Question: How to Use Spot Focus for Rack Focus in Movie Mode with a6000?

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Denniscasey

Well-known member
Per previous posts I am learning to use Sony a6000 and Canon EOS 70D so I can decide which one to keep and give each one a fair trial. I watched a Sony Tutorial at this link
http://www.sonydigitalimaging.com/sony_tips/select-a-focus-mode/#.VD6sRRZbXEZ (go to link then select Shooting Video and then to second "box" Shooting Movies). In this tutorial it shows a video being shot of a lady shooting an arrow at a target. While filming it shows focus point first on lady (sharp focus with target blurry) and then focus point moved to target (lady now blurred, target in focus)--this happens at around 2:16 into tutorial. Sony uses different cameras at different times for these tutorials and not using a6000 for this video since they say in Menu "select Local in Focus Area" to do this "rack focus."

Since a6000 does not have "Local" as a selection in Focus Area options I called Sony tech service. They could not help but thought "Spot Focus" might work. Since then I have Googled more and found following suggestions:

[FONT=&quot]You press the center button to activate, then the C2 button will center[/FONT][FONT=&quot]. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]I think this guy meant select Flexible Spot and then move spot to where you want and then pressing C2 will center spot. [/FONT]


And then another suggestion to move spot

[FONT=&quot]While you can use 2 wheels to move the spot you don't "have" to. You can just use the d-pad function of the click wheel.[/FONT]

So far this seems to work for taking still photos (at least I can get Spot Bracket to appear and I can move it around including using C2 button to center it) ,but I can not make it work in Movie Mode. I can get the Spot "bracket" to show on LCD (but ONLY if I select something other than Program Auto in Movie Mode) and I can move the spot around ok. However as soon as I press the movie record button to shoot video the "spot brackets" disappear.

Can someone please explain how to do the "rack focus" shooting video with a6000?? I have tried three different Sony tech help people and so far no luck--no one says it can not be done, they just can not figure it out.

I will Google "the d-pad function" as mentioned above, but this is also a question I have (just beginning to learn camera). Dennis

[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
 
I have continued experimenting and I can make Spot Focus work to take still photos (I can select areas to be in focus by moving Spot around and take photo), but so far can't make it work in Movie Mode--as soon as I push record button the Spot bracket disappears. I suspect it is some combination of Focus and Movie Mode that I need to select to make this work? If I can make it work it could be easy to use if I compose shot with Spot to far left and that subject in focus and then I can just hit C2 and Spot (and focus) will jump to center of screen. Hope that is what someone can tell me how to do. Dennis
 
In movie mode, if you choose flexible spot as the focus type, you can force the a6000 to choose the flex spot point by half pressing the shutter button. If you let go the shutter button, it will drift back to focusing in the center of the screen.

When half pressed, the flexible spot does NOT continuously auto focus. It will only re-focus if you let go, and re-press the shutter button. In Movie mode, your only focus choices are AF-C(continuous) or MF. Flex spot does not function in manual mode (like it does on some Sony Camcorders). So in AF-C mode, when you let go the shutter button to re-focus, focus starts to drift towards the center point immediately, then as you half press, it goes back to the Flex point. It makes for some wobbly focus in videos if your subjects are moving around... I wouldn't be willing to give that to a client.

But if your subjects are static, and you can live with the rack points being the center, and a corner or edge, then it just might work for you.

Perhaps not what you are looking for, but Sony internal documents show that their management believe that NEX / ILCE cameras are only of interest to amateurs and hobbyists. With an attitude like that, it's amazing that the a6000 even comes close to being usable as a pro level studio stills camera... and it does.

Hopefully, some pros that Sony actually listen to will set them straight - bigger isn't always better, and these days, more and more pros do not want big, due to airline restrictions.

You may find this interesting:
http://www.oldmaninmotion.com/mirrorless-mirrorless-on-the-wall-2/

Personally, the a6000 is not the camera I reach for if someone is paying me money to shoot video. It's probably the best $650 stills camera in the world right now, but video is fairly basic, which makes sense given the target market. Probably the two all around best for cameras for stills and video right now are the Sony A7s, and the Panasonic GH4. That would probably be where I would look if I was only allowed to have one camera to do everything...
 
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Thank you for info JuanDiaz. I will work more on spot focus in Movie Mode following your suggestions. As you mentioned, I actually did get the a6000 primarily to capture still photos and to have a small camera for travel. I will also try some video with a6000 to experiment with shallow DOF and also as a portable "take along anywhere" camera in cases where my primary video camera (Panasonic AG HMC40) is too bulky (even though it is still a relatively small video camera). Dennis
 
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