doug briggs

Many thanks to you for taking the time to reply. I must say I'm a bit confused - reading round a bit today I found conflicting opinions! I should say that the object I've zoomed in on becoming out of focus when I zoom out is hardly noticeable in the viewfinder - only when the processed film is being projected and viewed is it noticeable. But then the viewfinder is a pretty small picture! i also had a look for a nizo manual today, and found this on-line: http://imperfectcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Nizo-801-Macro-Manual.pdf The 801 shares many features with the 561, although I think it's regarded as one of the top of the range of the Nizo Super 8 cameras. In the manual under the section 'Setting the focal length' it staes that the 801 zoom lens 'is actually a variable focal length lens'. I'm not sure whether they actually mean, in saying this, that it's a varifocal lens. Anyway, one last request - I'd be very grateful if anyone could point me in the direction of an experienced camera technician in the UK who might be able to adjust my lens, if this is indeed the problem. thanks again

I would be grateful on any advice on the zoom lens on my nizo 561 macro. I've noticed that, on shots where I've zoomed in on an object and focused, start shooting and slowly zoom out, then on viewing the processed film, the image I'd originally zoomed in on and focussed on becomes out of focus as I zoom out. I researched type of lenses and obviously it comes down to whether the camera's lens is of a parfocal or varifocal type. I understand that any cine camera would have to have a parfocal lens, to preserve the focussing on an image during a shot where the zoom might be changing. Does anyone know if super 8 cameras (and my Nizo 561 in particular) do indeed only have varifocal lenses? I would be very grateful if anyone can suggest a super 8 camera which they know for certain has a proper parfocal lens. I also thought that the correct procedure for focussing on objects is to zoom in to maximum zoom, focus and then zoom out to take the shot. If the camera doesn't have a parfocal lens, does this not therefore make this technique redundant, guaranteed to actually lead to an out-of-focus shot? Any advice gratefully appreciated!