Continuous Autofocus: A Feature that iPhone 5 Lacks

Hey everybody, this is Erica, the technology nerd, who likes to film stuff with my iPhone 5. Today, I want to respond to a video that I made reviewing the iPhone 5 and comparing it to the Galaxy S3. One of the crazy arguments that ended up being discussed was saying that there is continuous autofocus during video on the iPhone 5. No, there isn't, and I want to show you today exactly what continuous autofocus is.

When people say continuous autofocus, they're not talking about the autofocus when you're taking pictures. They're not talking about the autofocus before you actually press the record button either. Instead, they're referring to the ability of a camera to adjust its focus continuously while recording video. This means that if you hold the camera up to whatever it is that you're looking at and then look at something else, the camera can refocus itself without you having to tap to focus.

I have several different phones and cameras to demonstrate what continuous autofocus really is. First, I have the Samsung Galaxy camera, which is one of the devices that does have continuous autofocus. Next, I have the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Then, there's the Google Nexus 4, and finally, the video camera that I'm filming with today, which is called the Sony CX 760. Now, let me show you what continuous autofocus should be and do.

Take a look at the Samsung Galaxy camera. This is what continuous autofocus should be and should do. I'm not going to touch the screen at all. I'm just going to go up to the Galaxy camera, look at it, and watch as it quickly adjusts its focus. As you can see, this is so cool. The camera is out of focus at first, but then magically, it refocuses itself after a second or two.

Now, let's try something similar with the iPhone 5. I'm going to use the Sony CX 760, which is also capable of continuous autofocus. I'll go up to the Galaxy camera and watch as it struggles to adjust its focus. As you can see, this is not what continuous autofocus should be like. The camera is out of focus at first, and even after holding it there for a few seconds, it doesn't refocus itself without my tapping on the screen.

The reason why Apple has done this with their iPhone 5 is that they've implemented a system where continuous autofocus will sometimes search for what to focus on. This means that the camera will bounce around like crazy as it tries to adjust its focus, and the exposures will change all over the place. This is actually a smart choice on Apple's part, as it prevents the camera from struggling with low-light conditions or when the subject is moving quickly.

However, what really gets my goat is that they don't offer the option to use continuous autofocus in situations where I need it to. Sometimes, I don't have an extra finger free to tap on the screen and focus manually. This can be frustrating, especially when you're trying to record video or take pictures of moving subjects.

On the other hand, some phones like the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 can continuously autofocus, not just by default but also by "tap to focus" and lock Focus as well. Now let's look at the Galaxy camera you can see that it is able to auto adjust focus and it is able to auto adjust the lighting so it is able to do this just fine and I don't see it constantly searching for focus, will once in a while but that's when you tap the screen and it will hold Focus on whatever it is that you're looking at genius concept.

Now we are recording with the Google Nexus 4 which admittedly has one of the sorest cameras I've ever seen in terms of quality but it can continuously autofocus which is great if I don't have extra fingers free so we're going to go over to the Sony CX 760 and you will see that is able to focus by itself check that out what a concept and we're going to go back to the Samsung and you'll see maybe elevat slowly it can refocus itself now, the Galaxy camera is well it's an Android camera made by Samsung and it also even though it's a point and shoot camera is able to continuously autofocus during video.

In conclusion, I want to emphasize that continuous autofocus is a feature that iPhone 5 lacks. While some phones do offer this feature, Apple has chosen not to implement it in their devices at this time. This may change in the future, but for now, if you're looking for a camera with continuous autofocus, you might need to look elsewhere.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey everybody this is Erica the technology nerd who likes to film stuff with the iPhone 5 here this is kind of an impromptu video response to my video that I made reviewing the iPhone 5 and comparing it to the Galaxy S3 the number one crazy argument ended up being saying that there is continuous autofocus during video on the iPhone 5 no there isn't and I want to show you today exactly what continuous autofocus is cuz some people don't seem to understand this I'm not talking about the autofocus when you're taking pictures I'm not talking about the autofocus before you actually press the record button I'm talking about the continuous autofocus to say when you're taking video if you hold the the camera up to whatever it is that you're looking at and then look at something else it can't refocus unless you tap to focus so I have several different phones and cameras to actually show you what continuous autofocus really is now here I have several devices that do have continuous autofocus Focus this is the Samsung Galaxy camera this is the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 we have the Google Nexus 4 here and also not to mention the video camera that I am filming with which is called the Sony CX 760 really awesome camera so check this out this is what continuous autofocus should be and should do I'm not going to touch the screen at all not going to touch any parts on this camera I'm just going to Simply go up to the Galaxy camera look it's out of focus and then m magically in a second it's back in Focus check that out that's so cool Pull It Away out of focus it's in Focus again wow I didn't do anything so now we are recording video with the iPhone 5 and we're going to do the exact same thing that I had done a second ago here is the Sony CX 760 and I'm going to go up to the Galaxy camera and you can see that it is not in Focus I'm going to hold it there and it doesn't Focus now if I wanted to focus on the Samsung words here I could actually tap the screen which I just did and now there you go it's in Focus now if I pull it away it's incredibly out of focus and it will not refocus itself again unless I touch to focus now Apple has done this on purpose and I do like their reasoning is that sometimes with continuous autofocus it will search for what to focus for it will kind of bounce around like this and it won't know what it's looking at and you can see all the exposures changing and it becomes a disaster so that's a very smart choice what makes me upset is the fact that they don't offer the option so that I can use autofocus if I need it to sometimes I don't have an extra finger free to sit there and tap on the screen to focus but for some people this works fine so right here in perfect focus is the Sony CX 760 seen Through The Eyes Of The Galaxy Note 2 Galaxy Note 2 can continuously autofocus on top of tap to focus and lock Focus as well so we're going to look now at the Galaxy camera you can see that it's able to auto adjust focus and it's able to auto adjust the lighting so it's able to do this just fine and I don't see it constantly searching for focus it will once in a while but that's when you tap the screen and it will hold focus on whatever it is that you're looking at genius concept so now we are recording with the Google Nexus 4 which admittedly has one of the sorest cameras I've ever seen in terms of quality but it can continuously autofocus which is great if I don't have extra fingers free so we're going to go over to the Sony CX 760 and you will see that is able to focus by itself check that out what a concept and we're going to go back to the Samsung and you'll see maybe elevat slowly it can refocus itself now the Galaxy camera is well it's an Android camera made by Samsung and it also even though it's a point and shoot camera is able to continuously autofocus during video see here we're going to hold it up to the Sony that was very quick to focus and go over and look at the Galaxy Note 2 that's very quick to focus now here's me holding the iPhone 5 up close was able to focus no problem so it's very handy during video to have this ability just to be able to take the camera and remove it to anything and have it focus and evaluate the image by itself I understand why Apple has decided to be very simple and just to keep it as touch to focus to get rid of maybe complaints while using the camera and saying it sucks who knows maybe they tested out their own autofocus software and weren't happy with how it jumped around they don't like to release things unless it's perfect so Apple I get you I hear you but what I feel bad for is all these viewers who don't understand what continuous autofocus is and how awesome it can be so now I have showed you iPhone 5 does not have continuous autofocus but all these other cameras and various things do have this ability probably in the future you'll see it on Apple's phones but you won't see it at this point so don't tell me that the iPhone 5 has continuous autofocus during video\n"