Beaulieu 1018 S X8... Focusing

[Foxfurr]

I just purchased the above mentioned, and I'm rather impressed at how solid a camera this appears to be. I'm also happy at the noise level, much more quiet than previous super 8 cameras I've owned.
I have managed to figure the controls out entirely on my own, but one thing puzzles me. I'm not exactly certain how to tell how the focus is set through the viewfinder. Am I missing something right under my nose, or is the focus on this camera based solely on your best guess at distance?

Thanks for your time.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ April 17, 2003 10:00 PM: Message edited by: Foxfurr ]</font>

[Foxfurr]

Thanks. Now that I see it, and I don't have antihistamines clouding my head, I think I've got it figured out.

This has been a real bargain, only $60. Only thing wrong with it is the power zoom doesn't work, which I don't use anyway.

[Mikael Sundström]

If I?m not mistaken, that particular camera uses DICHROIC focusing, meaning, when the picture is OUT OF FOCUS in the viewfinder you see kind of a blue and red tinted aura surrounding the filmed subject. On one side it?s red and on the other side it?s blue. It?s like if you had 3 images put on top of eachother, one with the true colors, one blue tinted and one red tinted, and then the blue and red were pulled slightly offset from the middle.
Now, the image is in focus when the 3 images are unified in the middle, when the bi-colored aura around the subject disappears.

You?ll figure it out!

Not that good focusing system, but the camera can make real sharp footage anyway.
My first camera was the similar Beaulieu 1008xl.
[img]smile.gif[/img]