Autofocus

The AF Indicator

When the mode dial is turned to position A-REC, the camera is in the program and autofocus mode. To activate autofocus, point the camera to your subject and press the shutter release button halfway down, if the AF indicator on the back panel of the lens unit turns on, the camera has been successfully focused on your subject; otherwise, the AF indicator blinks, which means the camera fails to focus on your subject.

Viewfinder, Auto-Focus (AF) indicator and flash indicator

In the AUTO mode, the flash indicator turns on if it will fire when the shutter release is tripped. Click here to learn more about the AUTO mode of the built-in flash.

Viewfinder and LCD Monitor

There are two ways of composing your photograph. The first one is through the use of the viewfinder (see photo above), which is in the back side of the lens unit. In this case, you should make sure the subject you want the sharpest is in the focus bracket [ ]. Or, you can use the LCD monitor. If the LCD monitor displays nothing, keep pressing the MONITOR button until an image appears. If the LCD monitor still displays nothing after pressing the MONITOR button several times, it is likely that the batteries have run out of power. So, check batteries and use a new set if necessary.

Close-Up

The default autofocus mode does not work very well when your subject is closer than one foot. If the distance between the camera and your subject is less than one foot, the AF indicator blinks, indicating an autofocusing problem. If this happens, you should consider to use the close-up mode. Click here to see the details.

Distant Subjects

Sometime, the AF indicators also blinks when you are taking a distant scenic view. If this happens, you should use the infinity mode. Click here to see the details.

Focus Lock

In some situations, it is difficult to focus correctly for your composition. For example, you want to take a photograph of your friend who is in front a big building (e.g., the Notre Dame). If you focus on the building, the building becomes the sharpest part of your photograph and your friend could be out-of-focus. On the other hand, if you focus on your friend, your friend will be sharply focused; but the building could be a little blur. If this does happen, you should pick the subject you want to sharply focus. Then, follow the procedure below:

Point the camera to your main subject
Press the shutter release button halfway down and make sure the AF indicator turns on. Please still hold the shutter release button. The focus is locked.
Now recompose your photograph, and press the shutter release button all the way down to take the photograph.

The following photographs have two small subjects. It is difficult to take a photograph with both subjects sharply focused. If the far subject is the main one, we can focus on it by pressing and holding the shutter release button halfway down, recomposing, and pressing the shutter release button all the way down to take a photograph. The result is the left photograph. It is clear that the near subject is not focused. The right one shows the result of choosing the near one as the main subject. In this case, the far subject is not in focus.


Far main subject	Near main subject
Click on the picture to see a full size one

Difficult-to-Focus Subjects

Autofocus cameras usually fails if you aim them at the following subjects:

Low-contrast subjects such as the blue sky, highly reflective surfaces like shiny cars or water, and single-color wall.
Subjects with continuous and repeated patterns.
Both near and far subjects are at the same time within the autofocus bracket.
Strongly backlit subjects or those having a bright shiny background.

If the camera fails to focus, the focus lock feature might overcome this situation. First, find a reference subject which is at about the same distance to the camera as your main subject; second, focus on this reference subject and lock the focus (i.e., press the shutter release button halfway down and hold it there); and third, recompose your photograph and press the shutter release button all the way down to take a photograph.

Viewfinder vs. LCD Monitor: A Few Notes

Both viewfinder and LCD monitor can be used for focus and composition. Which one is better? Here are a few important notes:

The LCD monitor consumes more battery power. Moreover, when the LCD monitor is on, autofocus is always on and continues to focus. You can hear the noise generated from the focusing motor inside the lens unit. Although the LCD monitor is shot-down if it is not being used for a while, both the LCD monitor and the focusing motor can consume too much battery power. Therefore, either turn off the LCD monitor (i.e., press the MONITOR a few times until the LCD monitor displays nothing), or turn off the camera when it is not being used.
Both the viewfinder and the LCD monitor do not provide you with the "what you see is what you get" result. The image area is actually larger than what you see on the viewfinder and the LCD monitor. The LCD monitor shows about 95% of the actual image, while the viewfinder only shows 85%. In terms of viewing area, the LCD monitor is definitely more accurate. Moreover, the viewfinder and LCD monitor do not show the same area! Both are slightly offset in opposite directions relative to the actual image.
You have difficulty to see the LCD monitor under bright sun light. The image is almost washed out. The Hoodman LCD monitor hood could be very useful to remedy part of this problem. On the other hand, you can always use the viewfinder. Is this an advantage of using the viewfinder? Not really. When you use the wide angle converter or the tele converter, half of the viewing area in the viewfinder is blocked.