|
Hi Martin,
Ok, let me try to help out here also. I have read your other thread on the Auscam site & would have to agree with not only the replys to that thread but also this one.
From all reports, the FX1000 is very good in low light, & definately a little better than the A1, BUT, with any camera, auto focus will not be as good in low light as it is in good light. Even in good light, there will be things (backgrounds etc) that will trick it & cause it to hunt, hence the reason so many here will tell you to use manual focus, there is no question that it will be better than auto focus in 99% of cases. This of course is if you are good at it, & the only way to get good at it is with practice.
Remember too, that with a hi def camera, focus is much more critical than with a standard def camera, so stepping up to either of these 2 cameras may actually give you more focus issues than you already have.
In your other thread you mentioned that using a tripod is out of the question, that in itself is going to cause you a lot of pain, not only because it will have an effect on the auto focus, but also, the XH A1 & the FX1000 is a lot bigger & heavier than your current camera, & the longer you are trying to shoot hand held for, the heavier the camera will feel, the more tired your arms will get & the more movement you are going to get in your shots. Of course with that extra movement the auto focus will only be worse.
With your current camera or either of the 2 cams you are looking at, i would suggest trying to find an area where you can set up a tripod as close to the action as possible so you can shoot as much as possible on the wide end of the lens. This will help by increasing the depth of field & the amount of light that is actually hitting the imaging chip/s. Try to use the camera in manual focus & know which way to trun your focus ring as your subjects get closer, or further away from the camera. If you are using a high def camera (XH A1 or FX1000) in this way, & you were only going to output SD from your NLE, then you could edit all your footage in HDV & zoom in to your subjects & crop the image to an SD size. That way you can get your close ups where & when you want them from an image that will have been recorded in a way that has given you the best result possible.
I know i haven't really answered your question, but i hope this information helps you out. In the end, it's got a lot more to do with the person behind the camera than the camera itself!
Regards,
Bryce
|