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Canon XF200 Instructions

Getting the Focus Right


Every shot you get must be properly focused, which is crucial in any professional production. Soft focus shots, unless used for artistic effect, don’t count as shots that are in focus.

The Canon XF200 has three ways to focus the picture – Manually, Automatically and Focus Assistance functions such as peaking or magnification.

CAUTION: In most situations, using the AUTO FOCUS is not recommended simply because AF continuously adjusts the focus, which means that the focus might visibly shift away from your subject, which could ruin your shot, especially if you’re recording an interview. 

 

Manual Focus – use the Focus Ring

To focus a telephoto lens manually you must calibrate it first






Make sure the FOCUS switch is set to M for MANUAL (A sets the lens to AUTO FOCUS). 

MF appears in the screen when the camera lens is set to manual focus, or I.AF when the camera is set to automatic focus.


Zoom in all the way on your subject and focus by turning the focus ring on the lens. Then zoom out to compose the shot. Each time the camera gets moved you will need to calibrate the telephoto lens.

Getting the focus right means having to judge the focus properly. You might think you can judge the focus using only the OLED screen, but it’s actually impossible to rely on this 720p display to get the true focus because this screen doesn’t have enough pixels to render the image sharply. Focus errors are more obvious in high-definition, but fortunately there are focus assist options to choose from that will help you focus more accurately.

Magnification

This assist function will magnify the image allowing you to see it more clearly for focus. The magnified image is not recorded into the video. 

Press the MAGN button, located on the side grip. 

Press MAGN again to cancel the magnification. 

The word MAGN appears at the lower centre of the screen and the centre of the screen is magnified approximately 2 times.

Peaking

This assist function creates blue outlines of the subject when the area is in focus.

Press the PEAKING button, located near the bottom edge of the camera. 

To cancel peaking, press PEAKING again.





There are two peaking levels, 1 and 2 depending on what's been set up in the menu. The peaking icon PEAK 1 or PEAK 2 will appear at the lower centre of the screen and lines in the image will be outlined in blue depending on the sharpness of the focus.

Edge Monitor

Press the WFM button to toggle through various assist functions. The first is the Waveform Monitor, the second is the Vectorscope (these will be explained in the sections about Exposure). The third option shows you the Edge Monitor, which lets you focus with more precision. 




The red and green areas correspond to the left-right portions of the image. As the focus becomes sharper the red and green areas will rise. 

The red and green areas now indicate the focus is more precise. 

PUSH AF

Whilst using manual focus (MF), press and hold down the PUSH AF button. Autofocus is temporarily engaged until you release the button.



Introduction
Inserting the Battery/Connecting to AC
Getting Ready to Record
SD Card Formatting
Getting the Focus Right
Getting the Exposure Right
White Balancing
Recording Audio