Michael Snyder
EF3
Manual focus is excellent on the AX700, and when you spin to infinity, its accurate at infinity focus. It's the sole reason why I have kept this camcorder.
Interesting. The camera mentioned above that I have does sometimes do a blue spotty thing around subjects when I was trying to manually focus. I thought it was some some sort of weird bug. I'm going to have to take it outside sometime & do some tests...Warren Faidley said:With peaking, a blue (or other selected color) haze or highlight glows around the subject when it's in focus. This makes it easy to focus though the rear screen without looking though the viewfinder.
I usually leave the 100 on manual focus though, the auto-focus is good, but I like to have control over my focus and not trust the auto-focus.
I have the AX100 and the AX53, the AX100 is my go-to camcorder for weather events. I just purchased an A7RIII and waiting on it to arrive, so curious to see how this stacks up against my AX100. I usually leave the 100 on manual focus though, the auto-focus is good, but I like to have control over my focus and not trust the auto-focus. My only advice is to get an external microphone, the on-board mic is decent, but I've noticed an external microphone makes a huge difference in audio quality. I don't use the AX53 that much, the image stabilization I've noticed is better on the AX53 than the 100, that is really my only observation on that.
I know this is an old thread but figured I'd post an update. After having the A7RIII for a year, I picked up another recently as the footage it shoots was leagues above my AX53 and AX100, I even briefly had the AX700 and returned it as well after a couple days (sold both my AX53 and AX100). When using the A7RIII combined with G-Master glass (24-70mm F/2.8 or 24mm F/1.4), its almost unstoppable. Even the native audio without my shotgun mic is leagues above the results I got from my AX (700/100) series cameras. So 2021 will be the first year I no longer own a "dedicated video camera". I think the time for the dedicated video camera is slowly coming to an end, just like the DSLR is slowly phasing out in favor of full frame mirorrless devices, which are extremely tough to beat.
Ethan, thanks for your update. Sadly, the information on this "old thread" is still relevant since not much has changed in the world of camcorders in over a year. I still like the camcorder form factor as I'll set on up on a tripod, hit infinity focus, record and then shoot stills with a DSLR. I assume the issues with focusing past infinity is the same on the A7RIII as with any other camera. On my DSLR, I have to find a focusing point, then "lock." Sort of a pain on the fly. That would be even more difficult with a mounted dashcam. I use a Canon HV20 and can easily hit infinity when I want to focus while driving.
Happy to read any and all new experiences with video gear. Since starting this thread almost two years ago, I've gone through probably 3 or 4 short phases of being determined to buy some sort of replacement for my crappy camcorder, but always end up exasperated and back at square one. It is just laughable how quickly the market for high-end consumer/prosumer camcorders dried up, leaving only options with such a poor cost-performance ratio that I can't entertain them purely on principle. But all is well in the world, since the new $1200 iPhone improved the sharpness of ass-shaking TikToks by 3% over the previous model! I guess I'll continue mulling over some kind of mirrorless option for 2021, although I just can't see mechanical zoom or limited zoom range on a per-lens basis meshing with my chasing style, where I focus my attention on stills and usually let the video roll unattended.
I switched a few years ago from separate camcorder and DLSR to a Nikon DLSR that can also take video. I used to try to juggle the two, and decided it was just more of a distraction that was taking me out of the moment. It’s already hard enough to balance the choice of just watching vs capturing, let alone two different modes of capture with two different devices. There are still some inefficiencies in switching between modes, and holding the camera for video is a little cumbersome, but it’s still better than fumbling around with two different pieces of equipment. Less to carry with me too, considering I’m a chase vacationer that has to fly out with luggage and equipment. Not sure about going with just a phone though, at least on the iPhone I know the video zoom is not very powerful and even less powerful than the phone’s still photo zoom.