FZ7 MF

Hi,

can anybody help me with manual focus on FZ7: I have not yet managed to make a good picture with manual focus - they are, well, badly focused.
So I'm left with 3 options:
a. FZ7 MF is very unreliable
b. my FZ7 is defective
c. I'm guilty for not knowing how to use MF

If c., can someone enlighten me or redirect me to relevant reference on http://www?

Thanks

You are not alone. I hope someone can give some pointers on how to get an accurate manual focus - quickly. I gave up after trying (and failing) to get a better focus than the FZ7's auto focus.

Fortunately, the 7's auto focus is the best I've encountered. It rarely misses.

--
Frumious



http://frumious.smugmug.com/

I've only used MF a few times - i find it good if you want to set focus to infinite. otherwise, unfortunately, the less-than-generous pixel count on the viewfinder and LCD screen makes focusing (and reviewing pics for good focus) a bit hit and miss. unless im also doing something wrong?

It's quite difficult specially when shooting outdoors. What I try to do is move the focus "back and forth" until I finally find the sharpest point. If I have difficulty doing that I put on auto focus then half press the shutter, release, then put on manual focus again. You'll see if the point you thought focus is the sharpest is correct. Maybe you'll get to familiarize yourself with manual focus after repeating the process over and over.

I hope you have the "MF ASSIST" on MF 1 when changing manual focus. That enlarges the center of the picture on the lcd (or evf) when you are changing manual focus. Without that you really can't see well enough. With it i've had good success with manual focus, not perfect every time, but good enough to say it works. I pretty much only use it at extreme close up where the auto focus really doesn't work - tends to focus on the background - even in macro mode.

The manual says (on p22): [MF1]: The center of the screen is enlarged. You can adjust the focus while determining the composition of the whole of the screen.

[MF2]: The whole of the screen is enlarged. This is convenient for adjusting the focus in Wide angle shots.
[OFF]: The screen is not enlarged.
More info on using it on page 55.

I would imagine manual focus for any EVF camera is tough. Its probalby only unsable if you know the distance to your subject, then you can make sure that distance falls in the focus range indicated on the camera.
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Cheers!
-physmike

Yea it is a difficult beast to master that MF.

What I always do is leave it in AF mode and it is pretty accurate like people say but if it isn't I then switch it to MF via the button real easy and play with it some to get it sharp. But rarely do I have to do it but occasionally I will use it.

I supose it is better than nothing at all and MF was one of my major concerns after dealing with my dads miss and never hit camera.

Another thing for close up shots I always leave it in Macro mode w/ AF then once it is focused I will switch to MF and NOT play with the settings once I switch the dial to where I want whether that is M, A or S. This will effectively give you a much closer focus range with the manual settings you want instead of the forced settings from macro mode.

--
glitchbit: getting rid of the glitch bits



my image gallery will be up soon

Will join the club on this one. I have started using it only lately, find it difficult sometimes, but fairly easy other times (at not sure of why the difference - sometimes seems to have no effect, others I can basically see the point of best focus without too much difficulty). Use the center enlargement mode (but must admit, haven't tried full screen enlargement).

Have been using it when the AF wants to lock onto something else and tilting camera either isn't an option or doesn't help. Like others, glad it's there (but would love an OVF/manual focus ring combo, but not really an option, of course, on a camera like the FZ7).