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Understanding Autofocus
2298 8 2017-5-15
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Bunraku
lvl.3
Flight distance : 4583 ft
United Kingdom
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Hi

Just got my Mavic, but previously using P3P. The P3P did all the work for me filming as I just kept it on Auto for everything as i'm not a photography expert.

However with the Mavic I believe when launched I would have to Tap the Screen anywhere I wanted to focus on. But since then there has been a Firmware upgrade that means I can Continuously Auto Focus. If CAF was like my old P3P i'd be happy, but I believe the CAF only focuses when Stationary and not moving. Correct me if I am wrong on this.

1) So if the CAF doesn't work like the P3P's camera is it still decent?

2) And If I decide to go for Tap to Focus is it just 1 Tap and you're focused for the whole flight or is it

Take Off-Horizon Tap
Fly half a mile and then change direction Tap
See a monument or building Tap(Assuming it's something I want to use POI mode on I assume I tap it at the start of the Orbit and that's it focused for th whole Orbit?)

Sorry if my post sounds stupid, but I liked just pointing my old P3P at something and just recording. This seems a bit of a pain in the @SS compared if you're a simple hobbyist and not a professional photographer.
2017-5-15
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dronist
Captain
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United States
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You are correct. I use the C1 button to AF, C2  to bring the camera setting. P3, P4 were really awsone with the AF.
2017-5-15
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Matt-and-Riley
First Officer
Flight distance : 324442 ft
United Kingdom
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The P3 hasn't got any focus settings and can't do autofocus, it's just in focus unless you get close.

Anyway, I agree with your sentiments, the P3P is so simple to use and works perfectly, just bulky and pain to carry. These focus 'features' to me just add other things to think about, and I keep seeing Mavic videos with focus issues (changing focus mid shot, not in focus, jilty focus). It's not worth it, you still can't do really deep focus pulls or anything good with the limited focus capabilities.

If the Mavic had the P3P camera I would buy it tomorrow..

1) So if the CAF doesn't work like the P3P's camera is it still decent?
Random, it will try and focus on what ever it thinks you are looking at and change it when you don't want.

2) And If I decide to go for Tap to Focus is it just 1 Tap and you're focused for the whole flight or is it
You'll probably need to refocus at certain points. It becomes more like setting up for individual shots (focus, exposure all that), rather than buzzing around with a P3P

So yes to me the Mavic is a big downgrade to a P3P
2017-5-15
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Parkker
lvl.1
Flight distance : 8891 ft
United States
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I have also noticed sometimes when tapping to focus you will see on playback a slight movement like you have a zoom lens and it sort of jumps a tiny bit with the effect similar to if you just barely bumped a zoom button on a zoom lens.
2017-5-15
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Sangarone
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United States
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Matt-and-Riley Posted at 2017-5-15 14:53
The P3 hasn't got any focus settings and can't do autofocus, it's just in focus unless you get close.

Anyway, I agree with your sentiments, the P3P is so simple to use and works perfectly, just bulky and pain to carry. These focus 'features' to me just add other things to think about, and I keep seeing Mavic videos with focus issues (changing focus mid shot, not in focus, jilty focus). It's not worth it, you still can't do really deep focus pulls or anything good with the limited focus capabilities.

HUGE downgrade, Mavic camera is a toy
2017-5-15
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Parkker
lvl.1
Flight distance : 8891 ft
United States
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Yes, so far, disappointed in camera quality. Obviously the Mavics weak spot. I also do not care for the tap or press controller button to refocus. If everything you are shooting focused to infinity and then come in close to trees  or anything like that you have to keep hitting focus C1 or C2 constantly.
2017-5-15
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StigNygaard
Second Officer
Flight distance : 357169 ft
Denmark
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P3P has a "fixed focus camera", meaning there's only one fixed focus-distance which covers most used thanks to the big depth-of-field in small sensor cameras.

To use Mavic the same way as your P3P, turn Continuous AF off and focus on something a few meters away just after start (4-5 meters should be fine, a bit closer will probably also work) and just KEEP the focus there. The camera in Mavic also have a very big depth-of-field, and a focus-distance of 4-5m should cover everything you normally need to have in focus including the horizon.
2017-5-15
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Bunraku
lvl.3
Flight distance : 4583 ft
United Kingdom
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StigNygaard Posted at 2017-5-15 22:03
P3P has a "fixed focus camera", meaning there's only one fixed focus-distance which covers most used thanks to the big depth-of-field in small sensor cameras.

To use Mavic the same way as your P3P, turn Continuous AF off and focus on something a few meters away just after start (4-5 meters should be fine, a bit closer will probably also work) and just KEEP the focus there. The camera in Mavic also have a very big depth-of-field, and a focus-distance of 4-5m should cover everything you normally need to have in focus including the horizon.

Thanks for all replies.

StigNygaard.

Are you only focusing that one time and that's you for the entire flight?
2017-5-16
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StigNygaard
Second Officer
Flight distance : 357169 ft
Denmark
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Bunraku Posted at 2017-5-16 12:25
Thanks for all replies.

StigNygaard.

Yes for video, I only focus once. Focusing during filming is generally bad, because the way the focusing works it has to focus a bit to long in each direction to see where the best focus is. And when doing this you might see short moments of bluriness or something that looks like a tiny bit of zooming forward and backwards in your video. So it is important that Continious AF is disabled.

The depth of field for cameras with small sensors (=> short focal length) is very big, meaning there's a very big range being sharp. What I do in practice, is simply to put the drone in the air and focus on a thing at the distance that is the closest distance I expect to need to have sharp during filming. If that is at 5m distance or further away, everything will be sharp in practice all the way out to the horizon. Only if you focus on something VERY close, you start getting trouble with things far away not looking sharp.

Of course if you don't expect anything to be closer than 10m in your video, just focus on an object approx. 10m away when/before starting filming.
2017-5-17
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