Autofocus vs Manual Focus on X5S/X7/X9

[waverider]

Hey guys,

What’s more reliable for moving subjects?

Curious to hear your thoughts on this one. When you’re filming fast moving stuff like cars, people, or even wildlife,do you trust the autofocus on the X5S, X7, or X9, or do you usually stick with manual focus?

For me, autofocus can be solid sometimes, but other times it just hunts or misses depending on the lighting and contrast. Manual focus with focus peaking feels safer, but it’s not exactly easy to nail while flying, especially in a dual op setup.

So I’m wondering:
• What’s your go to for moving subjects?
• Ever had autofocus completely ruin a shot?
• Any tricks for pulling focus manually mid flight, or making tap to focus more reliable?

Would love to hear how you all handle it, I’m sure a lot of us have run into the same challenges.

 

[Donnie Frank]

Hey guys,

What’s more reliable for moving subjects?

Curious to hear your thoughts on this one. When you’re filming fast moving stuff like cars, people, or even wildlife,do you trust the autofocus on the X5S, X7, or X9, or do you usually stick with manual focus?

For me, autofocus can be solid sometimes, but other times it just hunts or misses depending on the lighting and contrast. Manual focus with focus peaking feels safer, but it’s not exactly easy to nail while flying, especially in a dual op setup.

So I’m wondering:
• What’s your go to for moving subjects?
• Ever had autofocus completely ruin a shot?
• Any tricks for pulling focus manually mid flight, or making tap to focus more reliable?

Would love to hear how you all handle it, I’m sure a lot of us have run into the same challenges.

I will share my X5 experience.

The short answer is that I now use manual focus with Focus Assist™. The unfortunate reality is that something can be *slightly* soft, and you may not not see it in the iPad. You will definitely see it on your 4K editing monitor. This is maddening.

The long answer...

I used to rely on Autofocus until that one shoot where I got home and one scene was slightly soft. Needless to say, we had to go back and reshoot it. Lesson learned. I now manually focus with Focus Assist. The iPads, as good as they are, just don't reveal super fine details, like slight softness.

I find that Autofocus struggles in low light situations or dynamic situations, so I don't use Autofocus in any professional setting. I had one shoot where I was coming up over a tree. I WANTED the tree out of focus, but Autofocus kept focusing on the tree. These lessons were learned VERY early in my drone photography career. This is why I sometimes choose the X3 for construction shoots, because it's fixed focus. I just set exposure and go.

I'm sure the X5S, X7 and X9 have better Autofocus than the X5, but maybe not??

Conclusion; Always focus manually. Give Focus Assist a shot. It works pretty well, but can be kind of annoying in a cinematography situation.

D

 

[niki]

The auto focus is device dependent. We found that taking focus with bigger screen tablet is more accurate than a smaller screen.
With X9 and RC Pro we never had a problem, just pick the focus from a subject that doesn’t move, as well avoid picking focus around the edges of the frame.

 

[waverider]

I will share my X5 experience.

The short answer is that I now use manual focus with Focus Assist™. The unfortunate reality is that something can be *slightly* soft, and you may not not see it in the iPad. You will definitely see it on your 4K editing monitor. This is maddening.

The long answer...

I used to rely on Autofocus until that one shoot where I got home and one scene was slightly soft. Needless to say, we had to go back and reshoot it. Lesson learned. I now manually focus with Focus Assist. The iPads, as good as they are, just don't reveal super fine details, like slight softness.

I find that Autofocus struggles in low light situations or dynamic situations, so I don't use Autofocus in any professional setting. I had one shoot where I was coming up over a tree. I WANTED the tree out of focus, but Autofocus kept focusing on the tree. These lessons were learned VERY early in my drone photography career. This is why I sometimes choose the X3 for construction shoots, because it's fixed focus. I just set exposure and go.

I'm sure the X5S, X7 and X9 have better Autofocus than the X5, but maybe not??

Conclusion; Always focus manually. Give Focus Assist a shot. It works pretty well, but can be kind of annoying in a cinematography situation.

D

Appreciate you sharing your X5 experience. That’s a good reminder about shots looking fine on the iPad but ending up soft in post.

Makes me wonder if the X5S, X7, or X9 autofocus has improved enough to trust, or if manual + Focus Assist is still the safest route.

 

[waverider]

The auto focus is device dependent. We found that taking focus with bigger screen tablet is more accurate than a smaller screen.
With X9 and RC Pro we never had a problem, just pick the focus from a subject that doesn’t move, as well avoid picking focus around the edges of the frame.

That’s really helpful, thanks for sharing. Good to hear you haven’t had issues with the X9 and RC Pro. I’ll definitely keep in mind the tip about locking focus on a stable subject and avoiding the edges.

Out of curiosity, do you find that workflow fast enough in dynamic shoots, or do you usually set focus once and leave it?

 

[Donnie Frank]

Appreciate you sharing your X5 experience. That’s a good reminder about shots looking fine on the iPad but ending up soft in post.

Makes me wonder if the X5S, X7, or X9 autofocus has improved enough to trust, or if manual + Focus Assist is still the safest route.

I assume that, more than likely, autofocus has improved. As I said, it struggled in low light. So just do a few low light test flights for your own peace of mind.

What do you know...I found the video on YouTube that pushed me away from autofocus.

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I believe it was the shot around 1:53 that changed everything

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D

 

[waverider]

I assume that, more than likely, autofocus has improved. As I said, it struggled in low light. So just do a few low light test flights for your own peace of mind.

What do you know...I found the video on YouTube that pushed me away from autofocus.

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Accept third party cookies

I believe it was the shot around 1:53 that changed everything

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D

Thanks for sharing the video, that really helps.

 

[niki]

Out of curiosity, do you find that workflow fast enough in dynamic shoots, or do you usually set focus once and leave it?

For dynamic shots you’ll need focus unit and focus puller. Without having one you have to plan how to make the shot using fixed focus, in such case we pick the focus prior the shot and then execute the shot then going back to first position and repeat the shot if needed.