Having others take your picture.

We have NEVER had success when other people try to take our picture using our DSLR (had a D60 and now a D20). I am wondering if anyone has any tricks to ensure the results are in focus. I am thinking of using C-Fn 4 set to 3 then instruct the volunteer to push the * button until they hear a beep, then hit the shutter button. Has anyone ever tried this? One other possibility is to use the wireless remote and have the volunteer just frame the picture (acting as a human tripod). But I would be afraid that this might insult the volunteer. Any other ideas?

I recommend that you turn off the feature of the camera automatically selecting its own focus point.

I generally look through the viewfinder myself and select the focus point that will work best. Then I tell the shooter to place that red box over one person's head, or over one person's belt buckle, or some specific spot.

Now, here is the rhetorical issue: If you set up your camera that way for somebody else to shoot it, then that makes them the photographer, and that means that they own the copyright. In practice, it doesn't normally work that way, but theoretically it should.

Of course, if it is your camera, then your EXIF information (including owner's name) will appear on your file, so the other shooter would have a very difficult time proving that he shot it.

---Bob Gross---

I hate it when that happens. Now I just switch the camera to Full Auto (green box) when others want to clown-around with my camera.

I go ahead and size up the shot myself, set it in "A" mode and have the volunteer aim, press and shoot. I think in this instance that it is OK to chimp afterwards to make sure that it all worked. I try to make all the settings as foolproof as possible, including making sure the shutter speed will be adequate to help eliminate shake.

Another option, if you have a tripod, is to size up the shot with the camera on the tripod, pre-focus and set the focus to "Manual", turn on the self-timer, hit the button and run into place.

My reccommendation is to buy a cheaper point and shoot pocket digicam and have people take your picture with that.

I stick the 20D into P mode and let the camera select the focus point, that seems to work. It's too hard to explain focus-recompose to people, especially since the main time I let anyone touch my camera is when i'm drunk, and the other person probably is too. I do end up with a few interesting photos on the camera, I got a few excellent photos of me doing weird faces this past weekend.

I got my 20D all set up for a volunteer, and then I ran over to get into the group shot. The volunteer couldn't get anything to work, because he was holding it out at arm's length and was staring at the (blank) rear display. That's when I looked for a different volunteer.

---Bob Gross---

Haha.. that's what annoys me about P & S digital cameras with the LCD preview. 90% of the population here only know how to look at the LCD...

Hand... My... DSLR... To... Someone... Else

Nah, sorry, can't make sense of that sentance

Seriously, while I was still on film usine an EOS 33 I had the same issue, camera set to centre focus point, instructed user put middle point on one of us, to half press, wait for beep, complete press.
In green box mode so camera must be in focus before allowing to shoot.
How they were out of focus I don't know, but they were.

I decided not to persevere.

AS Tim said. P mode will lock out custom F4 that I find complicates matters greatly when on. I leave the cam in burst mode and ususally one shot of a series will be good.

Now that is freaking funny!

I'll do exactly the same. "Use anything you like from the green box and below, read the icons. If there something in writig (the "creative" zone) that's not for you"

RichardtheSane wrote:
Hand... My... DSLR... To... Someone... Else

Nah, sorry, can't make sense of that sentance

snip

CONCURrrrrr
Someone recently said to me 'I'll have to have proper look at your camera next time you come over' - No they won't!

My excuse is that it won't be insured if THEY drop it!

YOU USE YOUR 20D WHEN U R DRUNK!!!!OMG!! i take my ixus 400 or whatver out with me when i know im gonna get paraletic, if i loose/break/drown it in beer, i wont be too bothered, dont tell me you also slap a nice L lense on the end, just so your drunk faces dont have any vignetting or CA...lol! Yeah, giving you cam to someone else 2 take a pic of you is VERY annoying, dont u also find that they zoom SO FAR BACK, i dont wanna see the sky and floor and me be a dot in the picture....i like tight crops, more intimate.. K

I had to get over the issue of handing off my camera to get shots of the fiancee and I in Europe. Fortunately, we went with friends who could do the picture taking, but I still had to set the camera for them. It worked best if I took their picture in the same location first, then swapped places.

On another note, if I'm in a touristy spot, I usually look for someone carrying a dslr if possible. One time I handed my 20D off to someone carrying a 300D, all set and ready to go. Luckily, I chimped after he took it and made him re-take it. Somehow, we were unacceptably out of focus in the first one... Then again, I always manually select one focus point and maybe he didn't pay attention to where the red box was when focus was confirmed.