Hi,

I have a question about the Osmo Action autofocus. I have to say that I have a really good knowledge of photography and the physics behind it. And that's exactly why I have to ask this question today.

BTW: please excuse my somewhat awkward English.

I have to state that apparently either the Osmo Action does not have an autofocus because, as an action cam, it may have simply set the focus to e.g. 50 or 100 meters.

Or: the autofocus simply doesn't work.
Or: the problem sits in front of the device.

This is a brand new Osmo Action with factory settings and OS 01.10.00.40(7251). For comparison, I also uploaded photos that were taken with a Samsung Galaxy Note. None of the photos have been edited.


Osmo Action: The book was not focused even though it is in the middle of the picture. The distance is about 10 cm.



Galaxy Note: Focus on Book. Backgound is blured as expected.




Osmo Action: Same with a distance of 25 cm. Nothing is focused.



Galaxy Note: The book ist focused.



1:1 25cm distance detail of the Osmo Action. As you can see, the background is not in focus either.



1:1 25cm distance detail of the Galaxy Note:



The question arises whether the behavior is "by design", whether it could be a defect or whether I made a mistake.

Thank you in advance for your support.


Regards
Thomas

Hallo Thomas,

die OA hat, wie andere Actioncams dieses Typs, keinen Autofokus. Sie ist eine "Fixed-Focus"-Kamera. Der Schärfebereich beginnt irgendwo unter einem Meter und reicht bis jwd. Für Makroaufnahmen bist Du mit Deinem Handy sicher besser bedient. Dafür sind Actioncams nicht gebaut. Deren Einsatzbereich sind Extremsituationen, in denen irgendeine empfindliche Entfernungssteuerung nur zum Problem wird.  
Du kannst mit der OA mit dem entsprechenden Macroaufsatz natürlich auch Nahaufnahmen machen. Allerdings wieder ohne Autofokus. Es gibt dann einen Bereich im Nahbereich, der scharf abgebildet wird, den musst Du per Display suchen.

Hallo Helmut,

vielen Dank für deine Antwort. Anscheinend wird das als bekannt vorausgesetzt. Ich allerdings wusste es nicht und hatte das aufgrund meiner jetzt gemachten Erfahrungen allerdings vermutet. Ich war aber schon kurz davor die Kamera mangels funktionierendem Autofokus zu reklamieren.  ;-)

Tja, dann kann ich da wohl nichts machen. Schwer zu sagen ab welchem Abstand Objekte asureichend scharf abgebildet werden. Aber es sind wesentlich mehr als zwei Meter.

Einen Makroaufsatz habe ich schon bestellt. Ich bin gespannt was damit dann geht.

Nochmals vielen Dank!

For non German speakers: Osmo Action, like other action cameras, does not have an adjustable focus. The focus is fixed, and it compensates by keeping depth of field quite wide. DJI states it covers anything between 30cms to infinity, but I have seen vlogers complaining about OA video not being sharp enough at arm's length from their faces.

All that being said, DJI is not famous for their quality control. There is always a chance  you might have got a defective one which does not have the lens focused properly.

Just try shooting stuff 1 meters (or more) away, and see it if it works.

Hope this helps...

I'm afraid that the OA is of no use at all for the close range (100cm and less for mobile vlogging, demos and visual experiments) that is actually interesting for me. Although I see that as my own mistake because I didn't get enough information in advance.

To find out from which distance the OA should be sharp, I contacted the DJI suport a few days ago. No answer so far. Depending on how this answer will turn out, I might then exchange my OA because the camera doesn't work properly or give it back. However, I really like this little tiny dwarf.

In Addition, "sharpness" ist also a somewhat subjective perception.

Here comes my little test series...

Distance 20cm plus detail:


Distance 30cm plus detail:


Distance 40cm plus detail:


Distance 50cm plus detail and wool socks:


Distance 60cm plus detail:


Distance 80cm plus detail:


The resolution should be high enough to be able to read the writing, if it were sharp enough.  The texture of the wooden floor also disappears in the blur. The noise factor is also quite high although there was sufficient light. But that could also be due to the relatively dark ground.



But now I've criticized enough. If that had been clear to me before buying, I would have looked for an other solution. The OA cannot necessarily be blamed for that.

Some more testing with the macro lens kit:









Nice with fancy distortions and a little CA. And quite sharp in the center.

Update from the DJI support:

Minimal distance is 30cm.

- Thomas - Posted at 3-17 06:39
Update from the DJI support:

Minimal distance is 30cm.

what's that 18 inches. on a FF lens. if you want to get  a closer shot get an Actual camera or hack to a     less angle lens.

thanks for the transulations

Fishycomics Posted at 3-17 07:01
what's that 18 inches. on a FF lens. if you want to get  a closer shot get an Actual camera or hack to a     less angle lens.

thanks for the transulations

Camera equipment is not the problem. I was looking for a really uncomplicated, small and lightweighted solution.

I will keep the OA. I'm already too used to it ... ;-)

Thank you all for your comments!

  its not an smartphone Auto fixed focus (Smiles)

Osmo Action have a small sensor, really small. But it is bigger than your Galaxy note:

Osmo Action   : 1/2.3" (6.17 mm x 4.56mm)
Galaxy Note 9 : 1/2.6" (5.5mm x 4.1mm)

As you probably know, bigger sensor = less in focus and smaller sensor more in focus.
Galaxy Note have focus, Osmo Action doesn't.

You should also think about depth of field (DOF). Since Osmo Action have fixed focus on 30cm, then DOF is probably not more than maybe 1-2 meters (maybe not even that much).
So sharpness of what is in focus or not, it all depends of sensor size, field of view (lens) and aperture.
Osmo Action doesn't have as wide FOV as others, so less in focus.

Osmo Action also have less sharpness than others, but that can easily be fixed in post.

On the subject of focus, might the use of Dewarp have any influence here?

dewarp is cropping on the sensor.