Introduction

This blog is a user's perspective on the Micro Four Thirds camera system. Read more ...

Lens Buyer's Guide. Panasonic GH4 review.

My lens reviews: Olympus 9mm f/8 fisheye, Lumix G 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6, Leica 25mm f/1.4, Lumix X 12-35mm f/2.8, Lumix X 35-100mm f/2.8, Sigma 30mm f/2.8, Sigma 19mm f/2.8, Lumix X PZ 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6, Lumix X PZ 45-175mm f/4-5.6, Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8, Panasonic Lumix G 100-300mm f/4-5.6, Panasonic Leica Lumix DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm f/2.8 1:1 Macro, Panasonic Lumix G 45-200mm f/4-5.6, Panasonic Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 pancake, Panasonic Lumix G 14mm f/2.5 pancake, Panasonic Lumix G HD 14-140mm f/4-5.8, Panasonic Lumix G HD 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6, Panasonic Lumix G 8mm f/3.5 fisheye, Lumix G 7-14mm f/4, Samyang 7.5mm f/3.5 fisheye, Tokina 300mm f/6.3 mirror reflex tele, Lensbaby 5.8mm f/3.5 circular fisheye lens
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Saturday 11 December 2010

GH2 touch screen AF (macro example)

One of the new features of the G2/GH2, is touch screen LCD. Some fans have been negative about this feature, since they are afraid of losing the hard buttons on the camera body. It turns out that the touch LCD is an additional feature, and that it does not replace any hard button functions. So those who dislike a touch screen can ignore it, without losing any vital functionality.

One application where the touch screen makes some sense, is macro photo. It is rather quick to move the focus point around in the frame. Here is an example usage, with the Panasonic Leica 45mm f/2.8 lens:



You can doubleclick on the video to be able to view it in other sizes.

As you see, the response is not very quick. It takes a moment from changing the focus point until the camera actually starts changing the focus.

I'm using the A mode on the mode dial. Using the iA mode typically gives me the focus tracking mode, in which the response from touching until the focus changes is a bit faster.  So if you want the focus response to be quicker, set the dial to iA.

In the video, I am sliding my finger over the screen now and then.  This is not necessary. You can just point where you want the focus point.  My sliding finger action is probably something I've learned from using an Iphone.

This can also be done during video recording. The response speed is the same, as far as I can tell, during video recording.

Of course, the PL45 lens is not the quickest around in terms of autofocus. Using a quicker lens will make the response quicker as well.

I have also made an analysis of the focus speed of the GH2 for a number of lenses, and compared with GH1 for some of them.

2 comments:

  1. It is not only useful in Macro :-)

    Change AF mode to 'Multi Area' - then you can quickly and easy select area around 'strong points'. Very useful! See movie here:

    http://panasonic.net/avc/lumix/systemcamera/gms/gh2/control.html

    Without touch LCD - I never used 'Multi Area' :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, I agree. The LCD touch screen is indeed quite useful.

    ReplyDelete