View Full Version : focus problems


Jack Davis
July 29th, 2009, 12:53 PM
My ex1 sat for a month and on first use I have weird focus issues. The 1st is if I focus on a subject, zoming in or out takes the subject quickly out of focus. The 2nd, if I focus on an object 10 feet away at 10mm as soon as I zoom in it goes out of focus but then goes back into focus around 75mm. I've check all the controls, gone from manual to auto and am lost as to what to do. Help. thanks

Brian Barkley
July 29th, 2009, 01:42 PM
Make sure you are on total manual focus.

Jack Davis
July 29th, 2009, 02:22 PM
I have check and rechecked myself for manual focus. It is almost like it is in constant shot transition.

Paul Frederick
July 29th, 2009, 03:23 PM
The switch on the lens may say MANUAL, but you still have to pull the lens ring back to be FULL manual.

Jack Davis
July 29th, 2009, 04:39 PM
Thanks. I have used the ex1 for a year and a half and have checked all the combinations from past experience. The key to me is as I zoom from 5.8 mm I get a focus around 15mm then it goes out again but comes back into focus around 75mm. It is as if shot transitions are on, but they are not selected.

Doug Jensen
July 29th, 2009, 06:12 PM
My ex1 sat for a month and on first use I have weird focus issues. The 1st is if I focus on a subject, zoming in or out takes the subject quickly out of focus. The 2nd, if I focus on an object 10 feet away at 10mm as soon as I zoom in it goes out of focus but then goes back into focus around 75mm. I've check all the controls, gone from manual to auto and am lost as to what to do. Help. thanks

Sounds like a classic back-focus issue. Unfortunately, unlike other lenses, you'll have to send the camera into Sony to get fixed or take the risk of getting into the hidden maintenance menus and trying to fix it yourself. I recommend sending it in so is is done properly.

Dan Lukehart
July 29th, 2009, 08:05 PM
do you have control of the focus once it goes out? If not, it may be similar to my problem:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/sony-xdcam-ex-cinealta/239265-focus-freeze-problem.html

If you do have control of the focus, i seems to be a backfocus issue like Doug said. This video may help you in that case:

EX1 back focus demo on Vimeo (http://www.vimeo.com/819802)

Hope this helps.