Focussing with Pro-sumer cameras

tony powell · April 17, 2009

Hi, can anyone tell me how on earth you are meant to focus pull with, for example, a Sony Z1 camera when there are no distance markings on the barrel of the lense ? I've tried marking the barrel as normal but have found that when you zoom in and then zoom out again, the markings are wrong.

In other words, how are you meant to keep a subject in focus when it's moving around ?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me with this.

Rhys Cooper · April 22, 2009

Easiest way -- either "become one" with the lens or don't push the focus to the boundaries.

David Auner aac · April 22, 2009

I've tried marking the barrel as normal but have found that when you zoom in and then zoom out again, the markings are wrong.
In other words, how are you meant to keep a subject in focus when it's moving around ?

I know it's a hassle, but try a small monitor attached to the top of the cam. Or the camera LCD and have the operator look through the finder. But you won't see much on that one either. But I'm not sure if this works with the Z1. It used to work on the PD150 when you turned the display around and clicked it back the holder, then both finder and LCD would work.

Cheers, Dave

Kirsty Stark · April 22, 2009

It's a bit of a nightmare, isn't it?

I've found that the best way is to set the display on the LCD monitor so that it shows the feet (doesn't get down to inches, unfortunately). It will appear on the left of screen whilst you're adjusting focus, but disappear if you don't touch the lens for a while, so all you can really do is estimate your distances based on that. It's by no means perfect, and you have to be very careful with the speed of your hand movements, as the camera is inclined to jump quickly from 5' to infinity if you don't take it slowly, but it's about the best option available that I know of.

If anyone has any tips or better suggestions, I'd love to hear them myself!