AF won't lock with S30

[Kal525]

i've had a powershot S30 for about a year now and one thing that i have been unable to figure out is why, at the most crucial times it seems, it won't lock onto the target when it's in auto mode. At times it will take more than 15 seconds to lock onto anything and by this time it's much too late. I'll depress the shutter release button and nothing will beep nothing will light, it will just keep trying to focus. Does anyone know if this is normal? And if it is is there anyway to force it to focus on the first thing it sees instead of letting it take its sweet ass time?

Thanks

 

[Kal525]

i've had a powershot S30 for about a year now and one thing that i
have been unable to figure out is why, at the most crucial times it
seems, it won't lock onto the target when it's in auto mode. At
times it will take more than 15 seconds to lock onto anything and
by this time it's much too late. I'll depress the shutter release
button and nothing will beep nothing will light, it will just keep
trying to focus. Does anyone know if this is normal? And if it is
is there anyway to force it to focus on the first thing it sees
instead of letting it take its sweet ass time?

Thanks

no one has had this problem?

 

[Kal525]

i've had a powershot S30 for about a year now and one thing that i
have been unable to figure out is why, at the most crucial times it
seems, it won't lock onto the target when it's in auto mode. At
times it will take more than 15 seconds to lock onto anything and
by this time it's much too late. I'll depress the shutter release
button and nothing will beep nothing will light, it will just keep
trying to focus. Does anyone know if this is normal? And if it is
is there anyway to force it to focus on the first thing it sees
instead of letting it take its sweet ass time?

Thanks

no one has had this problem?

 

[Kal525]

i've had a powershot S30 for about a year now and one thing that i
have been unable to figure out is why, at the most crucial times it
seems, it won't lock onto the target when it's in auto mode. At
times it will take more than 15 seconds to lock onto anything and
by this time it's much too late. I'll depress the shutter release
button and nothing will beep nothing will light, it will just keep
trying to focus. Does anyone know if this is normal? And if it is
is there anyway to force it to focus on the first thing it sees
instead of letting it take its sweet ass time?

Thanks

no one has had this problem?

sorry for the double post, is there a way to delete messages?

 

[Olga Johnson]

i've had a powershot S30 for about a year now and one thing that i
have been unable to figure out is why, at the most crucial times it
seems, it won't lock onto the target when it's in auto mode.

You don't mention under which circumstances you cannot get the AF to work.

AF usually requires two things to work: Light and contrast. If either one of these two is lacking, then digicams in general have a problem locking focus.

As to deleting messages off this forum: Once you post a message, you cannot delete it.

Olga

 

[Kal525]

i've had a powershot S30 for about a year now and one thing that i
have been unable to figure out is why, at the most crucial times it
seems, it won't lock onto the target when it's in auto mode.

You don't mention under which circumstances you cannot get the AF
to work.

AF usually requires two things to work: Light and contrast. If
either one of these two is lacking, then digicams in general have a
problem locking focus.

As to deleting messages off this forum: Once you post a message,
you cannot delete it.

well, to me it seems like the focus problems occur when i need it to focus most, usually when trying to focus on people, but it will happen no matter how much light there is. I will seriously sit there for 15 seconds with the shutter release pressed half way down and nothing will happen and i'll keep telling people to hold on one more scond until i finally give up because it will not focus or beep and i can't even force it to shoot by pressing the button all the way down. Either i'm doing something wrong or my camera is defective.

Olga

 

[mw_000]

I have exactly this same problem, and it has only just started happening. The people at Canon had never heard of it before, but say that it definately isn't normal.

How did you get this problem resolved? Is it still working OK?

i've had a powershot S30 for about a year now and one thing that i
have been unable to figure out is why, at the most crucial times it
seems, it won't lock onto the target when it's in auto mode. At
times it will take more than 15 seconds to lock onto anything and
by this time it's much too late. I'll depress the shutter release
button and nothing will beep nothing will light, it will just keep
trying to focus. Does anyone know if this is normal? And if it is
is there anyway to force it to focus on the first thing it sees
instead of letting it take its sweet ass time?

Thanks

 

[Michael A White]

Mine does it too. Sometimes it takes up to 10 secs to get a green square but it does lock eventually. Trying to lift and reapply shutter button agains doesn't seem to fix it...must just be a lighting/image that it is trying to lock onto.

My major annoyance is the sometime inability to focus lock when the image has low contrast. Common complaint amongst users....

How did you get this problem resolved? Is it still working OK?

i've had a powershot S30 for about a year now and one thing that i
have been unable to figure out is why, at the most crucial times it
seems, it won't lock onto the target when it's in auto mode. At
times it will take more than 15 seconds to lock onto anything and
by this time it's much too late. I'll depress the shutter release
button and nothing will beep nothing will light, it will just keep
trying to focus. Does anyone know if this is normal? And if it is
is there anyway to force it to focus on the first thing it sees
instead of letting it take its sweet ass time?

Thanks

 

[mw_000]

Mine mainly does it when I first turn the camera on (when it is cold), and also after the camera has taken several images in a row, it suddenly refuses to focus or take a picture. I have also noticed that it is worse in auto mode. It doesn't seem to make any difference to mine, when it is either in full daylight or inside, so I don't think the problem is the camera having difficulty finding something to focus on. The manager at canon wants me to return it to them to see if they can pick it up. they have had it once, but weren't able to replicate the problem, which is one of the problems with this kind of issue, as it is intermitent.

My major annoyance is the sometime inability to focus lock when the
image has low contrast. Common complaint amongst users....

How did you get this problem resolved? Is it still working OK?

i've had a powershot S30 for about a year now and one thing that i
have been unable to figure out is why, at the most crucial times it
seems, it won't lock onto the target when it's in auto mode. At
times it will take more than 15 seconds to lock onto anything and
by this time it's much too late. I'll depress the shutter release
button and nothing will beep nothing will light, it will just keep
trying to focus. Does anyone know if this is normal? And if it is
is there anyway to force it to focus on the first thing it sees
instead of letting it take its sweet ass time?

Thanks

 

[mw_000]

Probably should add that the first time I returned the camera, it had dead pixels. They were able to hook it up to their machine to remove them. They told me that before they had this machine, they actually had to replace the ccd chip in the cameras.

I am not too sure when the locking problem, and the pixel problems are interconnected, and whether something in the camera has altered. ALl I know is that this camera didn't used to have this problem with the focusing.

My major annoyance is the sometime inability to focus lock when the
image has low contrast. Common complaint amongst users....

How did you get this problem resolved? Is it still working OK?

i've had a powershot S30 for about a year now and one thing that i
have been unable to figure out is why, at the most crucial times it
seems, it won't lock onto the target when it's in auto mode. At
times it will take more than 15 seconds to lock onto anything and
by this time it's much too late. I'll depress the shutter release
button and nothing will beep nothing will light, it will just keep
trying to focus. Does anyone know if this is normal? And if it is
is there anyway to force it to focus on the first thing it sees
instead of letting it take its sweet ass time?

Thanks

 

[BSell]

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. My S40 does the same thing. Especially if it would have made the best picture!!!!

Is it all payback for not buying a 1D?????

i've had a powershot S30 for about a year now and one thing that i
have been unable to figure out is why, at the most crucial times it
seems, it won't lock onto the target when it's in auto mode. At
times it will take more than 15 seconds to lock onto anything and
by this time it's much too late. I'll depress the shutter release
button and nothing will beep nothing will light, it will just keep
trying to focus. Does anyone know if this is normal? And if it is
is there anyway to force it to focus on the first thing it sees
instead of letting it take its sweet ass time?

Thanks

 

[Digital Inquisitor]

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. My S40 does the same thing.
Especially if it would have made the best picture!!!!

Even my A70 started showing this problem. The shots were outdoors and the focus box covered the face of my subject. There should have been plenty of contrast (with all the facial features and outfoor light) but it took 3 tries before it finally locked the focus. I just hate this contrast detect focusing. There really must be a better way. Even my 10 year old Nikon P&S with an infrared autofocus can focus fast and accurately every time. I love how technology re-invents the wheel, and the wheel is now square!

 

[howard1]

i've had a powershot S30 for about a year now and one thing that i
have been unable to figure out is why, at the most crucial times it
seems, it won't lock onto the target when it's in auto mode. At
times it will take more than 15 seconds to lock onto anything and
by this time it's much too late. I'll depress the shutter release
button and nothing will beep nothing will light, it will just keep
trying to focus. Does anyone know if this is normal? And if it is
is there anyway to force it to focus on the first thing it sees
instead of letting it take its sweet ass time?

Thanks

I sometimes experience this problem with my S30, usually in low-light situations. In such cases I switch to Av mode, set a small aperture, like f4.0 or higher, and then set manual focus to the approximate distance to the subject. There is still sometimes a bit of delay when pressing the shutter due to the auto-exposure evaluation, but that is more like 1 s or less.

 

[Agent]

If you are getting this problem even in good lighting, then your camera is defective. 10 seconds is way too long. I get a focus lock with my S30 99% of the time. All you have to do is find contrast and even in darkness it will focus within 1-2 seconds.

Also, when you get a replacement S30, use P mode so you can focus on a contrast spot with the center box only.

i've had a powershot S30 for about a year now and one thing that i
have been unable to figure out is why, at the most crucial times it
seems, it won't lock onto the target when it's in auto mode. At
times it will take more than 15 seconds to lock onto anything and
by this time it's much too late. I'll depress the shutter release
button and nothing will beep nothing will light, it will just keep
trying to focus. Does anyone know if this is normal? And if it is
is there anyway to force it to focus on the first thing it sees
instead of letting it take its sweet ass time?

Thanks

--
http://www.pbase.com/agent2099

 

[mw_000]

Normally when my camera can't focus properly, it either comes up with an orange box instead of a green one, or/and the led flashes orange. This freezing problem is happening when i first turn the camera on, and it just not responding to the press of the shutter button at all for a good 10 -15 seconds. After it has taken the first image, it is fine, unless i have taken a few images, and then it sometimes has the same problem again. My camera is about a year old, and it has just recently started hapening, could be a defect in the camera to artifically shorten its lie, making us purchase a new one!?

I really do doubt they will replace it, as they will try to fix the problem by replacing something in it.

Also, when you get a replacement S30, use P mode so you can focus
on a contrast spot with the center box only.

i've had a powershot S30 for about a year now and one thing that i
have been unable to figure out is why, at the most crucial times it
seems, it won't lock onto the target when it's in auto mode. At
times it will take more than 15 seconds to lock onto anything and
by this time it's much too late. I'll depress the shutter release
button and nothing will beep nothing will light, it will just keep
trying to focus. Does anyone know if this is normal? And if it is
is there anyway to force it to focus on the first thing it sees
instead of letting it take its sweet ass time?

Thanks

--
http://www.pbase.com/agent2099