out of focus

[rose stalka]

I got my new e 20 in december and i have to say i have never been
more disapointed in the out of focus picutres it takes.This is
terrible I have experiance in other cameras other thatn point n
shoot such as my nikon and canon slr that i had to manual focus
but this is something i have never encountered this many out of
focus pictures thank goodness is not a film camera becasue i
would be out of alot of money on developing these ooof pictures is
any one else having this many oof pictures? I have tried turning
the IF off and still does not help and it doesnt seem to be a low
light excuse either lighting is fine
thanks rose

Joe Peoples writes:

Which shooting mode, f stop, shutter speed? What were the exact
conditions of your location? Could there have been anything to
throw the AF off or obstruct your vision in MF? Did your subject
look sharp in the viewfinder or didn't you notice?

joe it seems that it doesnt matter if it is daytime or night one
i was at my daughters soccer game it was about 300pm lighting good
and yes in the vewi finder it looked good to me not the the lcd
moniter as i do not usually use that as much as the veiw finder. I
livei n florida by the way so i had plenty of light heehehh i idnt
really have ashutter priority just shot in the p mode fully auto
.ojk then the other times in mf i was inside at relatives house
with the usual lighting etc the subject about 6 feeet away again i
used my veiwfinder no lcd and it looked fine auto everything ..
can i ask a question joe how come my flash doesnt pop up
automatically in low light i have it on auto flash ?
thanks rose

OK, we still don't know the specs. Why not post an image or two,
and give us the EXACT exif information (shutter, aperture, focal
length used).
It's frustrating that you can't give is better info when it's so
easily available.

At the soccer game you used P mode. My guess is that the camera
selected a wide open aperture (f2.0-f2.4), and you were attempting
to shoot moving subjects. The E10/20 is NOT a great action camera.
I guessing your subjects were out of focus based on no depth of
field, and movement after the camera locked focus. Unfortunately I
have to guess because you have not provided the info

As to indoors AGAIN you provide us with little to go on. If you
were in P mode (guessing you were) the light was likely dim, and
the camera would select a wide open aperture (no depth of field),
and a shutter speed of about 1/20 a second or slower. At that
setting there is a huge chance that subject, or camera movement
result in an OOF image.

I have recently done a post detailing steps to determine if your
camera does have a focusing problem, and suggestions to help
prevent focus mistakes.

Have you read it? I suggest you do.

You say you have tried everything . God knows what that is as you
don't say. But based on your very limited description of how you
are using the camera, it sounds like you are not aware of how to
avoid focus mistakes.

Ron

sorry ron about the details but thats what i did was auto in p mode but i will change things now and see what happens my kids are performing at a county fair here in florida on sat night feb 23 so at 6 pm so it will kinda be like a dusk but then there should be stage lights so i hope i can do this'
also ron i do not know how to post picutres here
thanks rose

 

[Luis E Limon]

I had lots of focus problems. But I been improving I will give you all the things I found problematic with the E-10, E-20:

1. "P" mode tends to create soft shots in indors, or with low light
Solution: Use "M" or "S" setup your aperture mode to some thing high.

2. The infrared tends to do bad focus specialy if there are bright objects in your frame. some people dissable it (use the tcon-14b mode on the camera).

3. This point is very important and probable your problem:

The E-10,E-20 always take the picture even if the subject is not focused. every time you HALF press the shutter release the camera focuses if you press completly the button then the camera takes the shot even if is not in focus. What this means you have to get used to half press the button wait for the confirmation sound of focus or the led in your viewfinder. then press the button.

4. Some other people like to zoom in focus (half press) then zoom out and trame. I don't like that and I thend to not do that. But if it works for you cool!.
--E-20, C-3030 and E-100rs happy owner

 

[kmb]

2. The infrared tends to do bad focus specialy if there are bright
objects in your frame. some people dissable it (use the tcon-14b
mode on the camera).

Hi Luis. Thanks for the tips. How do you use the tcon14b mode? thanks.

K-- http://www.pbase.com/magnetic9999http://www.mysteriousarts.com

 

[Ron Frank]

Ron

sorry ron about the details but thats what i did was auto in p
mode but i will change things now and see what happens my kids are
performing at a county fair here in florida on sat night feb 23 so
at 6 pm so it will kinda be like a dusk but then there should be
stage lights so i hope i can do this'
also ron i do not know how to post picutres here
thanks rose

Rose,

Read my post on focus problems, and ask questions if need be. As for shooting at dusk, that my be tricky business. The flash on the camera is not going to give you much range. What you need is a shutter speed of 1/50 or better, and the smallest (biggest number) aperture that you can get. The closer you can get to the subject the better (within reason), as I doubt the flash can light at much more than 10feet. I shoot most of my low light flash shots in maunal mode, wb set to 6500, shutter at about 1/60, and aperture at around f4. I do use a more powerful flash mounted on the hot shoe, or hand held with a remote cord. You may want to spend the $100 for a vivitar 285 flash or a similar model if you do much work that requires flash.

As to posting pic here, you need to upload your photo's to a web site. http://www.webphotos.com is a good place and will host your photo's for no cost. Then include the link in the post. Make sure the link references the jpg, and not some html page that is used to view images on the site. To get the jpg link display the photo you want to link to full sized on the website, and right mouse click on the photo. This will bring up a menu. Select properties. The link you see will end with .jpg. That is the link you want.

Hope this helps
Ron

 

[Luis E Limon]

1. Setup the dial in "file transfer mode"

2. Click menu.

3. The first option is the macro mode and has 2 options one is regular macro and the other has macro and 2 lamps one with a 3x on a side.

4. click ok. until the menu goes away.

5. return to regular mode, and use the madro button and the dial to swith to a blinking lamp on your display that is tcon-14b mode. you can return to regular mode by using again using the macro button until the macro flower and the lambs hide.

I hope this helps.

2. The infrared tends to do bad focus specialy if there are bright
objects in your frame. some people dissable it (use the tcon-14b
mode on the camera).--E-20, C-3030 and E-100rs happy owner

 

[Ron Frank]

I had lots of focus problems. But I been improving I will give you
all the things I found problematic with the E-10, E-20:

1. "P" mode tends to create soft shots in indors, or with low light
Solution: Use "M" or "S" setup your aperture mode to some thing high.

The smaller apertures will give you better depth of field. But the shutter is more important. If you are shooting 1/20 at f8, then camera shake or subject movement will render that DOF worthless as the image may still be soft. Maybe you ment shutter?

2. The infrared tends to do bad focus specialy if there are bright
objects in your frame. some people dissable it (use the tcon-14b
mode on the camera).

Go to the communication menu (the one you use to connect to and upload with). There is a flower icon (or some such thing) on the left, the icon repeated once in the middle, and many icons on the right. Select the right most box and hit ok twice to disable IR. I have not found this necessary unless using a 2X converter, and shooting close distances.

3. This point is very important and probable your problem:
The E-10,E-20 always take the picture even if the subject is not
focused. every time you HALF press the shutter release the camera
focuses if you press completly the button then the camera takes the
shot even if is not in focus.

This is called focus lock, and most all autofocus cameras, from cheapo $100 PnS, to the D1x work this way. Focus...lock...recompose...shoot... That is the drill.

What this means you have to get used
to half press the button wait for the confirmation sound of focus
or the led in your viewfinder. then press the button.

4. Some other people like to zoom in focus (half press) then zoom
out and trame. I don't like that and I thend to not do that. But if
it works for you cool!.

This likely works only because people get a bigger view of the subject in the viewfinder, so it's easiers to see if the subject is in focus. The camera should be capable of focusing properly at any setting.

If this little trick helps, great! But it takes more time and you have to make sure you keep the focus locked while zooming back out.

--
E-20, C-3030 and E-100rs happy owner

 

[David M.]

"

I have experiance in other cameras other thatn point n shoot such as my nikon and canon slr that i had to manual focus"> > > >

Really??? Amazing. I'd never guess.
Try reading the manual for starters.