Out Of Focus

[dazuk1972]

Does any anyone know why when a camcorder is moved about or when something moves in front of a camcorder, the picture goes out of focus for a moment? I sent a JVC camcorder back because of this because I thought it was faulty and my Sony is doing the same. Mine only has an auto focus and I can't think what is causing this annoying thing. Sometimes it's impossible to film anything because of so much footage going out of focus. Old camcorders never kept doing this and I don't know why the new ones do.

Many thanks.

[doctorhardware]

I think it is due to the auto focus.

[MilesAhead]

Is the camcorder in a tripod? I think some of them have anti-motion firmware that tries to steady the picture if hand-held. Usually there's a setting to disable it. The cause may be something else entirely but there should be something about it in the owner manual.

[dazuk1972]

I think it is due to the auto focus.

I thought the same but I can't find the manual focus operation. Anyway, if there is one it should be shown on the camcorder itself and not in the options and there isn't one on the camcorder itself. When I mentioned it shouldn't be in the options, of course, people that want to film something quick might not get to the focus on time. What happened to the manual focus around the lense? Camcorders are never made like that anymore.

Many thanks, anyway.

[dazuk1972]

Is the camcorder in a tripod? I think some of them have anti-motion firmware that tries to steady the picture if hand-held. Usually there's a setting to disable it. The cause may be something else entirely but there should be something about it in the owner manual.

I don't often use a tripod because I find them rather awkward. For example, if I'm filming a plane taking off as a close-up, the tripod doesn't want to move the way I want to and when. I get the odd jolt and I'm filming the sky itself and then I lose the aircraft and I have to find it again. Anyway, I don't go around making movies about aircrafts all the time, I tried a few shots.

I prefer hand-held because I have more control of the camera momement unless I'm filming a close-up that is still or slightly moving. The out-of-focus thing happens whether or not it's hand-held. I've never heard about Firmware for the camcorder and I never got any with it. All I got with it as in software is the editing software and a DVD about lessons about filming (and I don't need to watch the DVD). I'll have to ask Sony if they know about any Firmware that can be downloaded from their website but I don't know if it can be installed in the camcorder's hard drive from a PC. It would be different if I have a DVD camcorder.

Many thanks.

[MilesAhead]

I only asked about the tripod to eliminate the anti-shake feature as the cause of the problem. On Cannon camcorders there's software that tries to automatically stabalize the video(eliminate shake.) Usually it's on by default. I'm not a big camcorder buff. Mine still uses digital tape, so that should give you an idea. But I thought it might be one thing to check for. If you have it in your camera there should be an option to turn it off.

[dazuk1972]

I only asked about the tripod to eliminate the anti-shake feature as the cause of the problem. On Cannon camcorders there's software that tries to automatically stabalize the video(eliminate shake.) Usually it's on by default. I'm not a big camcorder buff. Mine still uses digital tape, so that should give you an idea. But I thought it might be one thing to check for. If you have it in your camera there should be an option to turn it off.

Many thanks for the info. This is interesting. I've only noticed this problem with HDD camcorders. When I did use a DV and a DVD camcorder, I never had this. I'm going to ask Sony about this because something is not right and I hope they come-up with something otherwise I'll have to downgrade to a different camcorder.

Have you noticed that most camcorders these days are not made for a remote control? That is dumb.

[doctorhardware]

What about a monopod for the camcorder.

[dazuk1972]

What about a monopod for the camcorder.

I'm not sure. I can't find the Monopod in the camcorder and the paper manuel doesn't mention it and the same with the manuel through Adobe Reader that came with the software. I'll ask Sony and see what they say.

Many thanks, anyway.

[doctorhardware]

That would be instead of the tripod.

[dazuk1972]

That would be instead of the tripod.

I've tried hand-held and the same happens.

Many thanks, anyway.