I can only assume this camera has no auto focus?
 

Hi all,
probably 80% of the time I use manual focus but when I use my cameras in water housing I have them on auto focus...

can I only assume the JVC has no AF due to it being a shoulder camera?

I'd assume no AF because I've never seen a removable video lens that had it.

BUT...since you'd have to get a water housing for this camera custom made anyway, I doubt a custom made housing that size would be THAT more expensive with a focus link.

Like the difference between 5K and 6K?

Some of the XL series interchangeable lenses include autofocus... but no indication yet as to whether the JVC camera will include similar features.

Barry is right about the Canon white XL-series automatic lenses having autofocus, but I think Nate was referring to the traditional broadcast video lens category -- the standard ENG / EFP style lenses for professional shoulder-mount cameras, which is what the HD100 is using. There are some lenses of this type which include autofocus, but they're pretty expensive. There's also an add-on optical image stabilizer but it's fairly pricey too.

See Fujinon broadcast video lenses.

See also Canon U.S.A’s Broadcast and Communications website, although to my knowledge Canon does not currently offer a 1/3rd-inch HD lens.

Agreed. All I was saying was that just because a lens is removable, doesn't necessarily mean that you can't have autofocus. The lens and the camera would both need to be designed to support such a feature, but it can be done (and obviously, autofocus would never be possible using standard ENG lenses that don't have autofocus circuitry in them). But if JVC is having new lenses built (and with a 1/3" mount, it'd almost be mandatory to have new lenses built) then the possibility exists that they *could* design autofocus. Whether they will or not, or whether some other technilogical limitation prevents them from being able to do so, remains to be seen.

I don't think it will have auto focus, but again, who needs it?

<<<-- Originally posted by Michael Maier : I don't think it will have auto focus, but again, who needs it? -->>>

Well run and gun is one area. When you need a quick setup, hit a button and wham, focussed.

Aaron

Yes, autofocus can be very handy. Relying on it in a dramatic/narrative production is foolish, but there are times when it can be useful. And, as always, better to have the option and not use it, than to need it and not have it. And focusing with HD cameras is a lot more crucial than it is on an SD camera, so it'd be nice to have the option of autofocus.

Unless I'm going crazy, nearly every preview/review of the camera that I've read mentions autofocus, at least with the default lens.

Ben

<<<-- Originally posted by Ben Buie : Unless I'm going crazy, nearly every preview/review of the camera that I've read mentions autofocus, at least with the default lens.

Ben -->>>

You might have to back that up with a quote...I've been following things very closely and can't remember ever seeing the word.

<<<-- Originally posted by Nate Weaver : <<<-- Originally posted by Ben Buie : Unless I'm going crazy, nearly every preview/review of the camera that I've read mentions autofocus, at least with the default lens.

Ben -->>>

You might have to back that up with a quote...I've been following things very closely and can't remember ever seeing the word. -->>>

Maybe you are right, I just re-read a preview in DV Mag, and here is their quote:

"You probably noticed the lens first -- that's a custom-designed 16x Fujinon lens, and it's removable. The lens has automatic and manual iris control, servo zoom, mechanical focus, and backfocus adjustment."

Maybe I was thinking of automatic iris control . . . excuse my ignorance, but couldn't you have automatic focus if you have automatic iris control? I might be showing my lack of knowledge about professional lenses here :)

Ben

Maybe I was thinking of automatic iris control . . . excuse my ignorance, but couldn't you have automatic focus if you have automatic iris control? I might be showing my lack of knowledge about professional lenses here :)

Ben -->>>

It's just more an issue of what's been done in the past. Very few pro lenses in that style have ever had AF...I know I've never seen a single one, and I've been shooting for a while.

Does the HD100 have auto focus?
 

I read somewhere that interchangeable lenses sometimes do not have auto focus.

Why would you want it?

Exactly! The same, BTW, goes for the rocker zoom on the handle. You are getting REAL lens here!