HPX250: Manual Focus hunting

T

timbook2

Veteran
All of a sudden with no tangible reason the manual focus is hunting all over the place. It happens much more it in wide-angle mode than when zoomed in. Since I have focus distance read out in meters and centimeters on the display I can see the hunting jump from 3m to ∞ and back to 9m in 1 second! Images are mushy too.
Did anybody encounter this?
 
That's not normal, obviously. Do you have the auto/manual switch in manual? (note: not the focus switch, the overall auto/manual switch). If the auto/manual switch is in auto, then the camera can use autofocus even if the focus switch is set to manual.
 
Hi Barry :-)
The camera was @panny , came back unrepaired and is going back once more. Yes both switches are in Manual Mode. I had to rent a camera :-(
I remember another user reporting something similar here in this forum but can not find it. Am wondering how his got solved.
 
Do you have Focus Assist on? Focus Assist works in conjunction with Manual Focus and attempts to fine-tune the focus after your do a coarse focus.
 
Focus assist is not turned on. The camera has returned 3 times not repaired now. I got a free rental from panny and that one works perfect. I assume its an electronic contact problem. Hopefully they repair it, its the 3rd week now...
 
The "MA" next to the focus distance indicates that Focus Assist in ON, not OFF. It is hard to say what you expect the camera to focus on, it looks like there is a blown-out door in the scene but the center of the image can't be seen.

Go the menu #3 ("SW MODE") and turn FOCUS ASSIST OFF, see if the problem disappears.
 
You are totally right! Focus Assist was On and "IN RED" ....what a complete fool I was.....thanks THoff !!
 
Those are two different functions.

IN RED highlights edges / areas of contrast. MANUAL FOCUS ASSIST means the camera attempts to fine-tune the focus while in MANUAL FOCUS mode once you stop moving the focus ring -- you get the subject into focus as best as you can, and then the camera tries to maximize it.

The problem is that if nothing is in focus (or close to it), the camera will start hunting. If you point the camera at an open landscape scene and manually focus at a distance of 20 feet, the focus absolutely will not stay there when MANUAL FOCUS ASSIST is ON.
 
I still have to understand what this function MANUAL FOCUS ASSIST is supposed to be good for? My problem was that I had rented the camera to somebody and he had activated MA. Taught me a lesson....but I still wonder under which circumstances it might be useful, if ever? Since this episode I have run across other users of the 250 which had the same problem.
 
Manual Focus Assist is primarily for when you want to do ENG run 'n' gun type focusing. In regular mode the focus ring turns about 300 degrees from infinity to minimum; in MA mode it only takes 90 degrees to go from infinity to minimum. Since you obviously have less precision with such a short focus throw, they add a touch of autofocus at the end of the focus move to sharpen up the shot in case you didn't exactly nail it.
 
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