Focusing

Yes, a meter is close to a yard. 3,3 feet (39") for a meter and 3 feet (36") for a yard.

Me, I learned both.
 
Mike Harvey said:
I'll repeat what I always say... NEVER EVER trust Auto Focus. Learn to use manual focus and use only it.
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This is exactly the problem DNathan is having: inability to reliably focus in manual mode. The ring is not a mechanical one with numbers, and focus assist is not the best in the industry. I believe that the best one is color peaking over B/W background that all JVC camcorders have, and many pro Sonys and now the HF-S from Canon. Panasonics senter magnifier is better than older Sony/Canon frame expander because it works not in pause only, but when video is being recorded, still it is not the best one. And the "focus bar" or whatever it is called is not optimal because you don't know sharpness of what object it shows. This bar is ambiguous. Sharpening with EVF-DTL is barely noticeable. Doesn't Panasonic own JVC? The use the same focus assist JVC uses for chrissake. A larger and higher-res LCD with wider view angles won't hurt too. By the way, the HMC40 has a tiny 2.7-inch screen. What you will be able to focus with it, even having a "proper" focus wheel? This is just laughable. but the HMC40 has a touch-screen, which can be used for spot focus. Many Sonys as well, this is simple and effective if the object is relatively large. the HMC150 has no touch screen.

Without being able to change focus while "tape is rolling" a focus ring loses all the point. One could as well use joystick to turn auto on, zoom in, wait for lock, turn auto off, zoom out and reframe. Who needs a stupid focus ring now? A focus ring MUST come with proper focus assist and with large high-res LCD. Otherwise just don't bother. Learn from JVC and Sony. The FX7 may not be a dream moviemaker camcorder, but it has a ring, color peaking and a nice 3.5-inch LCD screen, in $2,000 package, and it works.

matt s. said:
the AF works much faster in 60p.
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The faster readout rate -- the faster AF works. AF on the Pana is of TTL type, its speed is limited with shooting rate.
 
One other major thing that really helps, especially outdoors.. is turning your Viewfinder black and white. done that with all the pannasonic cams and its so much easier to tell you're in focus and also to get a better overal concept of exposure... really much better to see the contrast like this... but it's nice to have the LCD open to make sure your white balance is good and your overall look.


Another thing I like to use is the 2nd focus tool.. forgot the name of it... but it's the squiggly lines and that helps sometimes for sure... especially when the zoom in focus assist isn't as helpful.
 
I have the same problem. I shoot a lot of weddings, and when I need to focus on the bride and groom during the ceremony, the focus assist just zooms to the space in between them. I've love to see a firmware update that would give us the choice of left, middle or right.

I'm not holding my breath that it will ever happen, but it would help me out a bunch.
 
D.R. Gates said:
I have the same problem. I shoot a lot of weddings, and when I need to focus on the bride and groom during the ceremony, the focus assist just zooms to the space in between them. I've love to see a firmware update that would give us the choice of left, middle or right.

I'm not holding my breath that it will ever happen, but it would help me out a bunch.
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Good idea - it would be nice if the joystick moved it. Come to think of it, have you tried using the joystick?

Another thing I like to use is the 2nd focus tool.. forgot the name of it... but it's the squiggly lines and that helps sometimes for sure... especially when the zoom in focus assist isn't as helpful.
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Squiggly lines focus assist? All I know of is zoom + graph and EVD DTL. There is another?
 
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