Macro problem

I have been having this problem when i try to shoot macro or super macro shots in any of the modes P and above that on my G6. Whenever i am holding the camera or it's on a tripod, when i half press the hustter button, the little yellow box comes up, and it won't even focus. This happens w/ every single shot i have tried to take in the past few moths. What's going on?

I am a Pro1 user, but the operation on Macro and SuperMacro modes is very similar for the G6.

The most important thing is to be sure that the subject is within the allowed distance range measured from the tip of the lens:

5 cm. to 50 cm. at wide angle end in Macro mode
15 cm. to 50 cm. at telephoto end in Macro mode

5 cm. to 20 cm. in SuperMacro mode
The zoom must be set to any focal length between wide angle and 86mm maximum

If your subject is beyond the ranges allowed the yellow rectangle warns you that the camera will not focus.

See pg. 74 and pg. 75 of the G6 user’s guide (English version) for a detailed description and for distances in inches.

Good luck

Here's a trick I routinely use with the LCD viewfinder: Point the camera at your subject (within the distance limits rpolitsar mentions), half-depress the shutter, and then move your camera closer or farther until you see the image come into focus.

With the shallow depths of field you can expect with macro and super-macro, this will help you fine-tune your focus and even allow you to decide what part of your subject to bring into focus.

Don

Well, actually when i had last used it, i used a tripod and they came out all blurry, except i was a few inches away from it, so that's why. But before that, i was using it hand held, and i was as close as i could be, nearly touching the lense to the flower, and it still read yellow. It just wouldn't focus, and it never showed on the LCD that it was a slower shutter speed neither. So i don't whta else i can do.

At the risk of saying something obvious, it may be that you're too close.

Don

Well, i just tried both macro modes, both in the vicinity of 5-10 cms away from my subject, and it still wouldn't focus. The yellow box was all that came up. Any other suggestions?

From my experience with the Pro1, low light and/or the lack of contrasted vertical lines in the subjects are common sources of auto focus problems when shooting Macro or SuperMacro.

When this is the case, I switch to manual focus, and after setting the distance to say 15 cm. (6 inches) for SuperMacro I move the camera back and forth as described Don Ellis to achieve correct focus. Remember to measure distances from the tip of the lens, not from the focal plane as in DSLR shooting.

'nearly touching the lense to the flower' is too close as Don said. Distance and zoom settings are critical in macro shooting.