E-330 focusing issues

[AbyssalPlains]

Hi all,

Just got back from Kauai, and while I did get some nice shots of turtles and macro life, I missed a bunch of opportunities because my E-330 would not focus sometimes. Ambient light shouldn't have been the issue, as the viz was great and I was pretty shallow. Tried to take a silhouette shot of a turtle from below and the darn focus would not get it in focus. Frustrating because the conditions were anything but difficult. I had the cam set to Continuous focus and was using a dome port. Also, when I used a wet lens on a flat port, I ran into focus issues a lot more than I had hoped. Any similar experiences or suggestions?

 

[ce4jesus]

I have the E-410 and the first thing I did was disable the multi-point autofocus system. I set it to center point focusing. The obvious issue is when you're focusing out into the blue (zero contrast except for a small subject) the multi point focus systems get a little confused. If I have it on center focus, I can hit the subject, focus and bam it takes the photo fairly quick. The only issue I've had with this method is the occasional time I want to not make the subject the center of the photo. In these cases I pre-focus on the subject, compose the shot and shoot So far, so good I haven't had too many OOF shots.

 

[AbyssalPlains]

Hmm, thanks for your input. However, I was shooting in Center AF mode, and it still had the aforementioned issues.

 

[RTRski]

pterandon: do you have the AF assist on perhaps, so it's perhaps trying to flicker the onboard flash to get better contrast for focusing? Using liveview vs. viewfinder, with perhaps the viewfinder port still open, so it was getting some light leakage (especially on the one you were looking up, maybe reflecting off your mask)?

I'm not sure I'd set it up for continuous - I'd probably go for the half-press AF on demand method, like ce4 describes. But I can't think off the top of my head of a reason that selection would have mattered, aside from using all 3 focus zones which you already said you didn't do...

These are just wild guesses - I still haven't been able to dunk my E330 (but did just get a backup body from ebay - hope I didn't buy gus's out-of-focus underwater unit).

 

[gus055]

I like shooting with my ( out-of-focus E-330 ) when I just want to take distorted blured photo's.

I would not sell it ,it might be a collector's camera someday. HA HA

 

[ce4jesus]

Hmm, thanks for your input. However, I was shooting in Center AF mode, and it still had the aforementioned issues.

I'm sorry for the SWAG. Maybe someone who owns the camera can help more than the last post. I know folks on some photo boards who love the camera. How about your metering?

 

[AbyssalPlains]

I'm sorry for the SWAG. Maybe someone who owns the camera can help more than the last post. I know folks on some photo boards who love the camera. How about your metering?

Not to worry, I appreciate any kind of tips.

Metering is on either spot or center-weighted, I believe. But that wouldn't influence the focusing, or would it?

What is SWAG?

 

[jlyle]

SWAG = "scientific, wild-a$$ guess"

Technical jargon! LOL

As you know, I shoot an E-330, too. Sometimes, the camera just can't find enough contrast to lock on the AF. A focus light helps with close subjects, even in tropical water.

One thought, have you checked to see if you have the latest firmware version for both the camera and the lenses?

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

Hi all,

Just got back from Kauai, and while I did get some nice shots of turtles and macro life, I missed a bunch of opportunities because my E-330 would not focus sometimes. Ambient light shouldn't have been the issue, as the viz was great and I was pretty shallow. Tried to take a silhouette shot of a turtle from below and the darn focus would not get it in focus. Frustrating because the conditions were anything but difficult. I had the cam set to Continuous focus and was using a dome port. Also, when I used a wet lens on a flat port, I ran into focus issues a lot more than I had hoped. Any similar experiences or suggestions?

I had similar isssues, even more so with the 50mm macro. with the 8" dome port, the only time I really have trouble focusing is up very close, say withen 12" of the camera lens, using the 14-54mm lens in a 8" done port.

I bought a Nocturnal lights focusing light and put it on a 4" arm, and now I have no issuses what so ever focusing , you can see them here :

underwater focus lights for underwater photography, photographs, photos, improve your underwater images, fits on most housings.

The only time when i do now, using the 14-54mm lens in a 8" dome focusing is when I'm shooting a subject with no background, it seems to want to focus to infinity.

I use center metering , that seemed to work the best for me.

As for always takign blurry pics, as one person posted, If you buya DSLR, and expect to use it as a point and shoot, and don't even know how to set up the camera in basic point and shoot settings, yes, I'm sure every shot will be a blur.

I can say, I have about 300 clicks on my camera over the past 5 months owning it, and coming froma Olympus C-5050, to a C-5060, C-8080, and now the E-330, I love this camera. The pictures it takes are un-belivable, and somtime I cant belive Ive taken that shot.

It amazes me everytime I use the camera, and I have alot to learn yet also.

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

One more pic