Sony HDR-HC9 - blurred video footage

[stnethe27]

I've  been having this problem of video footage becoming out of focus - for no apparent reason - always has happened whilst using auto-focus mode.

Last time it happened, I had videoed 2 hours of a gig with no problem, then last 15 mins (on a new tape btw) were out of focus. I changed no settings whatsoever! The image has looked fine on screen whilst recording - it was only later, when played back, that I noticed footage was out of focus. Very frustrating.

Has happened about three times over past year - each time it has been  very awkward as I've been videoing music gigs and had to make lots of  excuses and to why I missed certain parts of performances - very  embarrassing!!

Has anyone had same problem - if so did you resolve this or find a solution??? I hope you did!

Please let me know asap, otherwise I'm going to have to dump a fantastic, but unreliable, camera.

Hope to hear back from you very soon!

[Mick2011]

Hi stnethe27, welcome to the Sony Forums

I've noticed this myself on camcorders in low light situations, it's a real pain. Depending on the autofocus method, cameras can find it hard to lock on and will often 'hunt' repeatedly in a concert setting; AF can be fine one minute and erratic the next, depending on the light show at the time. Worse still, out-of-focus can be particularly hard to spot when you're shooting wide-angle.

I guess this might not be the issue you're having but it's definiately worth considering manual focus for gigs and the like. Use AF to get a distance and then switch to manual; do this each time you re-frame. It's a bit more work but should mean you never have the problem again.

Cheers

Mick