HV20 - close up, out of focus

[Roland Gatto]

Hey folks!

Just received my HV20 and I'm loving it! One problem though: I was filming my dog and when I got close and zoomed (no digital zoom) so his eyes filled the whole screen, the camera could not focus. I even tried manual focus to no avail.

Would Focus Assist help with this issue? I'm totally new to camcorders, so if someone could explain how to use Focus Assist, I'd really appreciate it.

Also, if you have any ideas on how to zoom in and remain in-focus, please share!

Thanks!

[Joey Atilano]

He was probably past the minimum focus distance.

[Mike Teutsch]

Manual says .39 inch on full wide, but it will depend on you subject. You may have to manual focus, lack of contrast lines etc..

I noticed it did not work well on close-up of small leaves, but just tried it on a table mat with vertical and horizontal lines and it worked fine.

Mike

PS: Minimum on telephoto is listed as 1 meter----3.3 feet.

[Robert Ducon]

I was noticing the same thing, couldn't focus on cat, dinner plates, etc when full tele. This explains it: "Minimum on telephoto is listed as 1 meter----3.3 feet."

[Roland Gatto]

Originally Posted by Mike Teutsch

PS: Minimum on telephoto is listed as 1 meter----3.3 feet.

is the hv20 lens considered a telephoto? so you should always keep 1m between lens and target?

thanks

[Mike Teutsch]

Originally Posted by Roland Gatto

is the hv20 lens considered a telephoto? so you should always keep 1m between lens and target?

thanks

We are talking about the zoom function on the camera, zero zoom to 10X zoom. At full wide=.39 inch, at full telephoto=3.3 feet.

In other words you can't get real close to something then zoom in to get even closer and expect to be able to focus.

If you are going to take a picture of that ant on the ground, get close---don't zoom in.

Mike