DC1000 Macro question

[sabbath999]

Brett, is this reproducible on land when the camera is not in the case?

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

Here is a sample pic of what I'm talking about. It looks to me like the autofocus is acting up.

So from your other post, you are saying this picture was taken in macro mode? If that is what you are saying, it is way to distant to be in macro mode

sabbeth has a good point. Is this reproducible on land?

 

[Brett1971]

I've not tried recreating it out of the case, but I have setup some experiments out of the water while still in the case. I put the camera in macro mode, set it up about 3 inches from a small bottle and was unable to get it to focus on the bottle. I was hoping to be able to read the print on the bottle but the bottle itself (much less the print) would not come into focus. I tried various flash and ambient lighting positions as I've noticed the autofocus acts differently under diff lighting conditions.

CoolTech,
Not arguing, but the instructions for this camera say that macro mode is good for anything between 2 inches and 3 feet. I was definitely within 3 feet. I've got a few other examples that I'll try to post.

 

[sabbath999]

I tried various flash and ambient lighting positions as I've noticed the autofocus acts differently under diff lighting conditions.

That is because the DC1000 (like most point & shoot cameras) uses a contrast measurement autofocus system. Basically, the camera looks to achieve the most contrast in density between pixels that are next to each other... the more contrast, the more in focus the image is.

That's why when the light is dimmer, it takes longer to focus and focus is less accurate.

 

[merxlin]

I hope you don't mind me asking, but would changing to spot focus for macro help (if it's not already set there)?

 

[Brett1971]

It's actually set to spot focus now.

I'm sure it's just a matter of learning the camera, I've only had it on 10 dives so far. I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. I understand it's not a high-end DSLR but I would've thought I could get closer macro shots that I seem to be able to. I actually got better pix with my old DC210 using the macro lenses!

I'm going to Bonaire next month so I'll have a week of diving to experiment with the camera. Any other general suggestions? Manual mode, change the ISO settings, etc. ? It would probably help if I had a better understanding of what the capabilities/limitations of this camera are. Hopefully I'll have some decent pictures to post when I get back. Thanks for all the replies so far!

Brett

 

[Brett1971]

Here's an example of when the planets align correctly for me.

It seems that when shooting in macro mode I get 5+ out of focus pix for every 1 decent one.

I guess maybe I'm expecting too much from my limited abilities.....erv:

 

[dwhthediver]

Thanks for asking this question, I am having the same issue, have been resolving by backing off to about 1' possible software issue?