New S3 IS...defective?

[entmaiden26]

Hello, I am brand new to this forum and a novice of photography. I just bought a S3 two days ago and am trying to make sure everything is working ok before the limited 14 day exchange policy runs out. I know that there have been alot of post about this camera so if this is an old question I apologise.

Last night I went out to take a couple of shots of the moon and saw that it was very difficult to focus on, it kept zooming in and out so to speak. Is this a normal function? I tried shooting in auto, night scene, and night shot at different zooms. Unfortuneately I cant remember which pic is which but I believe that these:

were night snapshot at 48x
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/395/meghansnewcamera001wr3.th.jpg (http://img184.imageshack.us/my.php?image=meghansnewcamera001wr3.jpg)

[img=http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/9419/meghansnewcamera003jc6.th.jpg] (http://img172.imageshack.us/my.php?image=meghansnewcamera003jc6.jpg)

[img=http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/8394/meghansnewcamera004ht1.th.jpg] (http://img244.imageshack.us/my.php?image=meghansnewcamera004ht1.jpg)

this was auto at full optical
[img=http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/7146/meghansnewcamera005lt4.th.jpg] (http://img168.imageshack.us/my.php?image=meghansnewcamera005lt4.jpg)

I realise that I could be getting these results from my lack of experience and not using a tripod. I was also pretty close to a lamp post, could that have factored in aswell?
Thank you so much for any assistance.

[agaupt]

The camera is not defective. I believe the camera uses contrasts to auto focus, and in low light (night) it tries to use the AF Assist Beam to help focus. Having the moon being so far away the AF Assist Beam is useless and your subject is a bright light against a dark sky. Also zoomed in at 12X and digital to 48X hand held without a steady hand will also make it hard to focus.

On the left side of the camera there is a button "MF" (manual focus), used when the camera can't autofocus.

[eccles]

I'll second that. Use MF and set focus to infinity for the moon and you'll be ok.

[Piltnik]

It sounds like pretty normal behaviour from your camera concidering that conditions were low light, full zoom and you were shooting handheld. I had trouble focusing my S2 IS on the moon even with using a tripod so I just switched it to manual focus and focused to infinity. Outcome was this -> http://www.treklens.com/gallery/Europe/Estonia/photo112754.htm

[gregrocco]

The only luck I've had shooting the moon (no pun intended) with my S3 is to use it on manual mode (the M on the dial).

[entmaiden26]

Thank you, I figured that everything was fine just thought I would check.
This was the first photo I took:
auto around full optical zoom
http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/5127/meghansnewcamera006uv1.th.jpg (http://img160.imageshack.us/my.php?image=meghansnewcamera006uv1.jpg)

and one of my dog with colour accent
http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/2900/meghansnewcamera009on6.th.jpg (http://img249.imageshack.us/my.php?image=meghansnewcamera009on6.jpg)

I figured they looked pretty normal.

[SaNdMaN82]

don't think it is defective...

s2-3 won't work miracles under low light conditions. If you're shooting the moon, it's advised to use manual focus (infinity)... You can also play around with the aperture setting (will allow the camera to take more or less light, as you wish). Finally, set your shutter speed to a value you would use on a bright sunny day.... As i've read on this fourum way back when i got my s2: "remember, it's always a bright sunny day on the moon"...

That way you'll be able to capture all the details on the moon, without overexposing the picture...

Here's a recent example: 12x, hand held, sitting on a chair...

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/1107/img1842yu6.th.jpg (http://img250.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img1842yu6.jpg)

no pp done, straight from the camera...

[JustShootin']

I have no trouble shooting the moon with my S2 in "P" mode, and auto focus. There's plenty enough contrast in them thar craters, as well as plenty of sunlight to make your auto foucs work well. Tripod mounted, using 2 second self timer and spot metering. ISO 50, shutter 1/50, aperture 5.6, reslolution high, compression super fine.

[snowrdr]

JustShootin' has the key... switch to spot-metering and your S3 will auto focus with no problem on the moon. :D

[entmaiden26]

Thank you everyone so much for your great tips. I will try them as soon as possible!