Touch-tracking AF with an EVF

A

Andy9

Well-known member
I'm sure that Sony's engineers are avid readers of these forums so just putting this out here:

I love filming with my eye up to an EVF. If you only ever film while looking at a camera monitor (and your creative decisions have importance to you or others) I think you're making a mistake. Nothing will make you better with a camera quicker than filming with your own vision limited to the same frame as your audience. And it's your own little cinema in there! You'll have visual ideas that would never have occurred to you out in the boring old real world.

Okay that said, the future is not looking great for EVFs when even the present includes amazingly effective touch-tracking AF*. No one, that I'm aware of, seems to have found a decent way to incorporate both. So what about a clicky (press down to click) trackpad controlling a crosshair?

On a future FX6 replacement, it could be where the joystick is now. In terms of ergonomics, it would be much better for handheld shooting than touch-to-focus as it would be under your thumb while gripping the side handle - so no awkward holding the camera with one hand while you jab at the screen. It would be slightly slower and less intuitive than touch to focus but more accurate (you can visually confirm exact position before you click and your finger isn't in the way). And when focusing manually, it would be way faster than a joystick for moving around the focus magnifier box.

Has any camera manufacturer done this or similar?

If you flip the LCD around on the a7Siii so it's flush against the body you can get something like this already (without the click). It's not great in terms of ergonomics though - your finger has to fit in the space between your cheek, the screen and your nose.

*and also when Sony's new 25,000 USD camera has such a half baked, low rent EVF solution.
 
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These people designing cameras are clueless losers.

Clearly eye needs to be in an EVF.

Some thumb thing needs to hover over a screen (on a handle?) and show yellow where you thumb is (yellow X is in evf screen). You then bring the thumb into contact with the hand screen and the X goes green, focus then tracks to that point.

A four year old could design this.
 
Another option is eye-tracking focus. Eye tracking is apparently flawless on the upcoming Apple VR / AR headset, I wonder if the Monitor+ people are looking into developing a camera monitoring / control app for it (I'm sure it's beyond Sony). I look forward to the first of many expensive falls into ditches while maintaining perfect and possibly hands-free focus.
 
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Eye tracking? Of the operator or the subject? As an op im always scanning round the frame looking for the boom or a cstand foot or the character?
 
I’m thinking same basic system - operator’s eye places crosshair. Selection via a button on the camera.
 
My solution on the FX6 to this problem is to use the stock LCD only for touch-focus, and simulaneoulsy use a Gratical EVF for operating. It's no big deal to have both onboard the camera and I've gotten pretty good at tapping the LCD panel exactly where I want the camera to focus without taking my eyeballl away from the gratical. I'll do the same thing with the Burano.

Andy9 said:
On a future FX6 replacement, it could be where the joystick is now. In terms of ergonomics, it would be much better for handheld shooting than touch-to-focus as it would be under your thumb while gripping the side handle - so no awkward holding the camera with one hand while you jab at the screen. It would be slightly slower and less intuitive than touch to focus but more accurate (you can visually confirm exact position before you click and your finger isn't in the way). And when focusing manually, it would be way faster than a joystick for moving around the focus magnifier box..
Click to expand...

I'm not in favor or a joystick solution because I rarely have the grip onboard by camera -- therefore no joystick. I prefer 3rd party wooden grip for hanheld shooting that mounts to my 15mm rods and puts the grip in a far more comfortable position. And when I'm shooting from a tripod, it would be way too awkward to reach around to the other side of the camera to find the joystick anyway. And then it takes too long to move the crosshairs and select the target. Not going to work.

My suggestion to the Japanese enginneers at NAB is to give us an option to program ANY of the Assign Buttons for "Touch Focus". When tapped, it would activate Subject-Tracking AF on whatever is at the center of the frame. In other words, you would briefly frame the center crosshairs over the target -- press the button -- and then reframe as necessary while the camera continued to track whatever target you had put in the crosshairs no matter where it went in the frame. If you wanted use a button on the grip with your right hand during handheld, you could do it. If I wanted to use a button on the operator side with your left hand while on a tripod, you could do it. Heck, you could program "Touch Focus" on as many of the Assign Buttons as you wanted to.

This suggestion does not require expensive eyetracking technology (that wouldn't work anyway) or creating a whole new LCD design. It is just a matter of a firmware update to make an Assign Button function exactly the same as tapping the center of the LCD. Very easy.

My second suggestion is to program the cameras so that you can use the REC REVIEW button on a LANC zoom/focus controler to work the same way. You put the center crosshairs over the target . . . press REC REVIEW . . . and Subject Tracking takes over so . . . and then you can change the framing.

I have no idea if they will do either of those things, but I tried.
 
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