Questions about the canon a40 as a first digital

I am about to buy my first digital camera. I like the canon a40 but have some concerns about the autofocus. Does the firmware patch fix all the problems people are having i.e. at the end of the zoom range, in macro mode, pictures that are generally not sharp etc. I would appreciate any info on what the patch fixes and how well it works.

Are there very many lenses available for the a40 besides the few canon offers?

I like that it has a decent range of settings and that many can be manually controled as well as the ability to use attacment lenses (for a camera of this price). Does anybody have any coments on these features relating to the the a40 or recomendations of other cameras to look at with similar features that are not too expensive?

Are there any problems a lot of people are having besides the focus?

this camera's great. I went to download the patch for my A40 (purchased about 3 months ago), and when I entered my serial #, it said that the patch isn't needed for my camera.

the 'problems' with the autofocus at max zoom is that it takes a few seconds to get its bearings, or a couple of tries. you can always set it to one of 3 pre-set focus ranges if you're in a hurry, but it hasn't been a major problem for me-more a minor, occasional annoyance. the pictures I get with this camera (my first) are very good, and it is really easy to use (I just read the manual for it last week, and although I did discover a couple of cool things, I learned how to use it pretty quickly by just playing with it).

I also just purchased the TC-DC52 telephoto lens by canon (2.4x), and so far, the results are pretty good, but I didn't get many chances to use it. focusing with it is a bit tricky, as objects that were at a decent focus range may find themselves at 'macro' focus range once the lense is put on. so far, so good, though-no vignetting, and sharp pictures (once you got the object you want to snap into focus).

I'll include a couple of pictures, even though they aren't good (cloudy day, live squirl)

no telephoto (but full optical zoom):



telephoto attached:



I will post better pictures when I have some time (and the weather's favourable).

Richard Homeyer said:

I am about to buy my first digital camera. I like the canon a40
but have some concerns about the autofocus. Does the firmware
patch fix all the problems people are having i.e. at the end of the
zoom range, in macro mode, pictures that are generally not sharp
etc. I would appreciate any info on what the patch fixes and how
well it works.

Are there very many lenses available for the a40 besides the few
canon offers?

I like that it has a decent range of settings and that many can be
manually controled as well as the ability to use attacment lenses
(for a camera of this price). Does anybody have any coments on
these features relating to the the a40 or recomendations of other
cameras to look at with similar features that are not too expensive?

Are there any problems a lot of people are having besides the focus?

Click to expand...

mihaelb said:

I also just purchased the TC-DC52 telephoto lens by canon (2.4x),
and so far, the results are pretty good, but I didn't get many
chances to use it. focusing with it is a bit tricky, as objects
that were at a decent focus range may find themselves at 'macro'
focus range once the lense is put on. so far, so good, though-no
vignetting, and sharp pictures (once you got the object you want to
snap into focus).

I'll include a couple of pictures, even though they aren't good
(cloudy day, live squirl)

no telephoto (but full optical zoom):



telephoto attached:



I will post better pictures when I have some time (and the
weather's favourable).

Richard Homeyer said:

I am about to buy my first digital camera. I like the canon a40
but have some concerns about the autofocus. Does the firmware
patch fix all the problems people are having i.e. at the end of the
zoom range, in macro mode, pictures that are generally not sharp
etc. I would appreciate any info on what the patch fixes and how
well it works.

Are there very many lenses available for the a40 besides the few
canon offers?

I like that it has a decent range of settings and that many can be
manually controled as well as the ability to use attacment lenses
(for a camera of this price). Does anybody have any coments on
these features relating to the the a40 or recomendations of other
cameras to look at with similar features that are not too expensive?

Are there any problems a lot of people are having besides the focus?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I appreciate your response mihaelb, did you have difficulty geting good focus when you didn,t use the zoom?

Is there anybody out there that did get one of the cameras that needed the patch and did the patch fix all your focus problems?

Richard Homeyer said:

I appreciate your response mihaelb, did you have difficulty geting
good focus when you didn,t use the zoom?
Is there anybody out there that did get one of the cameras that
needed the patch and did the patch fix all your focus problems?

Click to expand...

The A40 focus problem only affected the second to last telephoto zoom step ie. 13.4mm (87mm). All landscape shots taken at this setting were always out of focus (camera appeared to always focus only a few feet away). The patch from Canon fixed it completely. However there will always be some autofocus problems as the system is not foolproof and its not always possible to get a good focus lock. If you follow the advise on this forum on how to best use the autofocus system such as using high contrast vertical targets then all will most times be well. I find that I get very few out of focus shots since I started concentrating more on working with the autofocus system than just pointing and shooting. I think that you will be very happy with the A40, it works for me.

Thanks for the help IanJ. I don't have a problem playing with a camera to get it to do what I want, which is why I am looking for a camera with some manual capabilities.

Since I have decided this is the camera I'll buy, could anyone tell me if there are lenses avalable for this camera besides the few that canon makes (at least i've only found a few from canon)?

P.S. Thanks to everybody on this forum for the info. It makes chosing the right equipment a lot easier for a beginer like me.
(If a message very similar to this posts, sorry, had a computer error)

IanJ said:

Richard Homeyer said:

Is there anybody out there that did get one of the cameras that
needed the patch and did the patch fix all your focus problems?

Click to expand...

The A40 focus problem only affected the second to last telephoto
zoom step ie. 13.4mm (87mm). All landscape shots taken at this
setting were always out of focus (camera appeared to always focus
only a few feet away). The patch from Canon fixed it completely.
However there will always be some autofocus problems as the system
is not foolproof and its not always possible to get a good focus
lock. If you follow the advise on this forum on how to best use the
autofocus system such as using high contrast vertical targets then
all will most times be well. I find that I get very few out of
focus shots since I started concentrating more on working with the
autofocus system than just pointing and shooting. I think that you
will be very happy with the A40, it works for me.

Click to expand...

Richard,

I purchased the a40 as a simple addition to my oly 2100. I had more out of focus pictures in a 2 weeks with the a40, than I did in a year with the 2100. The biggest problem was that it was not consistant, and it indicated it had aquired focus correctly. I tried the patch, manual focus (too cumbersome), spot (this helped some). Finally took it back and exchanged it for the fuji 2600, guess what, no more focusing problems!

This is a problem with all digital cameras to some degree, but the canons seem to have the most problems. I am currently thinking about getting a G2, but the problems with the a40, and the numerous forum theads about focusing issues on the G2, has me worried. If I do get the G2, you can bet that I will buy it locally from a store with a good return policy, just in case...

I really think the camera manufacturers need to come up with a different focusing method for digital cameras, the contrast focusing is just too slow and unreliable.
Danny

Richard Homeyer said:

I am about to buy my first digital camera. I like the canon a40
but have some concerns about the autofocus. Does the firmware
patch fix all the problems people are having i.e. at the end of the
zoom range, in macro mode, pictures that are generally not sharp
etc. I would appreciate any info on what the patch fixes and how
well it works.

Are there very many lenses available for the a40 besides the few
canon offers?

I like that it has a decent range of settings and that many can be
manually controled as well as the ability to use attacment lenses
(for a camera of this price). Does anybody have any coments on
these features relating to the the a40 or recomendations of other
cameras to look at with similar features that are not too expensive?

Are there any problems a lot of people are having besides the focus?

Click to expand...

No, there is one type of focus problem that I cannot get the A40 to handle... the shaking hand.

This is also my second digital. My first a Kodak was a fixed eveything, other than floresence, tungstun, etc, and flash on/off, not much adjustment but rarely had and OOF shot within it's limits. Many shots it just couldn't take, but not OOF.

I've got far more OOF with this camera but it's got far more capilitites. I'm learning how not to have so many fuzzy shots and so I consider it to be a great learning camera. I bought it with the intention of upgrading in about 2 years if my interest in photography continues to increase. If not I've got a great little snap shot camera with options that allow me to take low light, and hopefully some action (working on that now from info posted at this forum).

I'm learning from the ground up. All my prior film cameras were P&S (no manual options by choice). If you already understand the use of those options, you may want to consider a little more camera than the A40, if not it will probably meet your needs. I read post here from G2 owners, that are asking very very basic photography questions. I wonder if they'd have been better served by an intermidateary camera, but who knows maybe they made the right choice and I didn't. If you want one with a little higher resolution, the S30 has 3mp and just few more features. Probably $100+ higher I think.

One thing it doesn't really have is a macro mode. I've heard it described as more of a close up mode (prox 5-6 inches).

Once you've invested in the Canon adapter, I think add on lenses that are 52mm will fit, Canon or otherwise. Someone correct me on this if wrong.

Here's a Canon A series users group link.

http://www.powershot-a.com/mb/index.php

Good luck, ar

some would call them problems, some wouldn't.

at odd lighting conditions/small objects/low-contrast objects (in colour/shiny), etc, it may take a few tries or a couple of seconds for the focus to get it right each time, but if you have some patience and the object isn't a formula1 car that just happened to be driving by you by surprise, I don't think it's a problem. Yes, I'd have liked the autofocus to be instantaneous or to have manual, but I was rarely even annoyed at the autofocus system. it does a good job for you, and I get very good results with it, usually with little waiting involved.

the less zoom you use, and the better the lighting conditions are, the faster the autofocus catches the object. the dc52 just means that you're using full-zoom, in which case the focus may take a couple of guesses before the object you're using is the one the camera locked onto. even with the moving squirrel you see in my pictures, and the relatively-tall grass, it took only 2 or 3 tries. I think the bad lighting that day had more to do with it and why it's still a bit out of focus (the grass near the squirrel was what my camera focussed on, I think).

Richard Homeyer said:

mihaelb said:

I also just purchased the TC-DC52 telephoto lens by canon (2.4x),
and so far, the results are pretty good, but I didn't get many
chances to use it. focusing with it is a bit tricky, as objects
that were at a decent focus range may find themselves at 'macro'
focus range once the lense is put on. so far, so good, though-no
vignetting, and sharp pictures (once you got the object you want to
snap into focus).

I'll include a couple of pictures, even though they aren't good
(cloudy day, live squirl)

no telephoto (but full optical zoom):



telephoto attached:



I will post better pictures when I have some time (and the
weather's favourable).

Richard Homeyer said:

I am about to buy my first digital camera. I like the canon a40
but have some concerns about the autofocus. Does the firmware
patch fix all the problems people are having i.e. at the end of the
zoom range, in macro mode, pictures that are generally not sharp
etc. I would appreciate any info on what the patch fixes and how
well it works.

Are there very many lenses available for the a40 besides the few
canon offers?

I like that it has a decent range of settings and that many can be
manually controled as well as the ability to use attacment lenses
(for a camera of this price). Does anybody have any coments on
these features relating to the the a40 or recomendations of other
cameras to look at with similar features that are not too expensive?

Are there any problems a lot of people are having besides the focus?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I appreciate your response mihaelb, did you have difficulty geting
good focus when you didn,t use the zoom?
Is there anybody out there that did get one of the cameras that
needed the patch and did the patch fix all your focus problems?

Click to expand...

Auto-ISO is stuck at 50. It does not automatically vary from 50-150 as the manual states. This can be a pain when taking available light (no-flash) pictures indoors or close to sundown. This morning I posted details. I think this is also true for other Canon models, although no one has confirmed this except for a previous post about the S40..

Can you use the TC-DC52 telephoto lens only at maximum optical zoom?
Or it’s possible to be used with the optical zoom set at 2x for example?

Thanks in advance!

mihaelb said:

I also just purchased the TC-DC52 telephoto lens by canon (2.4x),
and so far, the results are pretty good, but I didn't get many
chances to use it. focusing with it is a bit tricky, as objects
that were at a decent focus range may find themselves at 'macro'
focus range once the lense is put on. so far, so good, though-no
vignetting, and sharp pictures (once you got the object you want to
snap into focus).

I'll include a couple of pictures, even though they aren't good
(cloudy day, live squirl)

no telephoto (but full optical zoom):



telephoto attached:



I will post better pictures when I have some time (and the
weather's favourable).

Richard Homeyer said:

I am about to buy my first digital camera. I like the canon a40
but have some concerns about the autofocus. Does the firmware
patch fix all the problems people are having i.e. at the end of the
zoom range, in macro mode, pictures that are generally not sharp
etc. I would appreciate any info on what the patch fixes and how
well it works.

Are there very many lenses available for the a40 besides the few
canon offers?

I like that it has a decent range of settings and that many can be
manually controled as well as the ability to use attacment lenses
(for a camera of this price). Does anybody have any coments on
these features relating to the the a40 or recomendations of other
cameras to look at with similar features that are not too expensive?

Are there any problems a lot of people are having besides the focus?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Can you use the TC-DC52 telephoto lens only at maximum optical zoom?
Or it’s possible to be used with the optical zoom set at 2x for example?

Thanks in advance!

Richard Homeyer said:

I am about to buy my first digital camera. I like the canon a40
but have some concerns about the autofocus. Does the firmware
patch fix all the problems people are having i.e. at the end of the
zoom range, in macro mode, pictures that are generally not sharp
etc. I would appreciate any info on what the patch fixes and how
well it works.

Are there very many lenses available for the a40 besides the few
canon offers?

I like that it has a decent range of settings and that many can be
manually controled as well as the ability to use attacment lenses
(for a camera of this price). Does anybody have any coments on
these features relating to the the a40 or recomendations of other
cameras to look at with similar features that are not too expensive?

Are there any problems a lot of people are having besides the focus?

Click to expand...

all these problems make me worry as i've asked my dad to buy me this camera

after months of research i found this camera is the best for me, but now i find these problems

i'm torn between deciding to stay with my choice or research again for another camera (it's so painful!!)

or can someone come wth good suggestion, whether i should stay with a40 or move to other camera? and can u recommend me one?

thx

C.M. said:

Thanks in advance!

Richard Homeyer said:

I am about to buy my first digital camera. I like the canon a40
but have some concerns about the autofocus. Does the firmware
patch fix all the problems people are having i.e. at the end of the
zoom range, in macro mode, pictures that are generally not sharp
etc. I would appreciate any info on what the patch fixes and how
well it works.

Are there very many lenses available for the a40 besides the few
canon offers?

I like that it has a decent range of settings and that many can be
manually controled as well as the ability to use attacment lenses
(for a camera of this price). Does anybody have any coments on
these features relating to the the a40 or recomendations of other
cameras to look at with similar features that are not too expensive?

Are there any problems a lot of people are having besides the focus?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...