Canon Legria HF R18 Blur/Glare in Video

[mrJWONG]

Hi, I've recently gotten a Canon Legria HF R18 camcorder but there's a lot of blur and glare in the videos that it takes. I suspect it's an internal lens/sensor issue (fungus, fog?) but I might also have the wrong settings. Is anyone able to offer some advice? I've attached a sample video of a window with blinds drawn in front of it to show the image quality and the glare.

Thank you!

[IamintheUK]

No video attached.😒

[mrJWONG]

Whoops. Realized I can't upload a video here without a URL but this is what it looks like, lots of light flaring not really much focus. I've been trying to do some digging and it seems like the focus isn't working well as it pulses at wide angles after zooming in and out.

[mrJWONG]

The photo above is of a window with a blind drawn on it. 

[IamintheUK]

In a low light environment where there are a lot of dark areas the autofocus will have trouble focusing and will hunt because it uses contrast to do so. In these situations you should use manual focus.

It does look though that there may be a problem with your lens.

[mrJWONG]

Even in manual focus it seems like it's quite blurry so I do assume it is a lens issue as well. But when I zoom in close to subject it works fine, just at longer distances.

[IamintheUK]

Something to check in case you missed it. Is there a filter or closeup lens attached to the front of the camera lens?