auto focus acting strange on Sony HDR-SR11 handycam

[Knightmessenger]

Okay, I know the manual focus is better. But recording a touch football game from the sidelines using a friends camera, I could not get the manual focus to work properly. The dial didn't seem very effective at changing the focal length and it didn't appear the camera would stay at the same focus. I would zoom out and it would get out of focus or it wouldn't be in focus when I zoomed back in on the same spot.
So I kept the camera on auto and that wasn't great but it was workable. However, near the end of the game, the camera was blurring up and the only thing that got it in focus was if it was zoomed in to a certain point. Zooming out actually blurred the image. I know that everything should appear in focus when you zoom out, only zoomed in does it have to be at the right setting. How would the autofocus not be able to well, focus? Can the focus a camera is set to (when on manual) change by zooming? It doesn't seem like it should. I know an object being in focus depends on the distance of the object it is pointing at but the camera made it seem like it had to be set to a specific zoom to stay in focus.
Is anyone familiar with the HDR-SR11? Have they had any issues with getting the image to stay in focus. The color is very vibrant and the resolution capability is certainly impressive. But my Hi8 has a better autofocus and the manual focus keeps everything looking sharp unless you zoom in all the way. I was getting an image out of focus with the camera completely zoomed out.

I also have another question: At a recent anime con, I saw a decent sized HD camera (a little bigger than the SR-11) that had a focus ring? Anyone know what the model numbers of decent consumer/prosumer cameras that have a focus ring and exposure control like the one I saw?

[kevinbr100]

every time you zoom you have to change the focus, when you manually focus you are focussing at that exact zoom level. i have this camera too, and the autofocus definitely doesnt work well because it constantly changes the focus, especially on objects moving. i use a combination of auto/manual using the dial/button. if you have focus set to the dial, like it sounds u do, there is a button in the center of the dial. pressing this will toggle manual/auto focus. so when you initially start, use this button, set it on auto focus, let it focus, press the button to switch it to manual. repeat everytime you change the zoom level. this camera is capable of producing amazing pictures, but focussing is a pain.