Hey all,

Finally.....the X5 adapter.... Now that my X5 is coming off my inspire, I am now faced with having to focus subjects in my shots. Normally the x3 has the infinity focus which I am a custom too, but would like to have a lot more control. I don't plan on shelling out for the DJI focus at the moment, so I was hoping to gather some tips for utlizing the focus whether it be AF/MF. I do a lot of dynamic shots where the subject is up close and moving rather quickly away from the cam. From my brief testing the AF did not seem to track well, so I'm hoping its just a user error and there are some tips or settings out there that can improve the AF tracking. Also when using the MF on the Inspire, it gave distances on the wheel (i.e. 12ft, 16 ft, 124 ft, ect.) When using the OSMO the wheel had no distances, so I was wondering if there is a way to either get the accurate distancing in the app or some other method. I find that my screen clarity isn't enough to trust, and wanted to know of alternate ways of confirming in focus shots.

~Thanks

I not certain but I don't think there is auto focus tracking or continuous focusing.
If it weren't on a gimbal you'd just adjust the focus as you panned etc but I think with this you'll need the focus remote to get smooth focus adjusts. There's some good deals on eBay.Another thing that'd be cool is to bring over focus peaking from the inspire bit of the app.

dopeytree Posted at 2016-5-6 13:54
I not certain but I don't think there is auto focus tracking or continuous focusing.
If it weren't o ...

Thats what I was afraid of. The demands for Aerial film are so much different you never really are concerned with subjects, really just capturing expanses. So I guess I'm looking for tips to circumvent getting the DJI Focus remote.

I have been using AF predominately but I found that with a minimal amount of use of the li'l blue circle, you can obtain a fairly smooth transition from subject to subject.  I have tried like crazy to get the MF to work but it seems a little too jittery-? to get smooth focus.  I find myself using AF most of the time and my finger on the screen to change focus with AF assistant operative.  Things aren't perfect and I have had to mess with the manual focus ring on the X5 a few times.  I usually set the camera manual focus ring to infinity and then switch to AF and leave it alone.  I was born with only (2) hands so adding a DJI Focus adapter probably would only confuse things more.  I use an extension stick attached to my OSMO with a adapter I found on Amazon that allows me to attach a light source for inside or fill, a battery opp condenser mike on the end of the extension rod and my IOS device holder.  Inside or outside, this setup works pretty well but, you need two hands!  God bless deep DOF, makes focus issues a lot easier to deal with.

windwardbound Posted at 2016-5-7 12:38
I have been using AF predominately but I found that with a minimal amount of use of the li'l blue ci ...

That seems to be in line with what I've figured I'd have to do, thanks for tips helps a lot!

I've been having similar issues. the AF function racks hard from close to infinity quickly creating an ugly auto focus look to the footage in a way that I consider unseeable and the manual focus, as another user said, is almost impossible to use because of the lack of distance markings (and the fact that it scrolls quickly rather than turns like an actual focus knob) and without a zoom or peaking function to check focus its almost impossible to gauge focus, especially on your phone, esp in daylight with glare. I think DJI need to do the following to make the osmo useable for professional cinematographers in dynamic moving shots:
-add peaking
-add a focus check function that zooms a section to allow checking.
-add feet/meters to manual focus function.
-make the manual focus bar more user friendly and more accurate. Maybe turn it into a knob or slider rather than a scrolling bar.
-add the ability to have a second monitor attached just for a focus puller, allowing the osmo operator to focus on framing/movement and allowing the use of a large iPad for the secondary screen.