7.8: Focus

Camera Functions For Focus

Focus is when objects in the image appear sharp and clear. Having your image in focus allows the viewer to see crisp images without anything appearing fuzzy. There are several ways to achieve focus, which we will explore in more detail.

Auto Focus

Auto Focus gives the camera control to determine what appears in focus (See figure 7.8.1). The camera will usually focus on what is centered in the image unless settings inside the menu of the camera have been set to something else. This is useful for news standups where the talent does not move often, but if there is movement in the camera or the subject moves out of the center of the frame, the camera then searches for what should be in focus. Having this continuous change of focus can cause many issues, especially when the subject of the image ends up out of focus.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Focus Functions on the side of a Video Camera. (CC BY-NC 4.0; Sebastian Jimenez via San Francisco State University)

Push Auto Focus

Push Auto Focus is a combination of Manual Focus and Auto Focus. When you push the “Push Auto” focus button (See figure 10.8.1), the camera takes temporary control over the image to focus on the middle of the image. When you let go of the button, the camera goes back into manual focus. This is handy when you need to find focus quickly and do not have time to manually focus.

Manual Focus

When the camera is in manual focus mode, you have control over what appears in focus. To find focus manually, you will need to turn the focus ring (See figure 7.8.2), which is the last ring on the lens moving away from the camera. You can look into the viewfinder and see when things are in focus when turning the focus ring slowly.

Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Focus Ring on a Video Camera. (CC BY-NC 4.0; Sebastian Jimenez via San Francisco State University)

Focus Assist & Focus Peaking

With video cameras, it can be difficult to find focus because the screens are so small and have fewer pixels than larger screens. This is where Focus Assist and Focus Peaking come to the rescue. Your camera will have either Focus Assist or Focus Peaking, but they both do the same thing. Both functions perform as an overlay that helps you find focus by placing colors on the edges of things in sharp focus. When Focus Assist is on, the image will suddenly appear in black and white and objects in focus will have edges in color (See figure 7.8.3). With Focus Peaking, the image stays in color and you can choose which color will appear on edges that are in focus.

When you are done finding focus with Focus Assist, press the Focus Assist button again to return the image back to color. If you forget to do this before you record, there is no need to worry because focus assist is an overlay function, meaning it shows up on the monitors in the camera, but not on the footage recorded.

Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): When the Focus Assist is in use, the image turns black and white, and blue lines appear around objects in focus. (CC BY-NC 4.0; Sebastian Jimenez via San Francisco State University)

There is a myth that using autofocus means that you are a beginner. Although giving focus control to your camera is not always ideal, there are situations when using auto or push focus is in your best interest. For example, if you were recording athletes running a 110m hurdles race, you will not have time to change your focus as the race progresses. In this instance, using autofocus is the right call to make sure the athletes are in focus.