No flash, no focus :-(

[Dana]

Playing w/my new G3 last night.

Sitting in the living room (well lit), shooting different things in the room. I was playing w/flash settings and turned off the flash at one point. Suddenly, I found that the camera would not focus properly. Flash on - sharp focus. Flash off, soft, exact same shot.

I finally think I figured it out - here are my settings:

P mode
red-eye reduction on
AF light on
Single AF mode (not continuous)
AE to center
All other settings however the camera desired

What I noticed is this:

Flash on: when I pressed the shutter half-way to prefocus, the focus assist light would come on briefly, and then go off, and then come on again in it's red-eye reduction role. Sharp focus/picture.

Flash off: when I pressed the shutter half-way to pre-focus, the focus assist light would come on briefly, and then go off. Blurry focus/picture.

It looked that w/out the red-eye reduction light coming on after the AF assist light, the AF system wasn't able to lock down the focus. I tried this several times on different shots w/the same results.

Anyone else seen this? Can someone else test this? Anyone know why this is? Is the AF system "leaning" on the red-eye reduction light to get focus locked?

So far focus issues are more significant than I expected w/this camera. I am concerned that I am going to have to pay more attention to that than I would like to, rather than composition, lighting, etc. Comments? (Other than "You lazy bum." :-) )

Thanks,

Dana

[PacAce]

Maybe it's not a focusing problem at all but the fact that you're trying to handhold a shot using available light.

Does the rectangle around your focusing point turn green (with or without the flash)? If so, focus has been achieved.

Does the orange light beside the eye viewfinder blink when not using flash? If so, then the shutter speed is too low for handholding the camera for the shot. Use a trip and try the shot again.

I don't think the red-eye reduction does anything for focusing since it only fires when the shutter is pressed all the way down and at that point, focusing should already have been achieved (AF point with green rectangle). If focusing has not been achieved, then the rectangle would be orange (I forget if it's supposed to blink or not).

[Dana]

Thanks, those are good things to check - I'll try again tonight and see if this is a low-light issue. Strange thing is that the room was well lit - so getting into a low-light situation seems strange. But I'll look into it!

Regarding the red-eye light, I think you are mistaken. It does light up before the shot - it has to to do its job (shrink the pupil) before the shutter is pressed all the way.

Dana

[PacAce]

dana wrote:
Regarding the red-eye light, I think you are mistaken. It does light up before the shot - it has to to do its job (shrink the pupil) before the shutter is pressed all the way.
Dana

I think what you will find is that the RE light flashes AFTER you fully depress the shutter button but before the actual shot is taken (the aperture shutter opens).

If what you're saying is that the RE light flashes when the shutter is pressed half-way, then either:

1. The RE light will keep flashing for as long as you have the shutter depressed halfway, which is not the case, or
2. The RE light flashes once when you press the shutter half way, so if you hold it like that for several seconds, then the benefit of the RE light is lost!

[Dana]

Thanks very much for the reply.

1. The RE light will keep flashing for as long as you have the shutter depressed halfway

That's exactly what I think I saw - it didn't "flash," just turned on and stayed on. I'm sure it came on and stayed on when the shutter button was depressed 1/2 way when flash was turned on. I was able to point the camera at my couch, and press the shutter 1/2 way:

- the focus assist light came on and then turned off after a second or two
- the light came on again and stayed on until I pressed the shutter all the way

I'll check it again tonight (and be terribly embarrassed if I'm remembering wrong) but that is what I remember happening last night. :-)

Dana

[Dana]

OK - checked tonight, and it appears that it's a slow shutter issue - put the camera on a tripod and the focus/detail is fine w/out the flash.

Operator error!

In love again... :-)

Dana