Finding Your Critical Focus

Focusing a camera is a simple task, but most camera operators don't know how to correctly achieve good focus in images. "Critical focus" is a technique we use in broadcast to get accurate focus fast. We took a few minutes to have Trevor, our shop manager, help us demonstrate this for the camera. 
He may look in focus from a quick glance on the screen when he is at a distance, but when we zoom in we can see he is not. Whenever you may be focusing a camera you need to consider that the distance will change between you and the subject you need to focus on. This includes changing camera locations, or when someone moves back and forth across a stage. Zooming will not change focus because, but It can reveal focus issues. 

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To get critical focus on a person zoom all the way in until you have a close up of someone's eyes. Our brains subconsciously focus on people's eyes, so they need to be sharp. Adjust until their eyes appear clear and sharp. Once their eyes are in focus, zoom back out to get your shot. 
Sometimes it can be difficult finding your critical focus in a dimly lite room or stage with colorful lighting. If this happens and you're in a pinch, try to find a metallic object at the same distance as your subject. Microphones can work great for this as they reflect what light there is in the room and you can sharpen that as much as you can.

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Many pro cameras have a tool called peaking, this places a red or green line on anything the camera sees as sharp in focus. Pro cameras also usually have a fast zoom button you can press to quickly zoom in and get a "Critical focus" and then zoom back out. Try getting "Critical focus" on your camera, or if you work with a team of camera volunteers teach them how to check for critical focus and watch the quality of your shots improve!