focus question

[Almakit]

Question to 1020 users, i think the camera in my phone is dying or something while recording videos auto-focus works perfect but once i zoom in something the auto focus wont focus right, picture is not sharp while zooming on something its only sharp without zoom, after i zoom on i can see the AF trying to adjust but is never perfect always kinda blurry and if i stop recording and do manual focus (tap) then i get cristal clear picture but never works while zooming on something and recording, is this normal??

I have to zoom first tap to focus then start recording which is very annoying..

 

[gpobernardo]

I tried it just now, it seems to be working fine for me. I started recording a video, then zoomed in on something distant and it focused well. I then pointed my camera to something nearby, and it focused just well. Did this back and forth three times with no problems, though I noticed is that it takes around a second or more to detect the distance of the "new" subject.

However, I did not find the manual focus for video recording. Have you updated to Cyan (not developer preview), and what Camera App are you using?

 

[Almakit]

before you start recording you can set the focus with a tap, can you do another test, zoom in, tap-focus and see if it looks the same as AF while recording?

 

[gpobernardo]

Right, it does set the focus at a fixed distance when you tap on the screen in video capture mode. Thanks for this.

I tried it. I see what you mean, and I think I know what's happening. Since the L1020 does not have IR beams for focus assist, it "relies" on detail sharpness to gauge its focus. Hence, the focusing algorithms work best for brightly-lit subjects, but not so for darker subjects/environments.

Last night, I was in a bright room so auto focus and manual focus, both zoomed in and out, worked flawlessly. Now, I'm in a slightly darker room. Zoomed in, the manual focus doesn't always focus properly but it does most of the time. This means that there are times when the focusing algorithm is not able to detect enough sharp details to gauge its focus - due to the room being darker. This is the reason why the continuous auto focus, on the other hand, keeps losing and adjusting focus while recording (or even before recording for that matter).

It's most likely that at the moment you tapped on the screen for manual focus while zoomed in, the algorithm detected enough sharp details that's why focus is successful. But this will not be the same for continuous auto focus since it's seeing the instances both when the algorithm detects enough details and when it doesn't.

Imagine the difference between a single shot rifle and a fully automatic rifle firing on a randomly moving number of targets, the target being the sharp details the algorithm needs to focus on and the number of targets being the brightness of the subject. You can aim the single shot rifle, but the automatic rifle is bolted down to a fixed position.

Manual focus would be like firing the single shot rifle - chances are you'll hit the target (achieve focus) since you have the luxury of aiming your rifle (i.e. choosing your point of focus), but sometimes you wont. Continuous focus, on the other hand, would be like firing the fixed fully automatic rifle on full-auto and unlimited ammo (oh, yeah!), keeping the trigger squeezed - you'll definitely hit something but most of your shots would most likely miss.

Now, the brighter the room, the more targets would be in your line of sight (higher probability of hitting something).

Bottom line: both manual and continuous auto focus would work better in brighter environments.

Hope this helps.

 

[Almakit]

I understand that, AF struggle more in low light condition.. that wasn't my problem, my problem was 1. AF not doing its job while recording if i used the zoom and 2 both recording and picture mode 'infinite focus mode' was not calibrated, it wouldnt focus like it's supposed to with the infinite focus mode..

A lot of people have this problem with infinity focus just google it, they think it's a software issue and now i know it isnt.. users think windows 8.1 it's causing the problem yesterday i flashed amber in my phone, then flashed black and cyan and i had the same issue with the focus set to infininite giving me blurred objects took the phone to my carrier and turns out the camera module had to be changed, it wasnt a software issue, i remember a few days ago dropping my phone it had a case on so no damage was made to the phone, apparently, but it did damaged the camera module and its mechanical moving thing or whatever is inside it's now fixed thank god.

So my advice is, if your phone infinite focus's acts like its not calibrated or if the AF fails to do its job while recording and using the zoom, just send the phone back and have the camera module changed.

 

[gpobernardo]

I understand that, AF struggle more in low light condition.. that wasn't my problem, my problem was 1. AF not doing its job while recording if i used the zoom and 2 both recording and picture mode 'infinite focus mode' was not calibrated, it wouldnt focus like it's supposed to with the infinite focus mode..

A lot of people have this problem with infinity focus just google it, they think it's a software issue and now i know it isnt.. users think windows 8.1 it's causing the problem yesterday i flashed amber in my phone, then flashed black and cyan and i had the same issue with the focus set to infininite giving me blurred objects took the phone to my carrier and turns out the camera module had to be changed, it wasnt a software issue, i remember a few days ago dropping my phone it had a case on so no damage was made to the phone, apparently, but it did damaged the camera module and its mechanical moving thing or whatever is inside it's now fixed thank god.

So my advice is, if your phone infinite focus's acts like its not calibrated or if the AF fails to do its job while recording and using the zoom, just send the phone back and have the camera module changed.

Calibration is not the issue when your focus is manually set (e.g. to infinity). A closer observation shows that the OIS is not activated under manual focus - this causes the blurriness in your images especially when you're zoomed in for photos.

But given that you've dropped the phone, then I'm glad they "replaced" the camera module and it's now fixed.:smile: