feel incredibly stupid asking this...

[Andrea K]

...but im going to ask it anyway

well, i have a canon g5 and the only way to truly see what im taking a picture of is to look at the back lcd screen. maybe it's me but when i look at the back i find it incredibly difficult to see whether a picture is in focus or not, and most of the time when i look at the pictures on my computer at full size they are "blurred to the max" even though on the lcd screen they looked like they were in focus

i was wondering if there is anything im doing wrong, or if i should just keep guessing if something is in focus, or just go to the eye doctor to get an eye examine

thanks (forgive me i m still a noob 8) )

 

[Nytmair]

let's see.... are you taking the pics at night or in a dark place without a flash or tripod? is in manual focus mode?

 

[Andrea K]

let's see.... are you taking the pics at night or in a dark place without a flash or tripod? is in manual focus mode?

well i dont take many nighttime photos, and a lot of my photos are indoors with flash, would that make a difference? but like its not even that the whole picture is out of focus. mainly just the subject is out of focus and the background is focused :evil: even though the subject looks focused on the screen

maybe i should just start taking pictures where the background is the subject

 

[lazarus219]

sounds like your focus point is set wrong but play around with manual focus- LCD is pretty useless for focusing manually but i usually just go a little further than i would think just to make sure

 

[ferny]

I have no knowledge of the camera, so remember that when you read this.

If the background is in focus and the subject not that, to me, only gives two reasons. Either you have told the camera to focus on one of the corners of the screen rather than the centre (can you do that with this camera?). Or you are too close to the subject. If you're too close for the camera to focus, move back or, if the camera isn't already in it, put it into macro mode.

And don't feel stupid. You'd be stupid if you carried on without asking.

 

[Mitica100]

Ferny is right. When shooting the subject in the middle of the frame it will come out in focus. If the subject is not in the middle (where the little focusing square/circle is) then the subject will be out of focus. Try to place the subject in the middle, depress shutter half way down until focus locks on the subject, then recompose while holding the sutter half way down. Push shutter all the way down now and you should have the subject well in focus with a blurry background, instead of the reverse.

 

[Andrea K]

hmm i know that the box thing has to be over the subject, and that is what i do, except it still is all blurred perhaps i just need more practice...

argh...every picture :evil:

 

[ferny]

Now I know you're too close. Either put it in macro mode or take a few steps back. Then it should be fine.

 

[Jeff Canes]

Most cameras’ auto focus works on contacting colors so I the case of your cat focus on the cat eye and hose.

 

[Aoide]

I agree with Ferny. I think you are too close. I have an Canon S45 and it gets a little cranky sometimes when I try to take shots like this. But I'm also a beginner, so I'm still learning.

When you have some time, one thing I would suggest is to take pictures at a bunch of different settings with the camera. You will start to get a feel for what your camera will do in certain situtations.

I had the same experience as you did. I would get home and be frustrated that the picture I thought I had didn't come out. I decided not to totally rely on the LCD and take several shots of the subject sometimes changing the settings. I'm much more likely to get the shot I want now. I don't stop at one.

By the way, the expression on your cat's face looks kind of like the one that my cat gives me when I approach with the camera. :camera: I don't think she's totally enamored of this new found passion of mine. :LOL:

 

[John Orrell]

looking at the cat's perspective, I too would say that you got in too close with too wideangle a setting, and hence the camera couldn't focus (pretty much what everyone else has said). Solution = move further back and zoom in a bit.

 

[ferny]

The longer her focal length the further away she'll have to be. Zooming in will make the problem worse. Zooming out will help.

 

[Andrea K]

thanks for the advice, ill try to move back a bit or jsut put it in macro

thanks again

 

[John Orrell]

The longer her focal length the further away she'll have to be. Zooming in will make the problem worse. Zooming out will help.

I'm missing your logic there ferny, please explain? If she moves further back, so that she's well within the camera's focus-distance, THEN zooms in so the subject is filling the finder/LCD screen, how will that make the problem worse? For example, the closest focussing-distance on my SLR's 28-70mm zoom lens is 45cm, and at 28mm that's not close enough for the average adult's head to completely fill the frame. But further back at it's 70mm setting, I can fill the frame quite easily?

 

[ferny]

I thought you were saying she was too close false stop and telling here to step back then zoom back in. What I was saying was that if she zooms in she'll have to be further back than if she was at the wide angle setting. I wasn't even covering the perspective of the cat. Just the focusing distance.
She could just crop the picture as well. :mrgreen:

Your lens only focuses at 45cm at 28mm? That seems odd to me. I would have expected it to be half that. I'll have to check my lenses.