GH4 GH5 Autofocus Test

jjneff said:
Bummed on this as I do lot of gimbal work
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Me, too. I generally wouldn't use autofocus, but I have a special scenario in which decent face detection would really best serve the creative intent. The GH5 is much better than the GH4 at stills autofocusing (really nice, actually) but for video its not materially better. Very frustrating, as you can see that the software has no trouble tracking the face at all, but the actual focusing just doesn't happen. The camera doesn't even try.
 
So is AFC the proper use for gimbal work? Tap to focus on face while in AFC mode, set desired speed/sensitivity settings, and roll?

I've played with this only briefly but from my initial tests it doesn't seem to live up to my hope of keeping an object locked into focus as I move or orbit around it slowly when at a shallow-ish (f/2.8) DoF...
 
Hmmm... It seems like different people are seeing different results with GH5 autofocus. Is it the lens that Max Yuryev is using or is something else giving him the horrible results ?

 
The reason the second video does better is because the contrast is a lot higher! In daylight I expect the GH5 to be ok. Go low light or indoors and you are out of luck.
 
The lens used is going to make a massive difference. The speed and precision of the focus motors and their ability to move and precisely position the lens elements is going to mean that some lenses are going to be lousy autofocusers while other lenses are going to be brilliant autofocusers, even under the same conditions and shooting the same subjects.

And the contrast in the scene is going to make a double-massive difference. And the camera menu settings used can make a triple-massive difference.

I guarantee you I could devise a test which would make the GH5 look like the worst auto-focusing camera in history. And I could probably devise a test which would make the GH5 look like it has the best autofocusing ever offered on an interchangeable-lens camera. There are many things that affect autofocus performance.
 
No matter what lens you put on it, the facial recognition mode blows for video. Sorry, but it does. It doesn't even try to keep up. The green square clearly shows the software consistently tracking the subject's eye, but the camera doesn't even activate the lens' focus motor for long stretches of time...no matter the settings.

I LOVE this camera...but people have to stop apologizing for this weakness and blaming settings and lenses.
 
filmguy123 said:
So is AFC the proper use for gimbal work? Tap to focus on face while in AFC mode, set desired speed/sensitivity settings, and roll?

I've played with this only briefly but from my initial tests it doesn't seem to live up to my hope of keeping an object locked into focus as I move or orbit around it slowly when at a shallow-ish (f/2.8) DoF...
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That's how we all want it to work, but it fares no better than the GH4, which is to say it is terrible.
 
The GH5 is an amazing camera, I just tested the Sony a6500 with kit lens in store yesterday and it blows the GH5 away on focusing, just a fact. Nothing wrong with manual focus and in most situations the GH5 will be just fine but for gimbal work the Sony is a much better option for focus not counting all it's other downfalls.
 
Doesn't look promising for GH5 AF. Will have to play with it myself.

I don't actually care THAT much, but it is a bummer after they advertise that so heavily. It breaks trust if a manufacturer claims something is amazing and it turns out to be lackluster.

We'll see...
 
On the GH4, I've found the most reliable AF is using the FREE setting and selecting only one or a few squares as your focus region. Focuses quicker and there seems to be less hunting. Object tracking is a bit more reliable than face tracking. The worst is 49 area focusing, as it's slow and always seems to focus on the wrong thing. Using FREE on the GH4 with a gimbal I'm able to get acceptable, if not ideal, results.
 
Fact is Sony just nails this now they fail in a lot of other areas but AF for my work is needed will make or break my shots.
 
jjneff said:
Round2 Sony a6500 vs GH5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEsSsdTKJs4&feature=push-u&attr_tag=047zHtChX0ZLfHnE-6
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The setting he showed at about 9:19 I think is the exact opposite for what he wanted to have happen. He wanted the GH5 to respond rapidly to his changing views and the two settings are to refocus slowly and the second to stay on the initial focus position. Looks like that is exactly what it did. Maybe the problem is giving too much control rather than having the engineers just giving a couple of settings.
 
"As Max pointed out, if you do not record in camera, the AF is fast. Otherwise, horribly slow, and depends if you are recording or not. And... You aren't recording in camera like 95% people will do. So unfair test. Sorry...! And when you pretend it works well.. Eww.. Sorry, it hunts back and forth and it looks ugly. Even a 80D has a better AF lmao." I agree
 
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