No Autofocus on HD100?

razamalik

razamalik

Well-known member
Hi Guys,
I have heard that there is no Autofocus on Hd100 with the supplied lens :( is it true? it still makes no sense to me - manual focus is great but autofocus is a must have for event videography among other applications. I do not see why is it not included. Its 2005 JVC we are not in the 1900's so make it both auto and manual focus not just one. With the nature of HDV the focus has to be spot on so i think a faster and more accurate focusing system is more important in the case of any HD format than SD.
Raza Malik
 
Your right no auto focus. It should be on there,,,,not sure why they didn't want it
 
"AF sucks"

I didn't want to say it first! In a Ferrari you can't nearly choose the color (red), the shift/gear is manual and the sittings are hard...
 
Good analogy 73 -

Yeh - auto focus on a pro lens would be like buying a Ferrari with an automatic transmission. What a waste....
 
But including it gives you more options. I like "press button" auto focus and it is more accurate than a tired eye after a day of running and gunning.

I would also like to see a stabiliser, as I love to shoot handheld. You can achieve really nice moving shots with an XL2 and a monopod because of the stabiliser! I can't see why OIS isn't a standard pro feature. Am I overlooking something?

If you don't like these options, you can switch them off, but I think that they can be quite handy.

On the bright side, at least it means that they will HAVE to include a decent manual focus system and professional viewfinder! :laugh: To be honest, I would prefer this over dodgy autofocus system (like the XL1) anyday.
 
Autofocus can ruin your footage. It's a percentage thing. The risk is too high. Train yourself to be BETTER than autofocus.

Would have to agree on the stabiliser thing though. I think that historically this kind of camera was much larger and stability was less of an issue. Now there is a kind of transition in the form factor to smaller and lighter, stability without help may be a slight problem at longer focal lengths.

However, this is still a shoulder mount cam, unlike the XL1/2 which could never really feel 'locked off' against your body. I bet stability will be a a lot better in reality than we may think.
 
Autofocus is a handy thing to have, but the JVC won't have it. Nor will it have image stabilization, nor will it shoot "reality/live" 60p. In short, I think there will be better choices for event videography than the HD100.
 
Some of the Fujinon TV "box" lenses have TTL tracking focus/autofocus. I'm not sure which.
A megachurch here in town is looking at buying like six of them!
 
If someone were to adapt a lens with its own autofocus system, or image stabilizer, then that would work on the JVC. But the JVC camera body has no provision for supporting autofocus; it would have to be something that worked entirely self-contained within the lens (and, of course, that won't apply to either of JVC's announced lenses, the included 16x or the optional wide-angle lens, as neither of them are AF).

So as a practical matter, you'll never see AF or OIS on an HD100.
 
OIS would be nice and it is a professional feature that professionals do in fact use.
Canon's super pricey EOS telephoto lenses have optical image stabilization after all.

P.S. - I'm agreeable that autofocus, even if on a lens, would be incompatible on
HD100 as there is no provision for it built into the camera. Strong point, Barry Green.
 
AF does indeed suck. You can't expect to have AF on a PROFESSIONAL lens. It doesn't mix with true MF (with distance settings....).

You just need to learn how to operate a camcorder. If the angle is wide, everything will be almost certain in focus. You can't miss. Otherwise you have the ancient technique for closes and mediums: go full tele and focus - then go back to the desired angle and don't touch the focus! (try that on a XL1 and you're out of focus!!! very , very depressing - trust me, I had it (back focus isn't adjustable on a XL1/2) and I have been sick about it from day one.

On top of that there is "focus assist" and peaking. focussing is no prob.

By the way: tell me what's the worst footage? Slightly out of focus, but steady focus (MF) or focus that's constant shifting and searching for a focus point (AF)?
 
mezelf27 said:
AF does indeed suck. You can't expect to have AF on a PROFESSIONAL lens. It doesn't mix with true MF (with distance settings....).

You just need to learn how to operate a camcorder. If the angle is wide, everything will be almost certain in focus. You can't miss. Otherwise you have the ancient technique for closes and mediums: go full tele and focus - then go back to the desired angle and don't touch the focus! (try that on a XL1 and you're out of focus!!! very , very depressing - trust me, I had it (back focus isn't adjustable on a XL1/2) and I have been sick about it from day one.

On top of that there is "focus assist" and peaking. focussing is no prob.

By the way: tell me what's the worst footage? Slightly out of focus, but steady focus (MF) or focus that's constant shifting and searching for a focus point (AF)?
Click to expand...

Fair enough... it does have uses sometimes though... when running and gunning, sometimes you can't use manual focus... you know, trying to get that angle under the bride's wedding dress :laugh:
 
Autofocus and imagestabilization divides the boys from the man...

You will NOT find an autofocus lens in the film industry, or in professional BROADCAST WORK. It´s strictly consumer oriented. Even so with image stabilization. You can find that on all the homerecorders together with digital zoom... Canon did a good job there but all the rest is just playground.

If you shoot with a real mechanical lens with hard stops you don't want AF. Its a question professionals never ask: is this camera doing IS and AF?
 
Barry_Green said:
Autofocus is a handy thing to have, but the JVC won't have it. Nor will it have image stabilization, nor will it shoot "reality/live" 60p. In short, I think there will be better choices for event videography than the HD100.
Click to expand...

Well infact the HD100 will shoot 480/60p and 480/60i. So for reality/live you are there. SD it is, thats 2005 reality too!

For autofocus and image stabilization, read above. The JVC has good indicators to shoot sharp images. Like the rest of the professional community you need to hold steady, luckily you do not need to hold it in your hand. You can rest it on the shoulder. You know what? It is more stable than loose in the hand!
 
I know OIS isn't common in professional lenses, but I can't see why not. It is very useful, and have often seen times, particularly on live TV when it would have been an advantage. If you don't want it you can then switch it off. I miss it when I am using a pro camera, even shoulder mounted.

I was wondering if there is a technical reason why it isn't used? Does it degrade the lens quality? I know that some pros wouldn't like it just because it is mainly used on consumer cameras, but that is a stupid, irrational reason.
 
mmm said:
Fair enough... it does have uses sometimes though... when running and gunning, sometimes you can't use manual focus... you know, trying to get that angle under the bride's wedding dress :laugh:
Click to expand...

:thumbsup: I thought so too, untill I started to wirk with the JVC GY-DV500 (no AF). In those cases: jest set the angle as wide as it goes, and the images will be in focus.... (There's not enough light under the skirt of the bride's dress :embarasse )

Besides: I thought it would be handy like on the xl1/2, but from my own experience: I never filmed anything in AF....
 
OIS would be nice indeed.... But Canon-Profeccional has a gyroscopic element to slap onto broadcast lenses. Dunno wether this supports HD, but it exists. Very pricey probably...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top