the focus elements in the lens moved, don't necessarily have any relationship at all.
 
Barry_Green said:
Repeatable means that as you turn the focus ring to a certain position, the internal focus distance in the lens is set to a certain distance, and that you can repeat that over and over. Servo lenses are typically not repeatable; in servo lenses there's a motor driving the focus position and the focus ring is actually more of a "motor switch" than it is a focus position setter. As you turn the ring, the internal lens motor gets turned to "on", when you stop turning the ring the focus motor stops. But the amount that you've turned the ring, and the distance that the focus elements in the lens moved, don't necessarily have any relationship at all.
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And this is how the XHA1/G1 is different than the DVX. It has a rind but the ring is not hardware connected to the focus ring. It is connected through electronics to the servo that drives the focus ring This is the same for the iris and the zoom as well.
 
ring movement repeatability

ring movement repeatability

In terms of the A1's repeatability, I'd like to add that regardless of how quickly the zoom ring is turned, the optics do eventually catch up corresponding to the actual distance the ring was turned, unlike the XL2 where if you turned the zoom ring too fast (ala DVX style snap zoom) the cam ignored the movement because the cam's sampling rate was too slow.

Also the A1 EVF shows real measurements for focus not arbitary numbers like the DVX & XL2.

I battled with the soggy lettuce feel of the lens rings issue for a while but ultimately decided to go HD with two A1s because the images out of the A1 were simply unbeatable for the price compared to the major investment needed to run two HVXs - this of course in terms of wedding & event shooting where you don't have time to download data off P2 cards or high paying corp clients.

I don't know if there are other event people reading this but Panasonic screwed our market big time with the HVX & P2 forcing many of us DVX users to look to Sony & Canon for love. I seriously hope their next offering matches the greatness of the DVX.
 
Thanks ya'll,
Since the A1 can't do a snap zoom (the manual says the fastest it can go is about 1.5 to 2 seconds), can I produce a snap in post? Would I be just taking frames out to produce a faster movement? I want to shoot broadcastable 30 minute informational, educational, humorous pilots, so would I lose much quality doing that?

Since the A1 can't zoom and focus at the same time, is there much lag time for the focus once the zoom has stopped? If running and gunning, does it look that bad when zooming? On a slower zoom in a run and gun situation, is the picture simply blurred until the zoom stops? Does the HVX and DVX actually stay in focus while they zoom?

Thanks again guys.
 
>> Since the A1 can't do a snap zoom (the manual says the fastest it can go is about 1.5 to 2 seconds), can I produce a snap in post? Would I be just taking frames out to produce a faster movement? I want to shoot broadcastable 30 minute informational, educational, humorous pilots, so would I lose much quality doing that?

I guess it depends on whether you will be delivering in HD or SD and the zoom ratio.

If you shot in HD for SD delivery you can certainly zoom into the frame considerably in post without loosing too much res. Besides not having three hands, I'm forced to do creep zooms in post when I crab & rack shots at the same time!!

>>Since the A1 can't zoom and focus at the same time, is there much lag time for the focus once the zoom has stopped? If running and gunning, does it look that bad when zooming? On a slower zoom in a run and gun situation, is the picture simply blurred until the zoom stops? Does the HVX and DVX actually stay in focus while they zoom?

As far as the DVX/HVX is concerned, if you shoot manual and use the broadcast style of focussing (zoom in -> focus -> pull out) then you won't have any probs. I don't use the zoom rocker on any of my cams so someone else might want to chime in here...
 
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