Hi, I have been having an issue with my new Olympus EM-5 and I can't seem to find an answer for it. I know this camera is really good and is suppose to be world-leading in focusing, but I don't know how to use the auto-focus mode. I like to take lots of photos of my puppies - usually in some sort of action mode. I've tried them all and still cannot get a perfectly focus shot. The manual isn't much help as I don't understand it. I've used the DIS, sports, and children mode and the result would be blurred. Even when I'm shooting a still subject, the background would be in focus and the subject wouldn't be. I've experimented with the touch-screen focusing and I'm not sure what changing size differences of the focus square is or what it does, because I can't tell. I hope I haven't wasted my money on this camera so I would greatly appreciate if someone has all the answers to my problems. Thank you in advance.

Could you possibly upload or point to a few samples so that we can see EXIF (photo information) and the scenario?

It sounds like a few possibilities -

1) Maybe you're trying to shoot mainly action shots of the puppy, and it has already left the plane of focus by the time the shutter clicks (OMD is NOT good at tracking action - but there are a few aways to overcome this for the most part)

2) Your camera is locking onto the background for some reason. Maybe your AF box is "seeing" more contrast in the background than your subject.

3) You may be too close to the puppies, or below the MFD of the lens (Minimum Focusing Distance). If you're below the MFD and trying to focus on something close, the camera is going to pick something in the background.


It's really hard to tell what exactly you're doing unless you upload a sample.


I don't think you've wasted your money - you just need to learn the camera.
Good luck! I'm sure others will help if they can.

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OM-D , G1X
P25mm, 14mm
O45mm, 12-50mm

Also don't forget to activating the face detection in camera, it's good enough to detect not only human face but sometimes also the animal face such as dog and cat. It can also detect the picture of human face.

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My Gear : EM-5, E-1, EPL-1, + Lumix 20, 14; Fujinon 55; OM 35, 135; mZD 45, 12-50, 14-42, 40-150R; ZD 35, 14-54 mkI, 40-150 mkI

I do not currently own a OM-D, hoping to pick one ups soon though.

As others have mentioned there are a lot things that may be causing your problem and I will leave it to those that own the camera to give you camera specific advice.

I will say that photographing a sporadically moving puppy is probably one the most frustrating things to shoot. 99% of my shooting is pets and I have owned a Canon 1D mk3 and Nikon D700 with all the expensive glass. Even with the "Top of the Line" gear getting good shots of moving puppies is very difficult.

I dont know what lens you are using but if you are trying it with apertures wider than f/4 it will be up to luck if you get usable shots. Unless you are using a super wide lens the Depth of Field below f/4 will be so shallow the puppy only has to move a fraction of an inch to be out of the plane of focus. If you are new to photography you will really need to focus on your technique.

Try shooting in some fairly bright light and start with f/8 and see if you start getting some more in focus shots. If you do keep practicing until you can get consistent results all the time. As your success rat goes up start shooting with wider apertures say f/5.6 as your technique improves you can continue to shoot wider and wider.

Since you chose Shibapup as your name here I am going to assume you have a Shiba Inu. If so is it the typical buff/tan and white? If it is than it is going to be a low contrast subject for the camera and make it even more difficult for the AF to focus on.

Pasting the photo for OP~~


P8190250 by Alaskan pup, on Flickr

Had the same problem. It happens when you take closeups in poor light. I was taking pictures of my cat on a rainy day and the face wouldn't show good focus. Just the roof or any sharp line.
Here is what I have done and will try to find the cat so I can test this out.You can make the auto focus squares much smaller by going to special function 2. There you can select various special functions ,including this one. They are for focusing on really small details in close ups. Consult your manual for details.