Progressive harder to focus
 

I was operating the other day in progressive, and it seems harder to focus, kinda like film.

Is this because ther is less light, or becasue of the nature of the "softer" picture?

B.Sundry

I hope you dont truly belive that.

I've worked with film for quite some time (3 years Uni, 2 years experimental) And Focus is (I say) 90% in the lens.

Sure Progressive is a format that has its drawbacks, but softer pictures is not really one of them.

If you're talking about the difference in shooting interlaced SD (like with a miniDV camera) compared to shooting progressive HD (like with an HD100U), as being more sensitive to focus, that's because the higher resolution is less forgiving to minor focusing errors (like film also).

What camera were you using? Were you using autofocus? I believe some cameras focus slower in progressive mode because the lower refresh rate slows down the focusing calculations. If you are focusing manually, I can't see why it would make a difference.

The cam was a xdcam, but ive noticed the same on a dvx100. That refresh thing sounds kinda like it makes sense to me.

I was alwasy using manual focus. Both cams were PAL

well dude, IMO and from experience, im yet to find a problem focussing with progressive footage compared to interlaced.
In fact, i find it easier to focus in progressive than i can with interlaced.. i think its the slower frame rate which actually lets me SEE things a little clearer. it could just be me...

As for the speed in which assist works, one must consider that in progressive modes, (especially on a DVX100a) the unit is pumpin out twice the resolution. And when using Cinegamma settings, its even slower...
I wish it was faster coz sometimes that infinite focus wheel really does drive me up the wall...
I would say that the NTSC model is prolly about 20-30% faster with its assist.