GH3 GH3 Focussing Tips

D

deckitout

Member
Hi

I am very new to Video and would appreciate some tips on focussing.

I am using a GH3 and currently have Autofocus set to off. I am however not totally
comfortable with manual focussing at this point and will not be using a monitor.

Can anyone help me with focussing advice bearing in mind I am a total beginner

Thanks Phil
 
a few tips

a few tips

Hi Phil -

My first "tip" is to just get totally familiar with the ergonomics of your camera and the focus operation of your lens(es). Knowing your camera's controls well will allow you to devote more attention to focusing.

When shooting with really shallow depth of field, bear in mind this will make focusing harder to nail. Set up some static objects and practice racking your focus between objects so you can get a feel for how far to rotate the focus ring.

I prefer to use the EVF (electronic view finder) instead of the OLED (back display) for focusing. In bright light, the OLED can be hard to view, so I attach a Carry Speed VF-4 which magnifies the OLED and shades it. Otherwise, I just use the EVF.

Invest some time with each of your lenses, and practice focusing on multiple objects a different distances, while shooting continuously. Aim and focus on one object, then aim and focus on another, and keep going. Over time, you will develop a memory of how much to turn the focus ring.

When shooting video or photos of people, always strive for sharp focus on their eyes.

BTW, auto-focus can be useful in some situations. The main problem with auto focus for video is that your lens may shift focus when you don't want it to. On the GH3, you can set the camera to "single focus" mode, which will focus once and then stay set at that focus point until you either half press the shutter to refocus, or fully press the shutter to stop recording.
 
What lens are you trying to focus with. I am very confident focussing with most lenses (broadcast, manual focus stills and cine) but I find manually focussing the Lumix lenses inconsistent, frustrating and painful. The 'Fly by wire" and lack of any focusing aids during recording is a major PITA! Good luck.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I have various lens all M4/3 , Lumix 12/35, 35/100, and 20/1.7+ Olympus 14/150, 45/1.8 and 60 macro, I have been a stills shooter for many years and have never shot Video, so this is a steep learning curve for me

Phil
 
vtwiz is right. The Lumix lenses are very difficult to focus manually while recording video. The only way I've been able to reliably focus them is by using an external monitor with focus peaking. The 20mm pancake is esssentially impossible to focus while shooting because the lens is so small that your fingers often end up in the shot when turning the focus ring.
Depending on your style of shooting this may not be a huge problem. If you can set focus before rolling, and don't have to rack focus, you're OK. But for run-and-gun situations, an external monitor may be the only solution.
 
Deckitout,

With the exception of two older Nikon F mount lenses, all of the ones I use are Lumix or Olympus optics. If I'm in a "rushed" situation I set the camera for AFS (Autofocus Single) and use autofocus, it seems to work pretty good for me even with the Lumix 20mm which some complain about being slow.

If you're tripod mounted and have touchscreen enabled you can focus and "rack focus" (video) using the "touch" on the screen.

But most of the time I set the camera for MF (manual focus) and with AF ASSIST enabled, as soon as I move the focus ring in the slightest I get the 4X magnified focus assist. This lets me see and "nail" focus quickly then a slight touch on the shutter button takes the viewfinder back to normal view.

I like the EVF. For eyeglass wearers it can be a bit problematic depending on individual prescription. I had two "workarounds", one being a lot of practice in finding just the right "channel" to align the eye into and the other being to use the diopter adjust and set the EVF eyepiece to my right eye without eyeglasses. That worked well for me.

In August and September I had cataract surgery. The specialist knew my background as a pro photographer and suggested I would really benefit from astigmatism correcting lens implants (at extra cost over my insurance), and I followed his advice. So now I no longer wear eyeglasses for normal distance vision. I can see very well through the EVF with either eye but do have to use 3 diopter "readers" to see the LCD clearly.

The suggestions on practice, practice, and more practice are really good ones. Helps you to adapt to the gear.

Have fun!
 
Focus peaking is the greatest thing every, I'm incredibly frustrated by its absence in the GH2/3. Depending on what you are doing (pro or not), investing in something the the DP4 would give you a great boost in focusing.

I've also found using a follow focus to be a great help in the comfort level of focusing, though I don't use it for racking all that often. Even with the fly-by-wire lenses, it's been a great help to me. I'm eyeballing the Edelkrone FF right now personally.

My largest mistake when learning was to use max aperture for everything. I have some could-have-been-incredible footage from a trip to Cambodia, that is near unbearable to watch as I hunt for focus on the 25mm Leica at 1.4/f.
 
Only thing I would add is that although the focus assist is extremely helpful, I still don't understand why it stops working as soon as you press REC. Big oversight, IMO.
And I second the Carry Speed VF-4!
 
SuperSet said:
Only thing I would add is that although the focus assist is extremely helpful, I still don't understand why it stops working as soon as you press REC. Big oversight, IMO.
Click to expand...

I agree, & was part of a focus group of DPs that lobbied Panasonic to add the feature, but few (if any) 1080p cameras allow focus assist while recording.
 
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