Panasonic’s Post Focus: shoot now and focus at your leisure

Ingeniously simple idea allows you to refocus an image after it is shot.

Panasonic DMC-GX8H

In 2011, boutique US camera start-up Lytro released an oblong-shaped snapper with a curious way of operating. It captured details about light rays and light directions, and from that rendered them into an image.

To cut a long and technical story short, you could refocus a photo after it was shot. You could choose between items in the foreground, middle ground and background, and make them the main subject.

Now a similar feature called Post Focus is available on the latest Panasonic 4K cameras. These are cameras that capture video in 3840 x 2160 resolution.

You may wonder why are we concerned with video. That’s because Panasonic’s Post Focus works in a different way from Lytro. Producing stills requires it to shoot and process 4K video.

Post Focus is available via a software update to Panasonic Lumix cameras capable of using it. In our review, we used Panasonic’s new DMC-GX8 4K camera with post focus loaded. Hollie Adams, a professional photographer with The Australian, put Post Focus through its paces.

So how does Panasonic focus an image after the event?

A burst of images shot in 4K resolution captures 49 areas of the photo with a different focal point each time. It’s as if you had taken 49 separate images and adjusted the focus each time.

It’s an ingeniously simple idea but, as Adams discovered, it has some limitations when tracking a moving subject. She says Post Focus works best with totally still objects. If there is any movement, you risk not getting the shot you want. The object will appear at different locations and orientations in the 4K video that is shot. It may not end up in the spot you want with the right focus setting.

Adams says a small delay from the moment you press the shutter means you may miss the shot you want.

And the synthesised shutter sound is loud. Although it can be switched off, it comes in handy when trying to gauge the start and finish of a 4K clip in post focus mode.

Adams isn’t dismissive of Post Focus. She says that in good light, with a lowish ISO, you can capture a good quality image. “You can shoot a single photo rather than take two, three, four or five frames,” she says.

After you shoot, you create images by placing your finger on the areas of the 4K video you want to be in focus.

You can create different images of the same shot with different areas in focus. This is done on the camera.

If you don’t post process, the only output of the shot is the mp4 video.

We asked Panasonic if it was possible to perform retro-focusing on a computer instead.

“Technically this can be viewed on a computer, and a screenshot can be saved from this video using popular software,” the company says. “However, the Post Focus feature has a specially designed interface in the camera enabling you to pick and choose an image, and refine the focus point, so it is designed to be selected by the customer in the camera.”

Adams had no problem with image colour, and in bright conditions pictures look sharp. But you are effectively composing a still by taking a screen grab from 4K video, as you might from a GoPro.

Adams says it is for an enthusiast who enjoys still photography and image stitching.

Post Focus is available on the DMC-GX8, DMC-G7 G Series cameras and the DMC-FZ300 compact super zoom.

It will be available on the DMC-GH4 after a firmware release early next year.

DMC-GX8 body: $1399. Single lens kit: $1499

Rating: 3 out of 5