xomm, you are awesome!!! just added the extras testing repo and fetched the live focus app! now going to figure how to used and where exactly it installed itself - not yet found...
There's a status menu applet called Live Focus that does this.
Now this package includes the lfocus widget that enables you to focus, change led states and toggle the keyboard shortcuts. you can use the N900's keyboard to do the following while capturing a video. q-w toggle light e-r toggle red light while recording video a-s adjust focus d fixes the suddon focus that sometimes happens after you autofocus with the camera button