Focusing tips for A570 IS?

[TimothyP]

I recently acquired an A570 IS. I am still learning to use it.

Does anyone have any handy tips for getting good focus effects out of this camera?

I like to have control over focus depth (if that makes sense). For instance, if I'm looking at a flower, I like to be able to move the focused area into the fore or background, blurring everything else. I'm not sure how to accomplish this on this camera. It's super easy on the Sony Cybershot I use at work, and the effect comes out nice.

How can accomplish this kind of effect on the A570 IS?

Does anyone have any other tips or tricks for using focus effectively on this camera?

Thanks!

[Jon]

Basically, you need to have as much separation between your subject and the background as possible, use the longest focal length and widest aperture possible, and be very close to your subject. But depth of field (the technical term for what you're seeking) is affected by the size of the sensor; the small sensor of the A570 means that reasonable angle of view requires a very short lens, and short lenses have great depth of field (not what you want).

[TimothyP]

How do I adjust the focal length? What's a good number for the aperture setting?

[Jon]

You zoom with the control that's around the shutter release.

A good aperture is one that gives you a good exposure at your chosen ISO and an appropriate shutter speed. If that sounds wishy-washy, it's because not everyone wants the same picture. Slow shutter speeds give motion a completely different look than fast ones.

[low orbit]

I recently acquired an A570 IS. I am still learning to use it.

Does anyone have any handy tips for getting good focus effects out of this camera?

I like to have control over focus depth (if that makes sense). For instance, if I'm looking at a flower, I like to be able to move the focused area into the fore or background, blurring everything else. I'm not sure how to accomplish this on this camera. It's super easy on the Sony Cybershot I use at work, and the effect comes out nice.

How can accomplish this kind of effect on the A570 IS?

Does anyone have any other tips or tricks for using focus effectively on this camera?

Thanks!

afaik there are only two ways of doing this with compacts.

1. Full zoom with the background miles away from the subject - in my case 105mm focal length (35mm equivalent), f4.8 (inadvertently found this out when a fence was some 30' away from the subject).

2. Macro. Wide open / wide angle gives pretty good results, 1 stop down, full zoom is better. Again, as long as the background is apart from your main subject, it will blur but it's now in inches and not feet. If you get creative you can use the macro setting for some brilliant portrait shots.

Cheers.

[KirkHMB]

You do have a manual focus (MF) on this camera. When engaged, you get an enlargement of the center of the image. You can then see how far away you are focused, but it is in steps, not a continuous range of distances. You can set the 20" range, then move the camera til the part you want is in focus.