topic Re: Canon Vixia HF G20 Blurry Focus when Zooming in Camcorders

Canon Vixia HF G20 Blurry Focus when Zooming

amywe — Tue, 30 Oct 2018 00:52:21 GMT

I filme outdoors in low and bright light so I've been using the Autofocus. However when i zoom in and out the pic is blurry until I stop the zoom for the camere to refocus. Any setting suggestions to make the zoom/focus a smooth transition? Thanks

Re: Canon Vixia HF G20 Blurry Focus when Zooming

wq9nsc — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 23:58:09 GMT

I am not familiar with this Vixia model but some of the camcorders, like my XF400, allow customization via a menu where you can select from 3 different AF speeds and also three levels of AF responsiveness. See if there is a Setup Menu section in your manual and see whether it allows you to change the AF speed and responsiveness settings.

Depending how the zoom system is implemented in your model the AF may behave differently as you get into the digital vs optical zoom area.

Rodger

Re: Canon Vixia HF G20 Blurry Focus when Zooming

IamintheUK — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 09:36:51 GMT

The G20 like my G40 has an Instant Auto Focus mode. Try setting it to this. I have this on by default and never have focussing problems.

Re: Canon Vixia HF G20 Blurry Focus when Zooming

amywe — Sat, 10 Nov 2018 13:54:55 GMT

Thank you for the reply! I reset my camera and set it to Autofocus. It is better. I think it might be a digital/optical thing too. I have the camera on a 20ft tripod. And i notice as the lighting lowers that focus gets worse. I'm attaching an example video of what I'm talking about. If you have any other sugggestions, I'll greatly appreciate it. But it maybe the best I can get with this camera.

Re: Canon Vixia HF G20 Blurry Focus when Zooming

wq9nsc — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 21:00:04 GMT

If you are trying to cover around half the field at once like you do in that video segment then you might consider using manual focus fixed in the area of interest and setting up for as much depth of field as possible rather than tracking anything and depending upon auto focus likely ending up with what you want out of focus. I shoot primarily stills but I know someone is also using a G20 on a large tripod to shoot high school soccer and I will find out what settings he uses when I see him next.

I experimented with shooting some video this past summer during a friendly but I was primarily tracking my daughter so fast AF worked fine however I was set up for good depth of field. Here is a short clip from that event (shot with a Canon XF400); video is definitely not my forte and I had only had the camera for less than 24 hours prior and the learning curve is somewhat steep. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1AoxbUqGolMi-qnMZjHl7mk4gIsO3Nhtt

Rodger

Re: Canon Vixia HF G20 Blurry Focus when Zooming

cwilson23 — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 00:57:51 GMT

@amywe wrote:
Thank you for the reply! I reset my camera and set it to Autofocus. It is better. I think it might be a digital/optical thing too. I have the camera on a 20ft tripod. And i notice as the lighting lowers that focus gets worse. I'm attaching an example video of what I'm talking about. If you have any other sugggestions, I'll greatly appreciate it. But it maybe the best I can get with this camera.

What tripod are you using? What is your set-up with monitor and such? Looking into something like you are using.

Thanks.

Re: Canon Vixia HF G20 Blurry Focus when Zooming

cwilson23 — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 01:00:41 GMT

@IamintheUK wrote:
The G20 like my G40 has an Instant Auto Focus mode. Try setting it to this. I have this on by default and never have focussing problems.

I was just going to post regarding something like this with my G40. Totally new and videoing. Just used the auto setting while filming my son's three lacrosse games. Filmed on turf in the sun. Struggled sometimes to get focused. Can you direct me to where in the manual it talks about this? Perhaps someone knows of other tweaks that can be made to avoid the foucsing issues. Other than that, i was pleased with the performance.

Where is the instant autofocus mode?

Re: Canon Vixia HF G20 Blurry Focus when Zooming

IamintheUK — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 14:06:47 GMT

On the touchscreen select Function then Menu. Scroll down under the 1st tab to AF Mode, touch the arrow and select it there.

I would suggest you spend some time getting to know the manual modes as they make the camera extremely versatile. I always use my G40 in manual mode, Only the focus is set to Instant Auto Focus.

Re: Canon Vixia HF G20 Blurry Focus when Zooming

cwilson23 — Tue, 20 Nov 2018 01:41:52 GMT

@IamintheUK wrote:
On the touchscreen select Function then Menu. Scroll down under the 1st tab to AF Mode, touch the arrow and select it there.
I would suggest you spend some time getting to know the manual modes as they make the camera extremely versatile. I always use my G40 in manual mode, Only the focus is set to Instant Auto Focus.

How do you suggest I 'play' with it? Do you know of any books or videos I can watch regarding this? Again, I am totally new to this and would appreciate and direction that you could point me in.

Thanks,
Chuck

Re: Canon Vixia HF G20 Blurry Focus when Zooming

IamintheUK — Tue, 20 Nov 2018 11:34:04 GMT

There are some tutorials on YouTube covering various functions, some of which are shared with the G20 & G30. Also spend some time going through the manual and experiment with the various settings. The G40 is a great camera. You just need to practice the various setting and get to know what they do. I've had my two years and bought it because of the manual features that are available if you wish to use them.

Re: Canon Vixia HF G20 Blurry Focus when Zooming

cwilson23 — Tue, 20 Nov 2018 13:27:13 GMT

Do you have any specific manual settings that I can start with? Primarily focused on taping soccer and lacrosse. Think part of the issue was I was having depth of field issues. I was shooting on a artificial turf field, it was sunny (unfortunately I had to shoot into the sun rather than having to sun to my back), there was a parking lot on the back side of the game with cars going back and forth. Again, unfortunately I was not able to shoot from an elevated position and was filming from the ground at mid-field.

Re: Canon Vixia HF G20 Blurry Focus when Zooming

IamintheUK — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 16:29:13 GMT

Given that you are not shooting from an elevated position using manual focus might be better for you. The reason being, in auto mode if a player passes close to you the camera will re-focus on them and then back to the field. In good light you should be ok with the focus set on roughly the middle of the field. If you zoom in you will have to adjust the focus. There is a setting in the manual focus settings that allows you to touch an object on the screen and it will adjust the focus for that object.

In bright light I would use the Wide Dynamic Range setting in the Looks menu. Shooting into the sun will not help with the exposure so if you can avoid it it will help. If you are not using a tripod make sure that Stabilization is turned on.

The best thing you can do is spend time going through the manual and experimenting with the different auto and manual settings, and then set up the user configurable buttons on the camera to the functions you use the most. The full manual can be downloaded from the Canon website.