Autofocus not working

[Antony M]

I have a Red Epic-X, with build 2.0.5 and the Ti Canon mount on it.
I have tried it with both Canon 70-200 f2.8 and the 28-70 f2.8.

I have followed the instructions in the manual, set Mode to Single, tried Zones on both Center and Spot, but autofocus does nothing.

Has anyone got it working yet?

 

[Paolo Tinari]

When powering the X does the mt/ft wheel inside the lens turn left and right to the end?

ps af works like crazy

 

[John Marchant]

We shoot with both those lenses on our Epic-M, no problem at all. Do you have aperture control? Is the focus distance being reported top left of screen?

 

[Antony M]

When powering the X does the mt/ft wheel inside the lens turn left and right to the end?

Yes.

ps af works like crazy

Sorry, what does that mean?

We shoot with both those lenses on our Epic-M, no problem at all. Do you have aperture control? Is the focus distance being reported top left of screen?

Yes, I have aperture control.
Yes, the focus distance is in the top left.

 

[John Marchant]

Back to basics, how are you expecting the autofocus to work?

With it set to 'single' in the menu you should be able focus a shot once with a half-press of the side handle record button.

Is that what you're expecting but not seeing?

 

[Antony M]

Almost.

With it set to 'single' in the menu you should be able focus a shot once with a half-press of the side record button.

I do not have the side handle, and the manual does not say you need to.

 

[John Marchant]

Ah ok - the side record should work as well on the half press, but you might want to check the user keys settings to make sure of what a half press of that key is set to. I have a suspicion that I've not noticed the AF firing from the side record button. May be just how I've had things set though as I'm a tinkerer of settings If you're unsure, set the half press to do something else, like a shutter sound (bottom of the menu) just to verify that your physical button is functioning and being listened to.

You can also focus by navigating the highlight down to the centre AF marker with the redmote NSEW keys and clicking, or by using the touchscreen if you have it. It sounds like everything is operational but is just not being triggered.

Have you tried setting rack focus? There you should be able to touch a point on the touchscreen to pick A and B focus points, then rack by half pressing record.

 

[Paolo Tinari]

Sorry, what does that mean?

Means that the Auto Focus is a very nice surprise to work with.
Good luck!

 

[Jan Balster]

I'll just ask the dumb question, did you turn the autofocus on the lens barrel to ON?

- Jan

 

[Antony M]

John, I will check the user keys tomorrow.

I have not received the RedMote yet though!!!!!

Many thanks for your help so far...

 

[Antony M]

I'll just ask the dumb question, did you turn the autofocus on the lens barrel to ON?

- Jan

LOL.

Yes.

You do not get the autofocus options (such as Single) in the menu if AF is not turned on, on the lens.

 

[Antony M]

Just had a thought...

Maybe it is only the Record button on the front of the SSD which does the Autofocus, not the one on the side of the body.

I will check...

 

[John Marchant]

Ahhhh.

I misunderstood what you were saying. Yes, I believe the side SSD record button has a half-press, but the power/record on the dumb side of the body doesn't.

Could be as simple as that

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

Tell me how this auto-focus works on the Epic.

If I put a mark on a person, if that person moves toward or away from the camera, will the autofocus follow that person? Or will it just search for something else to focus on?

I have a RED One (MX) with the Birger, but I'd really love for things to be held in focus as either the actor or the camera moves during a shot.

Thanks.

Stephen

 

[Julio Quintana]

Tell me how this auto-focus works on the Epic.

If I put a mark on a person, if that person moves toward or away from the camera, will the autofocus follow that person? Or will it just search for something else to focus on?

I have a RED One (MX) with the Birger, but I'd really love for things to be held in focus as either the actor or the camera moves during a shot.

Thanks.

Stephen

I posted this in another thread, but I am not having much luck with the auto focus modes. Even on the "Single" mode on a still object, the lenses seem to search around for a while, and only actually nail focus 1 out of every 4 tries or so. Maybe the software just needs tweaking, but it's looking like the electronic focus controls won't be terribly useful to me until the RedMote Pro comes out and lets an AC do it the old fashioned way (albeit while watching an HD monitor).

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

Okay. . . thanks, Julio. . .

That's one more reason for me to stay with our RED One for awhile. I'd like to move up to Epic, but we just don't have the coin at the moment.

Alas. . .

. . . maybe someday.

Stephen

 

[Antony M]

Ahhhh.

I misunderstood what you were saying. Yes, I believe the side SSD record button has a half-press, but the power/record on the dumb side of the body doesn't.

Could be as simple as that

Yes, that is EXACTLY the mistake I was making. Oops.

The Record button on the SSD does work correctly. The button on the body doesn't.

Having established that, I now have to agree with Julio, that the focus does hunt a lot.

And whilst in complaining/whining mood the touch screen doesn't work very well. I often have to press an option 3 or 4 times before it accepts it.

 

[John Bannister]

.....ok, so are we saying that in order to shoot anything that moves toward or away from the camera, you have to manually follow focus Because autofocus on the camera is either to slow or doesn't work in that application?