Hyperfocal Setting for S1 IS

[Geeeyejo]

I have been having the typical low light auto focus problems that many have had with my S1 IS. I tried the hyperfocal settings from another post, but wasn't really happy with the results (f2.8, man focus to 8 ft, lens at widest setting) Although this is supposed to focus from about 4 ft to infinity; I figured that at f2.8 how deep could the depth of field be? I found some sites with some VERY complex formulas and then lucked upon a setting for a 3.3 mp olympus that seems to work well:

in aperture priority mode set to f5.6
manual focus to approx 3 ft on guage
lens at widest (i.e no zoom) setting
ISO 50
Flash set to auto
custom setting raise sharp level to plus
then go to menu and save as custom setting
At this setting, the camera functions very well as a "point and shoot" with a minimum focus distance of 2 feet to infinity (at least as far as flash will illuminate!)indoors. **Note: zoom will not work well with the above hyperfocal setting and will result in blurred pictures.
Another tip for low light focusing (from the owner's manual no less!) use manual focus - although hard to judge, get as close as you can - then press the set button to have the auto focus fine tune it - worked well for me indoors.
Hope this helps others!
Check out these sample pics - second using above hyperfocal settings, first in low light using manual focus (at prog setting defaulted to 1/60th f 3.1) then pressing "set":

[Bodryn]

Cute little model there! How much did you have to pay her? :) Seriously, your focus method is interesting. I may use that for my custom setting. I've had problems focusing at infinity for 10x optical zoom shots such as shots of the moon: even when focusing manually to infinity, clear focus seems not to be dependable. The same goes for pictures of distant scenery. My A70 seems to give sharper images usually.

[Geeeyejo]

I have not tried the setting for any moon pics yet (previous attempts have been disappointing - out of focus, need to crop too much and losing resolution? Anyway, this new hyperfocal setting is really working well for "point and shoot" shots in the house. I can get in close enough to frame some tighter portraits or stand back to get shots of the family. Previous indoor shots using auto focus yielded maybe 25-30% acceptable focus shots - now I am near 100%!