I simply can't focus my AF100 with it's build in FA. Need on camera monitor advice.

D

derbrocks09

Well-known member
I've only had my AF100 a few days now and overall I'm really loving this camera. However there are a few things that I don't like:

The manuals are horrible! Barry's book can't get here fast enough. Seriously.

Ditto on the Birger mount!

Coming from VDSLR's I find the focus assist features totally lacking on the AF100. The EVF is worthless and I just can't focus with the lcd even with the red FA. How I wish it had the zoom in feature of my Canon but it obviously doesn't. So it looks like I'm now in the market for an on camera LCD. I really hadn't budgeted for this but I simply can't focus the AF100 reliably enough without one.

Anyone have any advice or suggestions? It sounds like pixel to pixel is what I really need. Therefore shouldn't I opt for a lower rez panel like a Marshall? Or should I go with a more expensive higher rez unit? Would a Zacuto Z finder type device suffice? I'm also kinda eying a Manhattan LCD unit for it's higher rez.

Any suggestions would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks in advance everyone.

:happy:

EDIT:

Another quick question.

Anyone know if it would be wise to power down the camera before changing lenses? I used to do this with my canon to help eliminate dust on the sensor.
 
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derbrocks09 said:
I've only had my AF100 a few days now and overall I'm really loving this camera. However there are a few things that I don't like:

The manuals are horrible! Barry's book can't get here fast enough. Seriously.

Ditto on the Birger mount!

Coming from VDSLR's I find the focus assist features totally lacking on the AF100. How I wish it had the zoom in feature of my Canon but it obviously doesn't. So it looks like I'm now in the market for an on camera LCD. I really hadn't budgeted for this but I simply can't focus the AF100 reliably enough without one.

Anyone have any advice or suggestions? It sounds like pixel to pixel is what I really need. Therefore shouldn't I opt for a lower rez panel like a Marshall? Or should I go with a more expensive higher rez unit? Would a Zacuto Z finder type device suffice? I'm also kinda eying a Manhattan LCD unit for it's higher rez.

Any suggestions would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks in advance everyone.

:happy:
Click to expand...

Try the Cineroid EVF it has a zoom in function like the DSLR's but it functions whilst recording. With the EVF you could also better setup the camera for more comfortable shoulder mounting.
 
Give the focus in red a chance. I have found it to be great.

Use the evf in B&W not the LCD to focus.
Turn on focus in red
Press the evf DTL button to enhance focus in red. It is really good!
 
derbrocks09 said:
I've only had my AF100 a few days now and overall I'm really loving this camera. However there are a few things that I don't like:

The manuals are horrible! Barry's book can't get here fast enough. Seriously.
Click to expand...

The manuals are terrible I agree. Surprisingly, although the GH2 manual is poorly organized, it seems to be more useful in explaining things... if you can find what you're looking for in it.


derbrocks09 said:
Coming from VDSLR's I find the focus assist features totally lacking on the AF100. How I wish it had the zoom in feature of my Canon but it obviously doesn't. So it looks like I'm now in the market for an on camera LCD. I really hadn't budgeted for this but I simply can't focus the AF100 reliably enough without one.
Click to expand...

Completely agree. The red outline deal isn't very helpful at all in my opinion.
 
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I haven't tried B&W yet buy the focus in red is pretty good but it's not super precise. I can get pretty close with it but not spot on. Is there a way to adjust the range or sensitivity of the focus in red feature?

Thanks for the advice though.

I was thinking of the cineroid but it's about as expensive as a lcd. I figure the LCD could be more useful and versatile.

Thanks guys
 
Okay, somebody please help me understand this -- how is the EVF "worthless"?

Are you guys just not focusing it with the diopter? The EVF is excellent, it's very very sharp, and when you put it in B&W mode, and use the focus-in-red, it's really very usable. Focus was my biggest complaint on the AF100 (because it doesn't have the magnified focus assist) but really, the b&w evf with the focus-in-red is quite serviceable.

Focus In Red is extremely tight -- it doesn't show up on soft transitions, and it's not loose at all -- if it shows up, it's because whatever it's showing up on is sharply focused. Sometimes it's tough to see it. If you want to see it easier, try turning on the EVF DTL. That'll make the red stand out a lot more, but I find that the combination is sometimes too generous, showing up red on things that aren't hyper-crisply sharply focused.

I don't really get the complaints about the EVF, I find it quite usable. But if you need pixel-to-pixel, something like the Cineroid might be the way to go.
 
The focus in red thing is something you need your eye to look for. It is very subtle but when it is used in B&W mode it is all I could ever ask for and I actually prefer it to a zoom focus because I'd rather not push that button and sacrifice a big chunk of my evf. On the contrary you can use it throughout a scene without having to turn it on and off and look for a button in the process.

Give it a shot in B&W. You will love it once you train your eye to look for it. And the diopter is great as well. I love the evf. Perfect!

I only wish I could see the LCD in B&W as well and use the focus in red on the LCD. That would be my only complaint.
 
Mike@AF said:
My issue with the red focus assist is that it doesn't work when the camera isn't recording, so you have to start rolling the take before you can get accurate focus. That wastes a lot of time on the cards.
Click to expand...
Mine definitely works when your not recording in standby. I assume you have one of your user buttons programed for "FA", just activate it and it's there whenever you want. What I have found though with the focus in red though is, just because a line is glimmering red does not mean it's tack in focus. There is a slight range from a little red to a lot, i've been tripped up by that a couple times. On my EX1, the color peaking is spot on, as in if it's got any color it's tack. Would also of loved a expand focus feature but Im glad to have the red at least.
 
I was afraid that focusing without a zoom in function wouldn't be enough. But after using my camera I found out DTL on the LCD screen to be a great way to get into focus. FIR works in the EVF when it's in BW mode but I prefer DTL on the LCD screen.
 
OK OK.

When I saw that Barry had chimed in (no offense Steve) I had to get out of bed and dig out the camera and give it another try.

This should come as no surprise to anyone, but, Barry you are right!

I have know idea what happened last night when I was playing around with my camera but I managed to get a lot of slightly soft images. Likely the culprit was the few Coors Lights that I had. LOL Tonight I went directly into my plasma and confirmed that the red focus assist works pretty darn good. I did discover that you need to focus to where the red outlines are more pronounced. In other words there is a degree to which the red outlines show up. when I focused to the most intense red outlines and then looked up at the plasma in was sharp every time. So...

Is there any way to delete this thread. LOL

I do find that the EVF is way to small. Perhaps my eyesight is just going bad but I had a hard time using the EVF. (Even tonight with no Coors Light)

Thanks Barry. You ROCK! (Oh and you too Steve.)

That's why I love this forum. I've learned so much on here.

Thanks everyone.
 
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When I recorded some stuff before to test the camera the object I focused on had decent contrast so the red focus assist worked. However, when I've been messing around with setting up the camera and not recording what I was trying to focus on didn't have contrast to it, so that's what led me to believe the red focus assist didn't work when not recording. Now I see it does.

I just tested the red focus assist with a bunch of stuff on a light wood coffee table. On the table were a Mountain Dew can, a bowl with a spoon in it, 14-140 lens shade, power cable, microphone case, lens adapter, remote, and a white Sandisk SD card reader. The only items that showed up in red as I racked focus across the table were the words "Mtn Dew" on the can and the end of the wrapped power cable. Nothing else shows red when in focus, not even the edges of the table. I put my hand in front of the lens and racked focus to and from my hand. Still no red when in focus. I then tried the Sandisk SD card reader and only get the edge of one side of "Sandisk" to show the red outline, and that was barely noticeable in the EVF or the LCD. This happens whether I'm recording or not, and whether I'm looking at the EVF or LCD. And I did this with the 14-140 lens at f/4.0 with camera at various ISOs from 800-1600 and the Voigtlander 25mm f/0.95 at f/1.4 with the camera at ISO 800.

So I was wrong that it doesn't work when not recording, as clearly it does. However, it doesn't work well. It would be nice if we could adjust how much red it shows when something is in focus. It's way to little now because most the time it's not even noticeable.

I agree with derbrocks09 about the EVF. It leaves a lot to be desired. The LCD is good though. I imagine I'll rarely use the EVF.
 
Turning on the EVF DTL button like Editman and Barry said does help a lot, but your right Mike, every now and then nothing glimmers red at all.
 
Now that I think about it, I wonder if it has a lot to do with the subject matter as to how well the red FA works. Tonight I shot a still life scene where all the objects filled the frame and it worked great! Last night I was shoot a lot of wide shots in very low contrast areas and it didn't work well. Of course my Coors Light theory may still be in play here but I was just thinking about it. Perhaps the key is having a relatively large (in the frame) object/subject and a more contrasty scene.

It's too late tonight but I will do some more tests tomorrow. I might still be in the market for an LCD yet.

Hum.
 
Fotojorno said:
Turning on the EVF DTL button like Editman and Barry said does help a lot, but your right Mike, every now and then nothing glimmers red at all.
Click to expand...

Right! That I didn't do. Just tried it again. It works a lot better, but still hardly with my hand. Maybe on one finger, but that's it.
 
derbrocks09 said:
Now that I think about it, I wonder if it has a lot to do with the subject matter as to how well the red FA works. Tonight I shot a still life scene where all the objects filled the frame and it worked great! Last night I was shoot a lot of wide shots in very low contrast areas and it didn't work well. Of course my Coors Light theory may still be in play here but I was just thinking about it. Perhaps the key is having a relatively large (in the frame) object/subject and a more contrasty scene.

It's too late tonight but I will do some more tests tomorrow. I might still be in the market for an LCD yet.

Hum.
Click to expand...

i agree. I think it needs to be something that has a good amount of contrast to it or a hard edge so it can detect if the edge of light and dark area is sharp or soft.
 
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And yes, it does need some contrast or a hard edge to know what's in focus. It doesn't work on totally rounded or soft things, at all. What I've found is that where it's great (when shooting people) is when there's a catchlight in their eyes; hone in on that, and the FIR showing on their eyes, means you'll have razor-sharp perfect focus. If you're getting montagey uncontrolled-scenario shooting, that might be a problem, but if you're shooting staged narrative, you should always have a catchlight in their eyes anyway, and you can always add one with a maglite or something.

It's not perfect, and I would have greatly preferred having a magnified focus assist option too. But I've found that with a little practice I can get perfectly focused footage all the time. Yes, rack through the red to find where it's the strongest. And yes, adding EVF DTL makes the red far more noticeable, but ... I think it makes it too generous. It's okay when shooting f4, because the DOF will cover any minor errors, but when playing around at f/0.95 I found that I don't really trust the FIR+DTL combination that much, I greatly prefer the incredibly precise FIR by itself (when the red bothers to show up!) If you can get no EVF DTL and just FIR (on the B&W display), it's gonna be sharp sharp sharp.
 
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