E-PL1 C-AF in Scene Mode

jbone_p · Jun 30, 2010

I'm having a problem autofocussing using Sport and Beach Scene Mode. The lens just seems to keep searching and never stops moving. I have tried to change the AF mode to S-AF but there doesn't seem to be a way to do that in Scene Mode. Is my camera defective? This happens on the kit lens as well as the 17mm Oly lens. Any suggestions would be very helpful.

jbone_p · Jul 14, 2010

Apparently I'm the only one experiencing this problem. Can anybody suggest what to do next? I purchased the camera on-line at B and H. Should I call them or Olympus directly?

PeterB666 · Jul 14, 2010

I don't know about the Beach mode but I was using a E-PL1 today and on the sport mode is changes it to C-AF. If you want to use S-AF, stay out of the Scene modes and use Shutter Priority, and if necessary, up the ISO to say 400 to ensure you have a moderately fast shutter speed.

Generally, the Scene modes will make all the selections for you according to the option you have selected and prevent you from over-riding the camera's choices.

photo owl · Jul 14, 2010

as Peter points out, the scene modes will fix settings (different modes fix different things).

if you know better then stay out of these modes.

c-af performance will be dependent on a number of factors, not least of which will be the relative size of the focus target, and your ability to match it to the AF zone and your shooting. personally I wouldn't even try with a CDAF system - it's accepted that this is their (relative) weakness.

finally, I would very much doubt that your experience is an indication of a camera unit fault

jbone_p · Jul 14, 2010

PeterB666 said: ↑

I don't know about the Beach mode but I was using a E-PL1 today and on the sport mode is changes it to C-AF. If you want to use S-AF, stay out of the Scene modes and use Shutter Priority, and if necessary, up the ISO to say 400 to ensure you have a moderately fast shutter speed.

Generally, the Scene modes will make all the selections for you according to the option you have selected and prevent you from over-riding the camera's choices.
Click to expand...

Actually I don't necessarily want to use S-AF while in Scene mode. I had thought that maybe C-AF was causing the problem of the lens continuously moving (even after autofocus lock has beeped). For the time being I have been staying out of Scene Mode. Unfortunately I'm new to photography and having come straight from a Point and Shoot, the Scene Modes really were quite appealing.

Brian Mosley · Jul 14, 2010

Hi jbone - C-AF is a bit disconcerting with contrast detect auto focus (CDAF) mode... as above, switch to shutter priority, Auto ISO and keep your shutter speed fast enough to capture the action.

Cheers, and welcome to the forum

Brian

PeterB666 · Jul 14, 2010

jbone_p said: ↑

Actually I don't necessarily want to use S-AF while in Scene mode. I had thought that maybe C-AF was causing the problem of the lens continuously moving (even after autofocus lock has beeped). For the time being I have been staying out of Scene Mode. Unfortunately I'm new to photography and having come straight from a Point and Shoot, the Scene Modes really were quite appealing.
Click to expand...

Autofocus doesn't really lock in CAF mode, it is continuously (sort of) testing focus.

jbone_p · Jul 14, 2010

I want to thank everyone for taking the time to read my thread and posting very helpful suggestions. From what has been posted it seems like the consensus is that this behavior is normal with C-AF. Too me is just seems like there is no way that this is the expected behavior of the camera. Let me try to explain my problem a little better. Please bear with me.

Using Beach or Sport Scene Mode (C-AF) I press half-way down on the shutter button to focus. The picture comes into focus for a split second and beeps. The lens keeps hunting. Now the picture is out of focus. The lens keeps hunting. Now the picture is back in focus and beeps. Then out of focus. Then in focus. Over and over again. When I push all the way down on the shutter button it snaps my picture. The picture is usually out of focus I'm guessing because the lens keeps moving and the picture keeps going in and out of focus. It seems there is no way to get an in focus picture using Beach of Sport Scene Mode. I just don't think that any camera manufacturer would design the preset scenes to function that way.

et100 · Jul 14, 2010

Somewhere in the menu there is the "Release Priority C" setting. I believe if you set it to OFF the camera will only snap the picture when in focus. I havent tried this myself as i dont use CAF that much but do check this setting. Having it set to ON would allow taking pictures in CAF mode even while Not in focus.
There is a similar setting for S-mode should you want to change.

jbone_p · Jul 15, 2010

et100 said: ↑

Somewhere in the menu there is the "Release Priority C" setting. I believe if you set it to OFF the camera will only snap the picture when in focus. I havent tried this myself as i dont use CAF that much but do check this setting. Having it set to ON would allow taking pictures in CAF mode even while Not in focus.
There is a similar setting for S-mode should you want to change.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much. That makes a lot of sense. Thanks to everyone that contributed to helping me understand what was going on.

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