Why is that my film came out of focus?

Camcorder with good focus?

• My cousin and me film beauty videos on youtube an I need a good HD camera with a good focus(so for example I can show the names of certain products and so our views can see the colors clearly.) Right now I have the Kodak Playsport, which I really loved this camera at first, but then when I edited videos with the software it came with after about 5 minutes the video whould go blank but you could still hear the audio. And now I've found out that it has terrible focus, it won't focus on anything. Do you know of any good high quality cameras with good focus? I don't want to spend a whole bunch of money but I do want something good, so I would say under $300? Thanks (:

• Answer:

  Most consumer camcorders with autofocus will do an excellent job of keeping things in sharp focus. In part this is because of the autofocus itself, but it's also because consumer camcorders have a small sensor, which results in a very large depth of field—in other words, the camera tends to keep just about everything in focus all the time, so focusing is less of an issue. Ironically, pro cameras, with big, fancy lenses, must be focused more carefully. The large lenses and image sensors produce a very shallow depth of field in some conditions, requiring very precise focusing. And they often do not have autofocus, so you have to focus carefully by hand. This can give better results than a consumer camera, but only if you spend the time and effort to focus with extreme care. Unless you have a focus puller on your team (someone who does nothing but check the focus), you're better off with a consumer camera. As far as brands go, anything from Sony, Panasonic, or Canon is likely to do well for you, although it can be hard to find models under $300, especially with Sony (they are always pricey, but they're the industry leader).