How to: Manual Focus

Unfortunately, one of the most troublesome situations for autofocus cameras is also one of the most common for home video enthusiasts. Family gatherings, especially indoors, can often send an autofocus camera into a frenzy. The lack of available light causes the iris to open up all the way resulting in minimal depth of field. The problem is further compounded by a bunch of people moving around in a relatively small area. When there is a lot of the movement around the camera, the autofocus is never really sure what is supposed to be in focus and what is not. Camcorders generally have a hard time focusing properly in low light situations even without movement. Very often you will notice the focus ring never stops moving because the camera is constantly searching for proper focus. This is called "hunting" and it's why you see tapes that go in and out of focus while you are watching them.

There are a couple of recommended fixes for focus problems. If your camcorder has a feature that lets you select what the camera uses as the main area of focus that can help immensely. For example, the Canon flexi-zone cameras let you select what the camera should use as the main point of focus by placing a frame around the main subject. If your camera doesn't have this feature you can accomplish the same thing yourself by switching to manual focus and establishing proper focus on what you determine to be the most important part of the scene. Sounds simple enough, but many times folks neglect the most important step in establishing the correct focus. In order to properly focus the camera you need to be zoomed all the way in to the most telephoto position. While zoomed in all the way, point the camera at your main subject, focus the shot, and then zoom back out to frame the shot. If you are not zoomed in ALL THE WAY, you cannot accurately establish the best focus. You should also focus on something that is in the middle of the area that you want to have in focus, not toward the front or back of the scene. This is because the depth of field (the area in correct focus) extends in front of and behind where you actually focus.

The wider the angle of view the less obvious the out of focus areas are making it much less noticeable. You will often notice that as you zoom in, an area that you thought was in focus quickly becomes very fuzzy. You can't have everything in focus (most of the time) so keep the shots wide and you will cut down on the impact of the parts of the scene that are out of focus. Also, the more ambient light you have, the less the lens will have to open, and the greater the depth of field will be. Just don't add so many extra sources that everywhere you look you have serious backlight problems to deal with.

For most party-type situations, especially when moving around from group to group, your best bet is to select a very wide angle shot, and set the focus for around 10 feet. In a larger space set it at 15-20 feet. This way you can move around freely without having to constantly refocus, and you will find that most everything turns out to be in focus (or close enough).

Try turning your autofocus off and take matters into your own hands. After a bit of practice you may never go back again.