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Best dslr for focussing while shooting
I am looking at different cameras with focusing in mind (leaving aside all other considerations for the time being since I don’t need help weighing those).
I have shot 4 half hour documentaries with an EOS 550d and the slowness of the focusing proved very limiting and consigned me to static shots and made it very hard to capture fast moving developments. Remember that this is documentary so the movements of the subjects cannot be controlled as it would in a scripted shoot.
I like the idea of Canon’s touchscreen focusing with dual cmos that allows you to to shift focus while filming just by touching the screen where you want it to focus. I believe it is very fast.
The EOS 7d Mark II doesn’t have touch screen but can you move a cursor or box around on the screen to indicate where you want it to focus?And what about the focusing on say the NX1 or GH4, do they allow you to “pull focus” by touching the screen at the appropriate place?
Or some other camera I haven’t mentioned?Which of the DSLRs on the market then is the best for focusing with video?
I hear the GH4 praised for many reasons but there doesn’t seem to be any information on its focusing capability.Which caera can track a moving subject and which allows you to refocus (or pull focus) quickest and cleanest while shooting (if the focus change is seamless then it can be included in the edit)
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2 Replies
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Hi Neil – I sold my 550D/T2i because of its lack of video autofocus capability.
I have the £1099 4K GH4
and it has terrific tracking and touch screen autofocus.
Here it is in a side-by-side autofocus shootout with the dual pixel Canon 70D:
Dual pixel is lightning fast, but I personally prefer the slower GH4 focus pull.
Here’s GH4 AF in a real world situation:
All of that said – if you really need fast and accurate autofocus with the large-sensor DSLR “look”, you might want to consider a 1″ sensor camcorder instead of a DSLR or DSLM camera.
I recommend the new £1518 10-bit 4:2:2 Sony PXW-X70
, which is upgradeable to Ultra HD “4K”. This camera has a built-in 24x power zoom, built in ND filter and fast, accurate autofocus.
Here is what this camera can do:
Hope this is helpful!
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Thanks for such clear information Bill, now I have a much better idea of what the GH4 can do.
I won’t be going for a 1 inch sensor camcorder, the images don’t seem nearly as good as from a larger sensor SLR.Does anyone have any idea about other mirrored/mirror-less SLRs that have good auto-focus and focus pulling during live shooting?
What about the NX1 from Samsung?
Any others?
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