Tips for manual focus?

[octathlon]

I am having a hard time with the manual focus on my S30, mostly with close-ups/macros (small depth of field). The autofocus often can't get it right in these cases, as I have found out the hard way.

The problem is that I can't tell by looking at the LCD whether it is in focus. It puts a zoomed-in square in the center of the display for you to go by. Maybe if it used the entire LCD screen I could tell, but what it shows is practically useless!

Another problem is when reviewing the shot on the LCD and zooming in on it, I think it looks OK, but after downloading and viewing it on the computer screen, I see that the focus was actually off!

Any ideas or tips?

[plato]

hi i have the same problem, but after playing around with the camera for some time, I've sort of figured out how it works, though it takes a bit of trial and error to get it exactly right. I think maybe the manual focus wasn't made for exact focussing (someone correct me if I'm wrong?)

I just do a rough estimate of the distance, eg 30cm and then adjust the manual focus to around that distance until the lcd screen shows that the image is more grainy than fuzzy.... don't know how to describe it better than that. I had expected the manual focus to give me a sharp picture on the lcd screen so I'd know the picture is in focus, but nope, it only works as a rough guide. As I said, just adjust the picture until you find that the edges look grainy or jagged rather than fuzzy and the picture will be more or less in focus.

I read an earlier post about using the digital zoom to aid in manual focus too, but I personally don't find much difference in using it, since the magnified image doesn't appear once the digital zoom is engaged, so I actually find it more difficult to know if the picture is in focus.

Hope this helps, and maybe someone with a better way can help, cos' I'm interested in the answer too!

[Rustle]

I consider the manual focus to be pretty much useless, for the reasons you've outlined. I think they just left it in from the G2 firmware, because there wasn't a reason to take it out. But it's not that functional.

What kind of distances are you using with macro? I haven't had any problems taking macro shots with my S30, so I'm wondering if there's a technique that would help you to avoid manual focus.

Russ

[octathlon]

Thanks.
I understand what you mean about it looking grainy when in focus, although it seems like you can vary the distance setting a lot before the display looks any different.

I wish it worked the way it does on rangefinders where you can line up a split image. I wonder if other digitals have a better focusing mechanism than this... :(

[octathlon]

Hi Russ,
According to the manual, at full wide angle you should be able to focus as close as 3.9 inches, but I find that I can't get any closer than about 6 inches. At such a close range, it's hard to make sure the auto focus point is actually on the area you intend. I'm sure more practice will help.

I'm probably going to order the ckcpower lens adapter so I can use macro lenses. --as well as other lenses and filters

[BigPete]

I find the MF pretty useless. About the best I've been able to do is estimate the distance and use the distance scale. I also have trouble telling if the picture is sharp useing the LCD. I've found that the best way to get good sharp pictures is to hold the camera very very steady or use a tripod if necessary (such as low light-slow shutter speed). The camera is capable of taking very sharp photo's but you gotta hold it still. Sometimes It won't focus up close because a lot of times I forget to push the macro button. If it won't focus just back up a little. This camera takes a while to get used to, the more pictures I take the better they get so take lots of pictures and experiment a lot. Here's a technique you can try when there isn't enough light to get the shutter speed up so you can hand hold the camera...set the mode to shutter priority and set the shutter speed to 1/60 or 1/40 second and take the picture even if it come out a little underexposed then adjust the brightness and contrast in Zoombrowser. Hope this helps. Would like to see more on this topic.

[Denny]

When i put my camera on the tripod to take a picture of myself i always manual focus first. Then I turn on the selftimer to 10 seconds and I move to the position. Another thing I use it for is to purposly blurr something. But other than those stuff, its' useless.

[Rustle]

Glenna,

What do you mean by, "it's hard to make sure the auto focus point is actually on the area you intend"? Are you referring to AiAF? If that's the difficulty with getting closer, then you can fix your focus point in place to ensure that it doesn't change.

Let's remember that this camera isn't really designed for specialty photography--it's a point-and-shoot. We're not going to get the results of a G2, which has a better lens. That said, I'm not disappointed with the manual focus, because I don't consider it to be a selling feature on any P&S camera. The S30/S40 (and now S45) are jack-of-all-trades cameras: not the smallest, not the greatest performers in any one feature, but the only ones that can be carried anywhere with a wide array of manual features. That's the beauty of 'em.

Russ

[octathlon]

rustle wrote:

What do you mean by, "it's hard to make sure the auto focus point is actually on the area you intend"?

I meant that when shooting macro with a small DOF, the square in the center covers an area that may not all be in the same focal plane, and it uses the entire square to determine focus, not just the center point of the square (I think) so the focus can still be just in front of or behind what you are pointing at.

rustle wrote:
The S30/S40 (and now S45) are jack-of-all-trades cameras: not the smallest, not the greatest performers in any one feature, but the only ones that can be carried anywhere with a wide array of manual features. That's the beauty of 'em.

I agree completely and that's why I chose this camera over some that had better macro capability, more optical zoom, etc. I carry it with me all the time!

[Rustle]

Try focussing on a larger object that fills the square, then replacing it with the object you want to shoot at the same distance. It's the same technique as balancing a light level and recomposing with the shutter half-pressed.

Russ