Autofocus problem on S304

[Peter Surette]

Hi,

I started using my Minolta S304 two days ago and I notice that the autofocus feature seems to be a problem.

Although I am an amateur photographer I am quite experienced in taking pictures. I am aware that the camera must be held stationary in order to obtain the best focus. I find that the autofocus system on my Minolta is a hit or miss proposition and it seems to be mostly miis in the focus department.
If anyone has a suggestion for me to get better results please pass it along.

 

[Chas74624]

Hi,

I started using my Minolta S304 two days ago and I notice that the
autofocus feature seems to be a problem.
Although I am an amateur photographer I am quite experienced in
taking pictures. I am aware that the camera must be held stationary
in order to obtain the best focus. I find that the autofocus system
on my Minolta is a hit or miss proposition and it seems to be
mostly miis in the focus department.
If anyone has a suggestion for me to get better results please pass
it along.

It would be helpful if you could provide some examples - pictures you took.

 

[Don Winters]

Peter -- I just got the S304 for Christmas and I have had the same auto focus problem. Many of my photos have been totally out of focus. I'll have to figure out how to post photos on here and I will put up an example or two.

Hi,

I started using my Minolta S304 two days ago and I notice that the
autofocus feature seems to be a problem.

 

[Andre40906]

Try switch from "wide focus area" to "spot focus area" under manual mode. In my case this action resolved the problem, except in very low light situations when autofocus does not work at all
Andre.

Hi,

I started using my Minolta S304 two days ago and I notice that the
autofocus feature seems to be a problem.
Although I am an amateur photographer I am quite experienced in
taking pictures. I am aware that the camera must be held stationary
in order to obtain the best focus. I find that the autofocus system
on my Minolta is a hit or miss proposition and it seems to be
mostly miis in the focus department.
If anyone has a suggestion for me to get better results please pass
it along.

 

[Andre40906]

You can upload your pictures going to "Forums" and than to "Samples and Galleries". If you do that, please, let us know.
Happy new year for all!
Andre.

Hi,

I started using my Minolta S304 two days ago and I notice that the
autofocus feature seems to be a problem.

 

[TimH]

Andre - Once in 'Samples and Galleries' what do you do next to post a picture? I have tried 'drag-and-drop' and 'cut-and-paste' to no avail.

Thanks!

Hi,

I started using my Minolta S304 two days ago and I notice that the
autofocus feature seems to be a problem.

 

[Javier I. Girado]

I wish I paid more attention at what dpreview said about the S304.

I bought my S304 a couple of month ago and unfortunately the auto-focus has been a problem ever since that day. On average I'd say 10-20% of the time. I hate to say, but it miss either when I take a picture of a person with a nice colorful background in a sunny day (high contrast) and the camera tells me that the focus is locked (non-blinking green light). I have examples if you want.

A very few times when I take a series of pictures (three in row for example) of the same view, ALL of them come out of focus. Strange.

But last week I went to NY and around 50% of the pictures come out of focus. In some of them I couldn't get a lock on focus (blinking green) so is OK to come out of focus. The day was cloudy but bright anyway and pictures were from people and buildings. I can only think in that the cold temperature (20F) affect the camera more in some way and make it miss focus more than before. Indoors (warm temperature) the camera began to work with the usual 10-20% miss of focus.

I know that Minolta will continue to pay attention to its top of the line DiMage 7 and releasing new firmware but I wish once in a while pay attention to its little brother and upgrade its firmware to fix this 'cause beside this problem I'm happy with my S304. Talking about stupid loyalty!

Hi,

I started using my Minolta S304 two days ago and I notice that the
autofocus feature seems to be a problem.
Although I am an amateur photographer I am quite experienced in
taking pictures. I am aware that the camera must be held stationary
in order to obtain the best focus. I find that the autofocus system
on my Minolta is a hit or miss proposition and it seems to be
mostly miis in the focus department.
If anyone has a suggestion for me to get better results please pass
it along.

--Javier I. Girado / UIC / EVLe-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

 

[Javier I. Girado]

Try switch from "wide focus area" to "spot focus area" under manual
mode. In my case this action resolved the problem, except in very
low light situations when autofocus does not work at all
Andre.

I'll tried that too, but still miss the focus sometimes even in high-contrast situations.
Javier

Hi,

I started using my Minolta S304 two days ago and I notice that the
autofocus feature seems to be a problem.
Although I am an amateur photographer I am quite experienced in
taking pictures. I am aware that the camera must be held stationary
in order to obtain the best focus. I find that the autofocus system
on my Minolta is a hit or miss proposition and it seems to be
mostly miis in the focus department.
If anyone has a suggestion for me to get better results please pass
it along.

--Javier I. Girado / UIC / EVLe-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

 

[royc]

Javier,

I also came across same problem with you, I already took this for service where they changed the autofocus circuit board and now work fine. They told me that they didn't find any focusing problem.

Before, I always miss the focus especially in indoor with light bulb lighting enviroment but perfectly work fine in outdoor area. I also asked service in HK whether it can be upgraded firmware like D7 but they said no so I decide take this for repair/fully check before end of warranty.

Roy

But last week I went to NY and around 50% of the pictures come out
of focus. In some of them I couldn't get a lock on focus (blinking
green) so is OK to come out of focus. The day was cloudy but bright
anyway and pictures were from people and buildings. I can only
think in that the cold temperature (20F) affect the camera more in
some way and make it miss focus more than before. Indoors (warm
temperature) the camera began to work with the usual 10-20% miss of
focus.

I know that Minolta will continue to pay attention to its top of
the line DiMage 7 and releasing new firmware but I wish once in a
while pay attention to its little brother and upgrade its firmware
to fix this 'cause beside this problem I'm happy with my S304.
Talking about stupid loyalty!

Hi,

I started using my Minolta S304 two days ago and I notice that the
autofocus feature seems to be a problem.
Although I am an amateur photographer I am quite experienced in
taking pictures. I am aware that the camera must be held stationary
in order to obtain the best focus. I find that the autofocus system
on my Minolta is a hit or miss proposition and it seems to be
mostly miis in the focus department.
If anyone has a suggestion for me to get better results please pass
it along.

--
Javier I. Girado / UIC / EVL
e-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

 

[Javier I. Girado]

Javier,

I also came across same problem with you, I already took this for
service where they changed the autofocus circuit board and now work
fine. They told me that they didn't find any focusing problem.

Sorry for my late answer, I don't check often the forum 'cause I thought

that Minolta won't bpother fixing this problem (autofocus) in its little brother.

Thanks a lot. I didn't know that I can send it to Minolta and they can actually fix it. I'll try to find the Minolta representative here in USA (Chicago).

Before, I always miss the focus especially in indoor with light
bulb lighting enviroment but perfectly work fine in outdoor area.

I miss focus indoor and outdoor either as I pointed out in my mail.

I
also asked service in HK whether it can be upgraded firmware like
D7 but they said no so I decide take this for repair/fully check
before end of warranty.

Thanks. I'll do the same before mine expire. I realy appreciate your response.
--Javier I. Girado / UIC / EVLe-mail: [email protected] [email protected]