HMC150 Autofocus - As Bad As I Keep Reading?

I for one can vouch the HMC150 has made me a much better focuser. If you have time to rehearse a shot then you can read off the focus reading in the OSD and memorize a certain point you want to focus to. But if I'm following fast action then I am beginning to intuitively know and remember to focus closer when approaching a subject, then push it further as the subject gets further away. That's without necessarily looking in detail at the sharpness, just glancing down to check framing.
 
A a former XH-A1 and JVC GR-HD-1 user, I can tell you, the HMC-150 focuses about as fast and accurately as any. I did side by side focus tests of the A1 & HMC-150.

The IAF on the A1 just occasionally helps out with a very fast shot ruining focus hunt, instead of a slower one.

The HMC-150 auto focus also tends to ignore small close items, like shooting through very tall weeds, where the A1 would ocassionally change to the close object.

Bottom line, the auto focus on all the cams seem to be programmed differently, and they will all fail to focus sometimes. But they are all pretty good when you know their limitations and when to manual focus.
 
So i'm you're shooting a fashion show in which the models are walking from a black background to a white one. I zoom in as they come in, pan while zooming as they go to my right off into the white background, adjust iris as they pose, zoom out and pan as they come back to the entrance, zoom out, tilt and pan as they come toward me, adjusting iris as they walk off the black background onto the white. Sheesh! I'm physically exhausted, and cannot imagine trying to focus in all this. I want to manual focus...should I make iris auto?
 
Hmmm... my instincts are to say no. But I'm not the shooter and I'm not there seeing what you're seeing. The issue with auto iris is that it's probably going to go for the "happy medium" of the shot... so if you're going from white to black and back, the auto iris will compensate accordingly... and you may go from underexposed model to overexposed and back. My question would be is the lighting on the model him/herself more or less consistent through the whole thing? If so, then... if it were me (and I'm not there)... I think I would just set the iris on him/her and forget the background. And set the camera to one of the gamma's that handle a wide range better if you haven't already.

Does that help...? Because I think you just described a worst case scenario for any kind of shooting. :)
 
I'm also one of those guys that doesn't believe in autofocus. I've been known to use it on my Merlin under extreme circumstances (usually I set the focus at a set range and follow my subject from that distance) but it is the exception to the rule for sure.
Speaking of the speed of the autofocus, I believe that the HMC150's autofocus has a natural speed to it. When compared to the XH-A1, which snaps into focus, it is very natural. The XH-A1 is too quick to look good under any circumstance.
 
I use 2 HMC 150s......AND LOVE THEM. There is no such thing as a PERFECT camera. I video in very low light conditions and Yes @ 24 p the auto focus is slow once you get to about AF50........Is you simply use your HAND and find the focus manually the auto focus instantly takes over and does fine. This only happens to me in very low light and when I am zoomed in or very close with my "moving Cam" I record artists here in Nashville and am in low lit clubs all the time with multi-colored stage lighting. This cam is the best for these conditions. It does a great 24p. You just have to learn to use it. It took me a while but I have never regretted it.
 
Autofocus performs best under:
1) bright light, and
2) fast frame rate, and
3) wide angle.

Autofocus performs worst under:
1) dim light,
2) slow frame rate, and
3) telephoto.

Trying to use autofocus at 1080/24p with the lens wide open and zoomed in, simply isn't going to perform well, nor should you expect it to. If you absolutely need to do that, then do as Steve says and help it out, but really, if you're getting into the areas where autofocus struggles, you should definitely try to aim more for manual.
 
When I first bought my Cams....I was fighting my way through the manual and trying to find it all out by trial and error.......BARRY's Book was a Life saver......if you don't have it get it...even if you think you already know your HMC150......after his book you'll know it much better! Thanks again Barry! It still helps me from time to time!
 
My experience with the HMC150 auto focus over the last several years has been quite positive. It is very good, relative to what other cameras in its class can do. No I am not sayin' that there are no conditions that can fool it, but.....they seem in my experience to be quite limited. I would say its AF performance is very good. If it is not "good enough" then the odds of finding a cam in its price class that can show a meaningful improvement are low indeed.
 
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Barry, I too am grateful for your book. I would much rather be taught than learn through the School of Hard Knocks. The 2 biggest things for me to learn are low light settings and focus. Both are still disappointing me.
 
The auto focus sucks. I actually thought there was something wrong with the camera. Both my Sony and Canon were far better and cheaper although I have no complaints with image quality. It's great. And to all the people who say its doesn't matter... I say BS. You need to have auto focus under certain conditions when you have too much going on at once. Weddings especially after a drink or two, receptions, and children's parties when the little rug rats are running around on their sugar highs.
 
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Yep. The biggest disappointment to me is when I get to editing a crowd of people where I zoomed in on an individual speaking and he is the only thing out of focus. I love that my SLR has focus zones and they signal when that zone is in focus. If my 150 had that I would never look at another camera again.
 
So are there no focus "zones" like my DSLR? So what area of the frame does the camera use to focus, dead center? How big of an area does it use to determine focus? I often like the subject to be off centered when I shoot and I'm finding that a lot of the times the subject ends up out of focus. If doing a sit down nrewsroom type interview then sure, manual focus is the obvious choice. I agree with photojunky when he said there are times when manual focus is difficult if not impossible. I'm learning and really need some help.
 
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The LCD screen is my biggest complaint on the hmc150. I sure wish it had focus in red because it's so hard to focus with on live events. Autofocus does sometimes focus on the background instead of the subject and does other weird things.
If it had red focus peaking it would be so much easier to tell and adjust.
Wish theyd update it since it is still selling and getting great reviews, but they won't.
 
OK I get the message: real videographers don't eat quiche. But hey not everybody wants to be a pro. Just like not everybody who drives a car doesn't want to be a rally driver. What I want is a camcorder that will get me where I want to go and I find autofocus helps me do that.

BTW if you want to see for yourself this video is a good start. it reminds me of the autofocus system on my Contax645 camera that is slow compared to DSLR's but if you have patience "usually" ends up exactly where it is supposed to be.

I have a dumb question that is how would performance of the HMC150's autofocus system in low light compare with my Panasonic TM300 that is not bad for what its worth?
 
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lowep said:
OK I get the message: real videographers don't eat quiche. But hey not everybody wants to be a pro. Just like not everybody who drives a car doesn't want to be a rally driver. What I want is a camcorder that will get me where I want to go and I find autofocus helps me do that.

BTW if you want to see for yourself this video is a good start. it reminds me of the autofocus system on my Contax645 camera that is slow compared to DSLR's but if you have patience "usually" ends up exactly where it is supposed to be.

I have a dumb question that is how would performance of the HMC150's autofocus system in low light compare with my Panasonic TM300 that is not bad for what its worth?
Click to expand...

Cant compare the 2 but the low light auto focus of the 150 is pretty bad... It will however usually lock on whatever has enough light, which is not usually what you want in focus.
 
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