Please help Manual focus

Hi I have just bought my first camcorder.Could someone please tell me about the manual focusing. If I get a sharp image through the viewfinder can I just go ahead and shoot or do I have to zoom in and then zoom out again as the manual seems to say
I understand that if I zoom in I then have to re focus it but if I dont wish to use the zoom can I just go ahead and shoot if the picure is in focus. Please help Dave.

[JimM]

If you are happy with the image in the viewfinder then go ahead and shoot.

The manual focusing is really there for situations where you don't want to focus on the dominant image in frame.

eg if you had a 2 people standing one a few feet behind the other, the camera would tend to focus on the nearer bigger person. You could use the manual focus to make the person in the distance sharp.

It's also useful in low light situations where the camera may not have enough light to lock on.

HTH

Jim

Thanks a lot for your help Jim much appreciated. Dave.