According to the company, “Post Focus leverages Panasonic’s high-speed, high-precision, 49-area DFD (Depth From Defocus) auto focus technology, and leadership in 4K Photography and Video, to capture 4K (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) images at 30 frames per second.”
The focus racking system is processed in-camera, and here’s how it works. The photos are displayed as one image during playback on the camera’s LCD. On the touchscreen, the user is able to pick the various focus point — essentially refocusing, somewhat like a Lytro image. Once the desired focus point has been picked, the camera outputs it as an 8-megapixel file.
In order to achieve optimal results, Panasonic says the mode is best used for non-action shots, such as portraits and landscapes, as well as wide apertures for shallow depth of field.
Experienced photographers can also perform focus stacking with this new mode when shooting macro photography. “Simply capture the scene using the same process, then use third-party software to perform ‘focus stacking’ in order to combine multiple frames into a single image, which has more areas in tack-sharp focus for amazing results in a fraction of the time typically needed for great macro images.”
The firmware is free, and it is available via the Lumix support site.
