Focus problems with Canon Powershot SX130IS

[redfishsc]

I purchased this camera last week and right now, even with macro mode on, I can't get it to focus on anything that's more than 3" away from the camera, unless I zoom away from it... thus making the target item much smaller in the pic.



No matter what setting I have tried, the image as it appears on the LCD screen is just a complete color blur. My tank is a small tank, it's only 9" deep, and I cannot get anything resembling a closeup of zoanthids that are attached to the back glass.


The auto-focus on this camera just doesn't seem to work well. I can literally get a WAY better pic of those same zoanthids with my very old 4.0mp Nikon Coolpix 4600.


The autofocus range just seems to be extremely tight, something just doesn't seem right at all. Any ideas?


This can't be a limitation of the camera, since an ancient 4.0mp will auto-focus on the same zoa colony just fine.

 

[Misled]

Did you read the manual?? I don't know about P&S cameras, but it may very well be the camera. You say you can't focus on anything more than three inches in the macro mode. See what the manual says. Maybe 3 or 5 inches is the limit of focus of the macro mode. There may be a different setting for what you are shooting. Can you manually focus the camera? If so try that. If you still can't, then it's the limitations of the camera

 

[Reef Bass]

What ^^^^^ he said!!!

 

[Misled]

Nice!!!

 

[redfishsc]

Misled, yes of course I read the manual (from the disk included).


I actually called Canon. He agreed with me that the Macro mode on the Nikon Coolpix 4.0mp I had was actually a better macro mode than this Canon Powershot since he actually owned that same Nikon camera (luck of the draw, an honest rep who actually had the same thing I did).

The problem isn't the camera, so to speak (ie, no defect) it's just that I'm less able to just shoot a pic and upload it. I have to pan out a little (ie, get a wider angle) until it comes into focus, and then shoot the pic, and then crop the pic around the target item.


My old Nikon was way more forgiving there--- I was able to take way more macro pics without having to crop them than I can with the Powershot, but what I'm learning is that the immensity of the Powershot's pictures allow me to still get nice, large shot as long as I crop them.


I've now used the Powershot a lot, for reef and non-reef stuff and..... my favorite part is the enormous zoom, so I can deal with the "not as improved as I'd like" status of the reef pics. This is a family camera mostly.

 

[redfishsc]

Here are a few pics (reef and non-reef) I've taken with the camera. I'm fine with it.

Most taken with the camera set to manual focus, using the zoom window (ie magnifying window) to focus on the item being photographed. Just takes some getting used to and some cropping.

They aren't as sharp as I'd like them to be but that's a hand-movement issue, solved with a tripod, which I don't have right now, so I think I'm good

Monster truck for my son's Christmas present, made from white oak.

 

[redfishsc]

Here are a few pics (reef and non-reef) I've taken with the camera. I'm fine with it.

Most taken with the camera set to manual focus, using the zoom window (ie magnifying window) to focus on the item being photographed. Just takes some getting used to and some cropping.

They aren't as sharp as I'd like them to be but that's a hand-movement issue, solved with a tripod, which I don't have right now, so I think I'm good

Monster truck for my son's Christmas present, made from white oak.

 

[Misled]

Somewhere in the manual, it should tell you the minimum focusing distances. You may have to be say 1 foot from what you're shooting. If that's the case, stay a foot away and zoom the camera as close as you can. That's why I asked about reading the manual. That information should be there.

 

[Reef Bass]

Yes, this very much sounds like a difference in minimum focus distance between the cameras.

Probably the number one cause of out of focus closeups is that the camera is too close to the subject for the camera to focus properly. Miminum focus distances of 12-18 inches are common. In general, with close shots, if the camera can't focus, back up and try again.

 

[redfishsc]

So far my favorite strategy is using the manual focus, which opens up a zoomed-in window in the center of the shot. This gets me in the right ballpark for the corals. Fish are trickier, very hard to use the manual focus (they move too fast) and the autofocus the camera always wants to autofocus on a plant, rock, or coral instead. But that's an issue with any camera.


My next upgrade will just be a tripod.

 

[redfishsc]

Getting better, thanks everyone. I just have to back the zoom up for a wider angle shot, and fiddle with the manual focus (thankful they put a zoom window on the camera's monitor to help sneak up on a crisp pic).

Here's one of the best ones (for focus) I've gotten yet. This is a Monti undata (that has gone from yellow, to lavender/purple, to brown, to green, I have no idea what color it's supposed to be). It's about the size of a grape, mounted to a LR that's mostly old acro skeleton.