Could Someone explain the auto focus slider for me?

[Bunraku]

Hi

Just changed to a Mavic Air 2s from a Mavic Pro 1. I'm used to with the Mavic Pro pointing at something and tapping it to focus on that think and then not having to touch the focus after that as it's set to infinite.

However with the Mavic Air 2s in auto focus a slider appears. Can someone explain what this is for please?

Thanks?

P.S why would someone use manual focus?

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I think your talking about the zoom slider not the focus >

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Air 2S in the Rain and Land on the Water.

 

[jmbsmt63]

Hi

Just changed to a Mavic Air 2s from a Mavic Pro 1. I'm used to with the Mavic Pro pointing at something and tapping it to focus on that think and then not having to touch the focus after that as it's set to infinite.

However with the Mavic Air 2s in auto focus a slider appears. Can someone explain what this is for please?

Thanks?

P.S why would someone use manual focus?

If you look closely at the "slider" that comes up, it has the usual infinity/(mountain) and close/(flower/macro) icons, and if you slide that between those it invokes the manual focus (MF), and if slid all the way it will revert back to AF...
It will "automatically focus" when stopping when it detects a great difference in object distance ( it will "hunt" for a second).
You can still touch the screen to focus...Needs to be in AF ( Auto Focus). One note: if you tap it too long, the exposure "circle" will come up though.
Manual focus is good for a few scenarios ( especially if you enable the "focus peaking" option to highlight the in-focus areas) Mainly it lets you keep a focus so it won't "hunt" for focus when stopping/starting as it will in AF

Another thing to remember is that it will keep the settings for each mode (stills/ video/movie/quickshots/etc) so if you select something like manual focus (MF) in say, video, that won't stay if you go back to still pictures but will if you go back to video and vice-versa...Just a thing to keep in mind so it won't mess up the next time if you don't want that setting again in that mode.

 

[CDSkeeles]

If you look closely at the "slider" that comes up, it has the usual infinity/(mountain) and close/(flower/macro) icons, and if you slide that between those it invokes the manual focus (MF), and if slid all the way it will revert back to AF...
It will "automatically focus" when stopping when it detects a great difference in object distance ( it will "hunt" for a second).
You can still touch the screen to focus...Needs to be in AF ( Auto Focus). One note: if you tap it too long, the exposure "circle" will come up though.
Manual focus is good for a few scenarios ( especially if you enable the "focus peaking" option to highlight the in-focus areas) Mainly it lets you keep a focus so it won't "hunt" for focus when stopping/starting as it will in AF

Another thing to remember is that it will keep the settings for each mode (stills/ video/movie/quickshots/etc) so if you select something like manual focus (MF) in say, video, that won't stay if you go back to still pictures but will if you go back to video and vice-versa...Just a thing to keep in mind so it won't mess up the next time if you don't want that setting again in that mode.

If I could add an additional comment about keeping settings between modes, this also applies to the various automated modes as well. For instance I like to do night hyperlapse with a long shutter speed (2"). The camera settings I choose for the hyperlapse (pro mode obviously) will apply to only to hyperlapse.

Focus peaking mode is extremely useful when in manual focus particularly when in you are in conditions where seeing the screen is difficult (bright sun etc). It can be a real challenge setting the proper focus if you are unable to get a good clear look at your shot. The red mask of the focus peaking mode makes it a lot easier to know where your focal point is currently.