Question About My New G5

[Kathleen]

I've had a G5 for about a day and a half now, and have been playing around with it and reading the manual. I've found the buttons and menus intuitive, I like the feel of the camera, and the macro capabilities are impressive. However, I've run into a problem with focusing in low light, and I'm not sure if it's something that's just a fact of life with digital cameras in this price range or something that is particular to the G5.

The camera seems to take several seconds to focus in low light, and sometimes it will tell me that it is focused when it really isn't. The problem is especially bad if the subject is moving or if I'm trying to focus on an object more than about 3 feet away. The camera does better in these conditions when I use flash, but the flash really seems to blow out nearby subjects, even on the lowest setting.

Is this something that I should just get used to, or are there ways to deal with it? Is there another camera in this price range that will perform better under these conditions? I really like many things about the camera, but I do lots of low-light photography so this could be a real difficulty for me.

[mahanee]

kathleen wrote:
However, I've run into a problem with focusing in low light, and I'm not sure if it's something that's just a fact of life with digital cameras in this price range or something that is particular to the G5.
that`s why we need tripod to have a slower speed, or speedlite 420 EX if uy wanna have " a normal" speed :D

The camera seems to take several seconds to focus in low light, and sometimes it will tell me that it is focused when it really isn't. The problem is especially bad if the subject is moving or if I'm trying to focus on an object more than about 3 feet away. The camera does better in these conditions when I use flash, but the flash really seems to blow out nearby subjects, even on the lowest setting. about a problem with auto focusing, some friends switch the mode into single , or u have to used your self with manual focus

[John_T]

Low light is generally a problem, but one that you can successfully deal with once you have learned the camera and photography well. In photography, it is all about light and how to use it, or in it's absence, how to correctly make it. Don't have unrealistic expectations of the camera. The camera is excellent in it's range, but you also need to learn to use it within that range.

It took me a while to learn to use the G5 in low light conditions, but now I get much more good low light pics than not. You need to learn the relation between light conditions, camera settings and the mechanics of the process. While the AF light is an assistance at certain distances, it is no miracle maker. Nine times out of ten, when you get the green square for AF and you think the focus was wrong, it was motion blur on your or the subject's part, not on the camera's focusing.

Do a search here on low light, focusing and varaiations on the theme and you will get lots of info and tips (a lot of people's frustrations too).

[jglisson73]

This link is all over this forum. Learn the hyperfocal technique and you will be able to get lots of shots you otherwise would miss b/c of focusing problems.

http://www.marcjutras.com/ehyperfocal.html

John

[Kathleen]

John_T wrote:
Nine times out of ten, when you get the green square for AF and you think the focus was wrong, it was motion blur on your or the subject's part, not on the camera's focusing.


Could my camera be malfunctioning, then? I have tried to focus on stationary objects in low light and had the camera mess up. This has also happened in macro mode with sleeping cats, which aren't stationary but aren't moving very much.

I am somewhat familiar with hyperfocal method, but I don't know how to apply it for closeups, or even whether or not it can be applied to closeups. These are the sorts of indoor shots I am most concerned with.

I don't expect the camera to work miracles, but I was hoping that it would focus as well in low light as my Canon SLR. I've had acceptable low light performance using the Tv setting on that camera, both in manual and autofocus. So far, I haven't taken lots of pictures with the G5 in manual mode, as I'm finding it a little hard to get used to. I'm very willing to be patient and learn about the G5, but I don't want to spend time doing that if there's a camera with similar features out there which performs better under the lighting conditions I use most often.

[John_T]

No, I don't think your camera is malfunctioning, but also isn't quite an EOS.

To autofocus it needs definable vertical lines of one sort or the other. Also autofocus uses the green sensor (RGB), so if your subject is pure blue or red it will have difficulty finding focus.

You just need to play with it to get the hang of it. Sit comfortably in a low light surounding and just check out where it catches focus by pushing the shutter halfway down. If you can dim or brighten the lights in the room, it will also help you find where the limits are.

[jglisson73]

My camera will occasionally "mess up" trying to focus in low light situations too. It will lock up, shut off, and then restart itself. This usually happens with I'm using the zoom in low light situations. The camera can't seem to "catch up" to the zoom with the AF system.

One suggestion I have heard that sounds great is to have a pen-light, like one of the tiny AAA size mag-lites. Use it to illuminate your subject, get a focus lock, press the MF button to lock it in, and the shoot away.

Digitals have a long way to go before performing any where near SLR speed and accuracy for AF in low light. Just one of the caveats that has to be overcome.

Good luck and I hope you get some of those great shots you're looking for!

John