Best autofocus settings for video.

I love doing the occasional video especially if photographing an active subject. I think it makes a nice addition to stills.

I usually have the camera set to continuous focus and it has worked fine in the past. But now it doesn’t even try to focus. No hunting even. So I switch to manual focus and get lovely video.

It seems to be only in the last six months or so. The big difference is swapping my Panasonic 100-400 for the Olympus 150-400. Does anyone use this lens with the M1X and shoot video on one of the autofocus settings? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Happy New Year

Carol

Carol Darby said:

I love doing the occasional video especially if photographing an active subject. I think it makes a nice addition to stills.

I usually have the camera set to continuous focus and it has worked fine in the past. But now it doesn’t even try to focus. No hunting even. So I switch to manual focus and get lovely video.

It seems to be only in the last six months or so. The big difference is swapping my Panasonic 100-400 for the Olympus 150-400. Does anyone use this lens with the M1X and shoot video on one of the autofocus settings? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Happy New Year

Carol

Click to expand...

wow, wishfull thinking of you asking something like this, olympus (emix) plus video, in this forum, that packed with full of oly shooter which so far stills only...

ok, back to that questions. maybe you could try that on the youtube, if i'm not mistaken, there's one man from australia that reviewing some oly lens for video (which on some of those video he was using an emix, and possibly he's oly ambassador). i don't remember the name, but the video he's uploaded usually long. you could try to ask him about that, and the the technical filed thingy for using video with olympus or etc...

Carol, I have shot some video with the 150-400 Pro and 1X with no problems. Any chance you have the focus limiters set to an impossible range? I am tied up right now but can get back to you with more ideas on Sunday, when I will have my 1X and lens in front of me.

Joe Lynch said:

Carol, I have shot some video with the 150-400 Pro and 1X with no problems. Any chance you have the focus limiters set to an impossible range? I am tied up right now but can get back to you with more ideas on Sunday, when I will have my 1X and lens in front of me.

Click to expand...

Hi Joe,

Thanks and I appreciate any suggestions you can offer.

I don’t have any limiters set in camera. I have the lens set for all ranges. I will have to experiment more. I am used to aiming at the subject and the camera taking focus and the video being fine. It may have the occasional hunt but then will focus. That was with the Panasonic lens.

However with the 150-400 it doesn’t even try to hunt. Even if I had been taking stills and not changed anything it still won’t lock focus for video of the same subject. Most unusual. If I switch to manual focus it is good. But I need autofocus in case the subject moves.

Carol

Carol,

this is an intriguing problem.

I assume that you’re aware that the Menu for Movie Mode has an AF setting which is independent of the stills AF settings.

I had a play with my Mark II and Mark III and can’t think of anything that could be the cause of your issue . . .

.

As an aside, how are you engaging Movie mode ?

Based on how my Mark II and Mark III work . . .

If you are are taking stills and simply press the red Rec button you have less control of your Movie settings compared with what you get by turning the Mode dial to the Movie setting eg you don’t get exposure controls

For that reason I have the Lever switch set for Movie mode. So if I’m taking stills of a a bird and want to capture a short Movie clip I can flick the Lever switch, shoot the clip, and then switch back to my stills mode without having to play with the Mode dial.

Peter

Messier Object said:

Carol,

this is an intriguing problem.

I assume that you’re aware that the Menu for Movie Mode has an AF setting which is independent of the stills AF settings.

I had a play with my Mark II and Mark III and can’t think of anything that could be the cause of your issue . . .

.

As an aside, how are you engaging Movie mode ?

Based on how my Mark II and Mark III work . . .

If you are are taking stills and simply press the red Rec button you have less control of your Movie settings compared with what you get by turning the Mode dial to the Movie setting eg you don’t get exposure controls

For that reason I have the Lever switch set for Movie mode. So if I’m taking stills of a a bird and want to capture a short Movie clip I can flick the Lever switch, shoot the clip, and then switch back to my stills mode without having to play with the Mode dial.

Peter

Click to expand...

Hi Peter,

Thanks for replying.

I only use the actual Movie setting for video. I have Custom menu 4 set up as my main still setting so can quickly flick from 4 to movie.

Now comes the weird bit. I just had a play with two cameras. The Mark 3 with 12-100 and the M1X with 150-400. Just inside the house to test focus. I tried both on C-AF and C-AF with tracking. The wider lens was very quick. But the big lens also would focus though not quite as responsive which isn't surprising considering the range. But once it acquired focus it would stay with it.

I don't know why I had issues the few times I tried out in the field. I definitely need to try some more. I was using a tripod and had the image stabiliser on. I wonder if that was the issue. I was hand holding on the tests I did today.


Carol

Carol Darby said:

Messier Object said:

Carol,

this is an intriguing problem.

I assume that you’re aware that the Menu for Movie Mode has an AF setting which is independent of the stills AF settings.

I had a play with my Mark II and Mark III and can’t think of anything that could be the cause of your issue . . .

.

As an aside, how are you engaging Movie mode ?

Based on how my Mark II and Mark III work . . .

If you are are taking stills and simply press the red Rec button you have less control of your Movie settings compared with what you get by turning the Mode dial to the Movie setting eg you don’t get exposure controls

For that reason I have the Lever switch set for Movie mode. So if I’m taking stills of a a bird and want to capture a short Movie clip I can flick the Lever switch, shoot the clip, and then switch back to my stills mode without having to play with the Mode dial.

Peter

Click to expand...

Hi Peter,

Thanks for replying.

I only use the actual Movie setting for video. I have Custom menu 4 set up as my main still setting so can quickly flick from 4 to movie.

Click to expand...

If setup, the lever can put the camera into full Movie mode the same as turning the mode dial to Movie. I like it that way as it's then the same as my Canon DSLRs which have their movie switch in the same position.

My birding modes are 1 and 2 on the Mk II so I setup my Mk III the same. if I used C4 on the Mk III it would be (as you say) one click away from Movie mode, but then my Mk III would be different to my Mk II.

Keeping consistency between the models and the brands . . . not always easy

Carol Darby said:

Now comes the weird bit. I just had a play with two cameras. The Mark 3 with 12-100 and the M1X with 150-400. Just inside the house to test focus. I tried both on C-AF and C-AF with tracking. The wider lens was very quick. But the big lens also would focus though not quite as responsive which isn't surprising considering the range. But once it acquired focus it would stay with it.

I don't know why I had issues the few times I tried out in the field. I definitely need to try some more. I was using a tripod and had the image stabiliser on. I wonder if that was the issue. I was hand holding on the tests I did today.

Click to expand...

hmm, yes weird.

Did your camera go into sleep mode and then you woke it by pressing a button ?

Both my Mk II and Mk III can (infrequently) do strange things when woken from AutoSleep mode. The usual thing is that they completely ignore the Menu and/or OK button - cant get into the menu, can't activate the SCP. Sometimes they won't AF, sometimes I can't change Drive modes. I can always clear this by re-powering the camera

There are still some residual SW bugs in these cameras but I won't risk sending them away even though my Mk III is still under warranty.

Maybe these cameras are so 'smart' they are becoming sentient and are dreaming in their sleep. Nobody likes to be woken suddenly from a dream :-D

I hope the weather is cooling over there.

Peter

Carol Darby said:

Carol

Click to expand...

Messier Object said:

Carol Darby said:

Messier Object said:

Carol,

this is an intriguing problem.

I assume that you’re aware that the Menu for Movie Mode has an AF setting which is independent of the stills AF settings.

I had a play with my Mark II and Mark III and can’t think of anything that could be the cause of your issue . . .

.

As an aside, how are you engaging Movie mode ?

Based on how my Mark II and Mark III work . . .

If you are are taking stills and simply press the red Rec button you have less control of your Movie settings compared with what you get by turning the Mode dial to the Movie setting eg you don’t get exposure controls

For that reason I have the Lever switch set for Movie mode. So if I’m taking stills of a a bird and want to capture a short Movie clip I can flick the Lever switch, shoot the clip, and then switch back to my stills mode without having to play with the Mode dial.

Peter

Click to expand...

Hi Peter,

Thanks for replying.

I only use the actual Movie setting for video. I have Custom menu 4 set up as my main still setting so can quickly flick from 4 to movie.

Click to expand...

If setup, the lever can put the camera into full Movie mode the same as turning the mode dial to Movie. I like it that way as it's then the same as my Canon DSLRs which have their movie switch in the same position.

My birding modes are 1 and 2 on the Mk II so I setup my Mk III the same. if I used C4 on the Mk III it would be (as you say) one click away from Movie mode, but then my Mk III would be different to my Mk II.

Keeping consistency between the models and the brands . . . not always easy

Click to expand...

Hi Peter. I am not quite sure what you mean by setting the lever up for full movie mode. The only lever that I can think of is the one that has 1 and 2. I have those set up in each of the custom modes to change the number of focus points. I am about to watch a tutorial to set it up as that could be quite handy at times. Though I also like having the ability to change number of focus points on the fly.

Messier Object said:

Messier Object said:

Now comes the weird bit. I just had a play with two cameras. The Mark 3 with 12-100 and the M1X with 150-400. Just inside the house to test focus. I tried both on C-AF and C-AF with tracking. The wider lens was very quick. But the big lens also would focus though not quite as responsive which isn't surprising considering the range. But once it acquired focus it would stay with it.

I don't know why I had issues the few times I tried out in the field. I definitely need to try some more. I was using a tripod and had the image stabiliser on. I wonder if that was the issue. I was hand holding on the tests I did today.

Click to expand...

hmm, yes weird.

Did your camera go into sleep mode and then you woke it by pressing a button ?

Both my Mk II and Mk III can (infrequently) do strange things when woken from AutoSleep mode. The usual thing is that they completely ignore the Menu and/or OK button - cant get into the menu, can't activate the SCP. Sometimes they won't AF, sometimes I can't change Drive modes. I can always clear this by re-powering the camera

There are still some residual SW bugs in these cameras but I won't risk sending them away even though my Mk III is still under warranty.

Maybe these cameras are so 'smart' they are becoming sentient and are dreaming in their sleep. Nobody likes to be woken suddenly from a dream :-D

I hope the weather is cooling over there.

Peter

Click to expand...

The camera wasn't in sleep mode. I had been shooting stills and switched over to video. I didn't adjust the focus and it was straight from one mode to the other so no sleeping.

The weather is low to mid thirties now so very pleasant. But the heat will be coming back in a few days time. But that is summer so we just grin and bear it.

Carol

Hi Peter,

I watched a tutorial and learnt something new re the lever on my cameras. I just set it up and did a test. And I actually find it easier to switch from mode 4 to movie mode than to use the lever. But thanks for the suggestion.

I did set the lever up in movie mode to have 1 on CF and 2 on CF with Tracking. So I did a different thing with your suggestion but it has still been very helpful as with your help I discovered yet another function of this very great camera with so many features. I reckon it would take a lifetime to become fully conversant with all of them.

Carol Darby said:

Hi Peter,

I watched a tutorial and learnt something new re the lever on my cameras. I just set it up and did a test. And I actually find it easier to switch from mode 4 to movie mode than to use the lever. But thanks for the suggestion.

I did set the lever up in movie mode to have 1 on CF and 2 on CF with Tracking. So I did a different thing with your suggestion but it has still been very helpful as with your help I discovered yet another function of this very great camera with so many features. I reckon it would take a lifetime to become fully conversant with all of them.

Click to expand...

I'm glad you got something out of my ideas.

I know others use the lever to switch to BBF, different AF points AF modes etc but I never took to BBF and the AF points I like to address directly via a button. Until I set it for Movie mode I never had a use for the lever.

El Nino weather patterns are giving us a second mild summer in a row. I wish summers could always be like this (but without the COVID).

2019-20 was a scorcher with record heat over here (the black summer of fires) I recall we quite a few days in the 40s topping out at around 46.

Peter

Messier Object said:

Carol Darby said:

Hi Peter,

I watched a tutorial and learnt something new re the lever on my cameras. I just set it up and did a test. And I actually find it easier to switch from mode 4 to movie mode than to use the lever. But thanks for the suggestion.

I did set the lever up in movie mode to have 1 on CF and 2 on CF with Tracking. So I did a different thing with your suggestion but it has still been very helpful as with your help I discovered yet another function of this very great camera with so many features. I reckon it would take a lifetime to become fully conversant with all of them.

Click to expand...

I'm glad you got something out of my ideas.

I know others use the lever to switch to BBF, different AF points AF modes etc but I never took to BBF and the AF points I like to address directly via a button. Until I set it for Movie mode I never had a use for the lever.

El Nino weather patterns are giving us a second mild summer in a row. I wish summers could always be like this (but without the COVID).
2019-20 was a scorcher with record heat over here (the black summer of fires) I recall we quite a few days in the 40s topping out at around 46.

Peter

Click to expand...

With all the still settings I have the lever set to do different number of focus points. To keep it consistent I always have the 1 setting with the least number of focus points for that particular custom setting. I have custom 1 set for perched birds, 2 for Pro Capture low, 3 for birds in flight with CAF and 4 for birds in flight with Bird AI.

Where about are you actually located? You may have mentioned it before but my memory is a bit ify at times. Weather is okay at the moment but very hot weather returning in a few days time.



Carol

This might finish uploading to YT within 3 hours from this post time. It is a short straight from camera clip with my 1X and 150-400, at 400, through a glass door pane, using single spot CAF, from far to near. 4k 30 fps, 1/125 shutter, f20 (no ND with me for this lens). CAF speed set to +1, CAF sensitivity set to +1.

CAF test for Carol

With my lens, this is about as slow as it gets, and there was plenty of atmospheric and glass interference today.

Joe Lynch said:

This might finish uploading to YT within 3 hours from this post time. It is a short straight from camera clip with my 1X and 150-400, at 400, through a glass door pane, using single spot CAF, from far to near. 4k 30 fps, 1/125 shutter, f20 (no ND with me for this lens). CAF speed set to +1, CAF sensitivity set to +1.

CAF test for Carol

With my lens, this is about as slow as it gets, and there was plenty of atmospheric and glass interference today.

Click to expand...

Hi Joe,

Thanks so much for taking the time. The lens definitely does focus just fine. I will definitely do some retesting of mine. When shooting on the weekend it was over a lake on a hot day so maybe heat haze came into play.

I will check my settings to see if they are similar to yours. I remember doing a test for a poster when I first got the lens by focusing on a near subject and then a distance subject to see if the lens keeps the same perspective when moving one to the other. I had forgotten I did that so obviously the new gear has no problem. Probably conditions and operator error. I shall persevere.

is that the view from your place. Where is it? I am very jealous.

Ruidoso, NM at 7000 feet above sea level. It was 8F here this morning but above freezing now. Yes, that is our deck. We look out to the East from our deck, so we get some spectacular sunrises. Ski mountain is to the West, but too old and injured to ski.

Here is a link to some bird photos taken today while waiting for the road to thaw some.

Deck shots New Year's Weekend

Joe

Joe Lynch said:

Ruidoso, NM at 7000 feet above sea level. It was 8F here this morning but above freezing now. Yes, that is our deck. We look out to the East from our deck, so we get some spectacular sunrises. Ski mountain is to the West, but too old and injured to ski.

Here is a link to some bird photos taken today while waiting for the road to thaw some.

Deck shots New Year's Weekend

Joe

Click to expand...

Wow. What wonderful visitors you have to your home. I would love to have your location. Lovely images. I am not sure I would love below freezing temps. Though our recent 109 F was pretty extreme. I bet you get hot in summer.

I am heading to Alaska and California in a few months time and looking forward to different scenery and wildlife.--


Carol

I'm uploading another video for you, this time using the same settings as the other one, except I turned on CAF+Tr and bird eye autofocus. I needed some practice. Again, through some glass.

CAF+Tr practice on deck 150-400 1X

There isn't any audio, but it was kind of fun watching the camera try to find an obscured bird. BIF I don't do much of, unless they are very large, slow, and close.

Joe

Joe Lynch said:

I'm uploading another video for you, this time using the same settings as the other one, except I turned on CAF+Tr and bird eye autofocus. I needed some practice. Again, through some glass.

CAF+Tr practice on deck 150-400 1X

There isn't any audio, but it was kind of fun watching the camera try to find an obscured bird. BIF I don't do much of, unless they are very large, slow, and close.

Joe

Click to expand...

Thanks Joe,

No wonder the birds love your place. How magic to have a location with a great view and somewhere to put birdfeeders. The best I can manage on my little suburban block is a birdbath out the front. They love it in the hot weather. But it isn't a photo opportunity. I just do it for the birds to drink and bathe.

I was amazed the lens focused as much as it did. especially through glass. It is pretty hopeless through foliage. I hope there is a firmware update that will improve the bird and animal focus.

With the time and birds I had available, that is the best I could do as an informal test demo. I usually use single point spot and low sequential with the birds near the deck because the tree branches are pretty thick near the feeder. Where the CAF+Tr with eye detect really works pretty well is with the waders at a pond, or larger slow moving birds, then, once the camera locks on, you can final compose the shot without losing focus as the bird moves around in the frame.

I hope you find the issue with your setup/camera/lens. I have a long drive back to central Texas today so will be away from the computer until our Monday evening.

Joe Lynch said:

This might finish uploading to YT within 3 hours from this post time. It is a short straight from camera clip with my 1X and 150-400, at 400, through a glass door pane, using single spot CAF, from far to near. 4k 30 fps, 1/125 shutter, f20 (no ND with me for this lens). CAF speed set to +1, CAF sensitivity set to +1.

CAF test for Carol

With my lens, this is about as slow as it gets, and there was plenty of atmospheric and glass interference today.

Click to expand...

Hi Joe,

I have been going through the movie settings on my M1X. Some of my settings were the same as what you had and I changed a couple to match yours. There were a couple I couldn't do. How do you set the shutter speed and f stop when in movie mode? I can't find anywhere that will allow me to change them. Or do you shoot in M (manual) mode and use the little red button to start video? I have disabled mine and set the shutter button to record video but that is only in Movie mode. In Movie mode my shutter and iso fluctuates depending on the light available. Do you have ISO auto on or off? In movie mode mine seems to be set to auto by default. I can then manually compensate if needed depending on the subject and background.

Carol Darby said:

I love doing the occasional video especially if photographing an active subject. I think it makes a nice addition to stills.

I usually have the camera set to continuous focus and it has worked fine in the past. But now it doesn’t even try to focus. No hunting even. So I switch to manual focus and get lovely video.

It seems to be only in the last six months or so. The big difference is swapping my Panasonic 100-400 for the Olympus 150-400. Does anyone use this lens with the M1X and shoot video on one of the autofocus settings? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Happy New Year

Carol

Click to expand...

Hi.

You're using Olympus E-M1s for movie shooting. I've been using a GH4 for movies for some years. Had had to get a G7 as B-cam because my E-M5ii is basically useless at shooting more than a few minutes of movie before it starts to tinge magenta (this is in the manual, the sensor gets hot). The GH4 and the G7 will shoot movie all evening if needs be. Olympus are fine if you only want short clips.

You have been using the PL100-400 which I usually have on the G9. My E-M5ii has no focussing problems with it. However C-AF is a form of follow-focus, especially in movie mode; it will try to stick with the subject even if its view is interrupted. Olympus C-AF is a bit different to Panasonic movie-mode Continuous-Focus. Olympus are not geared up as well for focussing in movie mode, not as many options. Even with the Pans AFC (C-AF) is not always the best option, try switching over to S-AF (AFS). When I've tried to pan across a stage with AFC the camera will try to stick with the subject it originally focussed on i.e. follow-focus, and not refocus on my new subject. My work around has been to use AFS, but turn the (Pan) Continuous-Focus ON (Olympus does not have this), and use a smallish focus box area so it focusses where I'm actually pointing it.

With a Lumix lens that has an OIS switch like the PL100-400 has, Olympus have something poorly documented that they called "Dual Image Stabilisation" (patent pending). The E-M5ii has this. This is not not Sync-IS nor Panasonic's Dual-IS but allows the Lens-IS and IBIS to operate at once independently - turn the Lens-OIS switch ON, in the menu turn the "Use Lens IS" OFF, You can hear both sets of motors whirring. It is better than just IBIS particularly with extra-long lenses.

In the Olympus AF/MF menu (gear cogs) we have separate stills and movie modes. Have you set movie mode to MF and changing AF mode on the camera switch? That would rather stop it trying to focus.

There are some settings that will block other settings. As I tend to copy my set up from one camera to the other I may inherit the same lock-out. I have resorted to a factory reset before now