Focus Problem

[bookloveraz]

I was trying to take a picture of this bird the other day, but each time the camera would focus on the bush... I tried everything I could think of, but now I think that maybe I should've tried MF. What would you've done? Here's an example of what I got:

[karen_s]

I don't know your camera but here are a few things to look at ...

1. See if your camera has multiple focus points that can be selected. If it does, try the single spot focus with one point rather than multiple points. Factory defaults are sometimes set to multiple.

2. See if your camera has "focus lock". I never use it myself but it can come in handy and might work for a shot like this.

3. Check your cameras focus option settings. I am wondering if it might be set to a "continuous" focus mode rather than single. This makes it hard to focus and recompose because every time you shift directions, the camera refocuses. It's great for moving things like athletes and birds in flight but not so needed for things that don't move or when using the 'focus/recompose' method.

If none of this is helpful, I have at least bumped your thread

[inkista]

Set the AF frame (pg. 75 of you manual). Then, you can do the half-press to get AF confirmation (the frame lighting up green), and then take the shot.

You could also change from continuous to one-shot, but I'm not sure that'll make a huge amount of difference.

You could also try using focus bracketing.

Manual focusing might work, but typically on a Canon Powershot, I've never had much success with it--particularly on something that's liable to move at any moment.

If you have enough light, you could also try using a smaller aperture (bigger f-number) to increase your depth of field so everything's in focus.

[Cathrine]

It looks like it's the metering to me--spot, evaluative, partial, etc... I use spot and make sure that my lil red dot is on my subject then press the shutter. I also read that if it's on evaluative, it will focus on the area that has the most contrast rather than the subject you want to focus on.

[inkista]

Uh, guys, you might want to note that the OP is shooting with a Powershot S1 IS--it's a bridgecam, not a dSLR.

[bookloveraz]

Thanks everyone for your help. I'll try it again next time I get a chance I'll if it works I'll post the shot in SYS. :-)