Crunch Time For Panasonic Autofocus

[BTM_Pix]

25 minutes ago, kye said:

I agree.  AF testing is one of the tests that is done the least realistically and also the least consistently.

I'd prefer someone like DXO or similar to setup an automated test that simulated the various common scenarios can be repeated reliably between various cameras, lenses, firmware updates and various modes.

Its almost like affordable app controlled motorised sliders with pan/tilt heads that can repeat moves ad nauseam don't exist isn't it ?

I do think, though, that more emphasis needs putting on having an "AF Toolbox" as opposed to an unrealistic (at this moment at least) ideal of the "Sentient All Seeing Eye AF".

Focus limiters, range traps, spot focus, hybrid AF-C with manual override etc can all combine into a powerful toolbox that can be used to more ideally match the different circumstances of shooting that people find themselves in.

Manufacturers have a lot of these types of tools available but bury them in menus and don't really pay much heed to fast switching between them with hardware buttons, something which is essential if you want to provide a cohesive system.

I also have a focus recorder function in the AFX that lets you record and playback a couple of minutes of real time focus moves sourced from any combination of AF-S, AF-C, manual or focus memories and then play them back so you can perfect the moves that you want for a scene and then replay them for take after take. 

Stuff like that can also help provide the tools to cover a lot of bases while we await the golden ticket with the bonus of it all being able to work on decades old manual lenses as well as it does with the latest and greatest fast AF lenses.

We are definitely in an era of making perfect the enemy of the good when it comes to focus control.

If we turned our definition of AF to mean Assisted Focus rather than Auto Focus, we might see a lot less angst about it.

[kye]

2 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

Its almost like affordable app controlled motorised sliders with pan/tilt heads that can repeat moves ad nauseam don't exist isn't it ?

I do think, though, that more emphasis needs putting on having an "AF Toolbox" as opposed to an unrealistic (at this moment at least) ideal of the "Sentient All Seeing Eye AF".

Focus limiters, range traps, spot focus, hybrid AF-C with manual override etc can all combine into a powerful toolbox that can be used to more ideally match the different circumstances of shooting that people find themselves in.

Manufacturers have a lot of these types of tools available but bury them in menus and don't really pay much heed to fast switching between them with hardware buttons, something which is essential if you want to provide a cohesive system.

I also have a focus recorder function in the AFX that lets you record and playback a couple of minutes of real time focus moves sourced from any combination of AF-S, AF-C, manual or focus memories and then play them back so you can perfect the moves that you want for a scene and then replay them for take after take. 

Stuff like that can also help provide the tools to cover a lot of bases while we await the golden ticket with the bonus of it all being able to work on decades old manual lenses as well as it does with the latest and greatest fast AF lenses.

We are definitely in an era of making perfect the enemy of the good when it comes to focus control.

If we turned our definition of AF to mean Assisted Focus rather than Auto Focus, we might see a lot less angst about it.

All great points and reminds me of my other idea for testing stabilisation mechanisms by putting the camera on a mount that will shake it in a controlled way.  All you need to do is have it shake the camera at a few speeds (slow, medium, faster, etc) and gradually ramp up the amount of shake.  If you took a picture of a control chart with a fixed exposure time then you can compare two cameras and see that camera X had perfect images until strength level 4, and the other was good up until level 7.  

Back to AF, I really agree with you.  The DJI robochicken had a spectacular combination of AF with MF help.  Really, almost no manufacturers have even tried.  I think Olympus did with their clutches and the XC10 let you help it's AF by flicking it in the right direction when it was completely lost (more common than you'd hope for), but they were pretty pathetic really.

Even down to things like on the GH5 it will do face-detect AF and face-detect exposure, but if you turn off the AF then it stops looking for faces and exposes the frame with general "put the histogram in the middle".  I mean, if I don't have an AF lens then you'll do AE but you won't even look for faces?  Grrrr.

[Marcio Kabke Pinheiro]

6 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

Its almost like affordable app controlled motorised sliders with pan/tilt heads that can repeat moves ad nauseam don't exist isn't it ?

I do think, though, that more emphasis needs putting on having an "AF Toolbox" as opposed to an unrealistic (at this moment at least) ideal of the "Sentient All Seeing Eye AF".

Focus limiters, range traps, spot focus, hybrid AF-C with manual override etc can all combine into a powerful toolbox that can be used to more ideally match the different circumstances of shooting that people find themselves in.

Manufacturers have a lot of these types of tools available but bury them in menus and don't really pay much heed to fast switching between them with hardware buttons, something which is essential if you want to provide a cohesive system.

I also have a focus recorder function in the AFX that lets you record and playback a couple of minutes of real time focus moves sourced from any combination of AF-S, AF-C, manual or focus memories and then play them back so you can perfect the moves that you want for a scene and then replay them for take after take. 

Stuff like that can also help provide the tools to cover a lot of bases while we await the golden ticket with the bonus of it all being able to work on decades old manual lenses as well as it does with the latest and greatest fast AF lenses.

We are definitely in an era of making perfect the enemy of the good when it comes to focus control.

If we turned our definition of AF to mean Assisted Focus rather than Auto Focus, we might see a lot less angst about it.

Yep. Just moved to Fuji, and I've saw a lot of people saying that for the AF works well in video, you should choose the right C-AF mode from the 5 customs settings that the camera have. Did not dabbled too much into it, but for my current filming environment (a.k.a. 3 year old daughter zipping through the house), with a little tweaking the video AF became MUCH better.

Thom Hogan says the same for Nikon AF - right out of the box it is not the best, you have to know how it works and tweak it.