My New Canon S2 IS problem

[kcw573]

Hi, I had just bought my Canon S2 IS yesterday, I found the focus is always "focus difficult" even in outdoor or indoor. My setting is :

Explosion mode : Av or P or Auto ( all are tried)
Zoom : Max. 12X ( Tele )
distance between zoom object & len : 6 fts to 2 fts ( all are tried)

I found sometimes are in-focus, some times are "focus difficult"

Does my setting problem or my camera mal-function ??

Would anyone can help ?

Thanks

[John_Reed]

Zoom : Max. 12X ( Tele )
distance between zoom object & len : 6 fts to 2 fts ( all are tried)
It sounds like you are too close to the subject for the maximum zoom, it probably can't focus well in those conditions. Try either moving further from the subject, or reducing the zoom. To check this, start off with minimum zoom, see if you can focus there, then increase the zoom, check focusing, etc., until you hit the limit.

[Newbie]

Wouldn't turning the camera to macro sort of enable you to focus at shorter distances ?

[wall]

The S2 actually doesn't have a "tele-macro" function, but I have tried to focus on objects several feet away at full zoom. I found that, at full 12X zoom, the S2 can focus at objects as close as a meter from the lens. Of course, it should have no difficulty at over 1 meter (so you should be able to focus at 3-6 feet). The reason why you may miss at 3-6 feet may be due to the camera's wonky autofocus at full tele. It may take several half-shutter presses to get it right. I found this out while trying to take telemacro shots and, getting curious, I went online to check the specs of the S2's focal range. Apparently, at full tele, the focal range is 90 cm to infinity, which seems to confirm my experimental results.

[kcw573]

Thanks ALL. I will try again.

[Belrick]

I just got mine on thursday. Overall i love this camera but it has one issue that bugs me.
Autofocus at full zoom.

It is wonky, i really wish now that this camera had a manual focus ring :(

[John_Reed]

At full zoom? What is this, a generic problem? Haven't had such issues with any of my Panasonic FZ cameras, from FZ1, FZ10, now FZ15. Is it because you're not choosing a contrasty enough subject for focusing, by any chance?

[scatamousche]

Hi Kcw,

I just bought one of these units off of Ebay and am awaiting delivery. I was reading the specs, possibly on this web site, and noticed that it has bracketing for focus as well as exposure. Have you tried bracketing 3 shots to see if any of them are in good focus?

Scatamousche

[a3d3]

Hi Kcw,

I just bought one of these units off of Ebay and am awaiting delivery. I was reading the specs, possibly on this web site, and noticed that it has bracketing for focus as well as exposure. Have you tried bracketing 3 shots to see if any of them are in good focus?

Scatamousche

Please excuse the extreme newbie question but... what exactly is "bracketing?" The manual (S2-IS) explains how to do it but doesn't really explain what it is and why one should use it. By the way; I've noticed a little bit of difficulty with AF at full zoom as well but nothing really serious. I can generally get it tweaked in with some fiddling around with it. I started with a Canon AE-1, then went to an A-1. Both of which I loved. This is my first Canon digi-cam but I'm finding many similarities to the older cams.

anj

[St. Chris]

Please excuse the extreme newbie question but... what exactly is "bracketing?"When bracketing, the camera snaps three pictures in quick succession: One at the target setting, one set a little less, and one set a little more. Focus bracketing takes a photo at its normal focus, another focused closer, and a third focused farther. Exposure bracketing does the same sort of thing for the EV setting.

The point of bracketing is to give you the same composition with a couple of variations in focus or exposure, in case you're not sure you got it exactly right (or you just want to see how a change would affect the picture). You get to choose which shot worked best for you.

At a family reunion last summer, I noticed that the photographer was using his D60 in three-shot bursts. I asked him whether he was bracketing for focus or exposure; he said neither -- he just shot in bursts to get extra shots in case someone blinked during one. "Time bracketing," I said.


At full zoom? What is this, a generic problem? Haven't had such issues with any of my Panasonic FZ cameras, from FZ1, FZ10, now FZ15.Do you have an S2?