BrentHarder Loc: Southern California

I have a Canon 60D video question: I'm really having a difficult time understanding the focus on the video setting. Can anyone let me know what I need to know? I have looked in the manual but have not found anything. I want to pan in on the subject and have it in focus. When videoing the view is on the LCD screen but I can't tell when things are in focus or not.
Thanks in advance for any help.

prs77 Loc: Redmond, WA

Focus on 60D video is a pain. I mostly use manual focus and try to pre-focus before I start shooting. If you autofocus while shooting, the camera goes in and out of focus until it gets it right. The 70D supposedly solves the problem but I am not ready to spend another grand just yet.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

Hi Brent. Having done a career in broadcast television video I'd suggest you learn proper manual focus. Auto focus on video is really just a gimmick and from what I've seen it doesn't work very well.

The pros, as I used to be, never use anything like auto focus.
We learn to to manual. If you pan to reveal something in the shot (panning is not a good video technique) then you should be doing lots of rehearsal on that shot first. Doing this will help you "feel" where focus should be when you get to the shot you want. Swing the focus ring around so it's correct for the object in question.

Also Brent, I do quite a bit of video with my Canon dslr, and I've added a view finder that lets me view the screen just like a view finder making manual focus simple:

http://www.amazon.com/NEEWER-DSLR-Foldable-Viewfinder-Magnification/dp/B004HD3G6Q/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2L5XGAAI88VIT&colid=4QE79IOCVUL7

Now that I have this extra I wouldn't be without it for video.

Good luck