Jaycen2001
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in murky water it seems like my 770 focuses on the murky part and I cant get pictures of things because its so zoomed in. how Do I fix this problem. im missing some cool pictures and im very camera dumb......
Oly 770SW zooming problem
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It's not you. Zooming can be problematic when you have particles in the water. The camera, many cameras and lenses, not just yours, really wants to grab those particles!
I find my SW series Oly, and those of my friends, is a little worse at this than some other models, and they also just don't really give crisp images when the zoom is used.
The best way to get the best images possible, pretty much with any system, is to use your fins to zoom and forget about using the zoom on your camera as much as possible. The zoom on the camera not only makes your subject bigger, but all the muck in between bigger, too.
Get closer
I find my SW series Oly, and those of my friends, is a little worse at this than some other models, and they also just don't really give crisp images when the zoom is used.
The best way to get the best images possible, pretty much with any system, is to use your fins to zoom and forget about using the zoom on your camera as much as possible. The zoom on the camera not only makes your subject bigger, but all the muck in between bigger, too.
Get closer
OP
Jaycen2001
Registered
im sorry, i meant the Focus, i am zoomed all the way out at subjects about a foot away and such, using underwater snapshot and/or the underwater macro setting and it still is trying to zoom on the stuff in between that. and its not really that much "stuff" between it.
Is there anyway to manually focus this camera? and not let it auto focus?
Is there anyway to manually focus this camera? and not let it auto focus?
One of the things I don't like about this series is the funky and really mediocre focusing.
It is an expensive solution but a wide angle lens has much greater depth of field reducing the need for critical focus. With the Inon 165 FE the depth of field extendss from the surface of the dome to infinity and thus focus is not an issue anymore. The 105AD does not have a much depth of field but it is still significant. I have had no focus issues with mine.
There is the method of using a half press on the shutter to lock exposure and focus. The camera also allows selection of either SPOT focus or "intelligent" evaluative focus. I would give the spot focus mode a try if I were you.
It always helps to read the manuals that came with your camera. There you will find info on the focus modes and other means of manually focusing you camera if only indirectly by using a half press. Again, give the spot focus a try.
Edit to add one thing, don't "zoom" you lens undewater. Leave it at the normal wide setting. The lens will have greater depth of field and will be faster and focus will be less critical. "Zoom" is the most over used feature of camers in general, the photo equivilent of the over used word "awesome," just get closer if you feel the need to zoom, leave the lens wide. This reduces the amount of water (or atmospehere) between your lens and the subject. The closer the better, that is why wide angle lenses are superb for underwater photos, they allow you to get very close and still preserve a decent field of view.
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There is the method of using a half press on the shutter to lock exposure and focus. The camera also allows selection of either SPOT focus or "intelligent" evaluative focus. I would give the spot focus mode a try if I were you.
It always helps to read the manuals that came with your camera. There you will find info on the focus modes and other means of manually focusing you camera if only indirectly by using a half press. Again, give the spot focus a try.
Edit to add one thing, don't "zoom" you lens undewater. Leave it at the normal wide setting. The lens will have greater depth of field and will be faster and focus will be less critical. "Zoom" is the most over used feature of camers in general, the photo equivilent of the over used word "awesome," just get closer if you feel the need to zoom, leave the lens wide. This reduces the amount of water (or atmospehere) between your lens and the subject. The closer the better, that is why wide angle lenses are superb for underwater photos, they allow you to get very close and still preserve a decent field of view.
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OP
Jaycen2001
Registered
pfffffttt......manuals??? who needs those things.....
I do have it zoomed all the way out. im only a foot away from my subject usually and it still tries to focus on the partials in the water between that.
I do have it zoomed all the way out. im only a foot away from my subject usually and it still tries to focus on the partials in the water between that.
Well, sorry, I guess you will have to get a different camera. Good luck, hope it works out for you.
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Jaycen -
Have you tried using an aiming light? If the particles in the water have more contrast than your subject does, the camera will try to focus on them as contrast is what the focus looks for. Hitting your subject with some extra light should force the camera to focus there instead.
When you say you are "zoomed out" you mean that you have your camera at the widest possible lens, right? So you're seeing a bigger scene, not a close up or tight view?
Also, you may be too close to what you are trying to get a focus lock on. Every camera has a minimum focus distance and this changes with the use of the zoom. It's worth it to do a few tests on land to get a feel for exactly where you need to be to get a focus lock at various zoom settings.
Unfortunately, one of the big drawbacks with this series is the focus. Even on a bright sunny day with an excellent contrasty subject on land, mine misses as often as not. It's very frustrating and the more I use mine, the less I actually like it.
BUT - I do like the form factor and I do like that it doesn't matter if it goes in the drink or gets knocked into the sand. So I keep using it on the beach and with the dogs. I also take it out on the boat with me, just in case I see something interesting and don't want to muck with my big system in its housing.
You may need to look at a new camera if you can't find workarounds to the problems you are having, but there's no one perfect solution out there...I know, I've looked
Have you tried using an aiming light? If the particles in the water have more contrast than your subject does, the camera will try to focus on them as contrast is what the focus looks for. Hitting your subject with some extra light should force the camera to focus there instead.
When you say you are "zoomed out" you mean that you have your camera at the widest possible lens, right? So you're seeing a bigger scene, not a close up or tight view?
Also, you may be too close to what you are trying to get a focus lock on. Every camera has a minimum focus distance and this changes with the use of the zoom. It's worth it to do a few tests on land to get a feel for exactly where you need to be to get a focus lock at various zoom settings.
Unfortunately, one of the big drawbacks with this series is the focus. Even on a bright sunny day with an excellent contrasty subject on land, mine misses as often as not. It's very frustrating and the more I use mine, the less I actually like it.
BUT - I do like the form factor and I do like that it doesn't matter if it goes in the drink or gets knocked into the sand. So I keep using it on the beach and with the dogs. I also take it out on the boat with me, just in case I see something interesting and don't want to muck with my big system in its housing.
You may need to look at a new camera if you can't find workarounds to the problems you are having, but there's no one perfect solution out there...I know, I've looked
In the pic I posted above taken with my 770SW, the first ledge of rock is about 6 inches vertical from my lens, the diver is abourt 30 feet above me. Notice it is more or less in focus. BTW, in the camera manual you will see that the 770SW does have a focus assist light. Oh, well, as before, good luck.
Below another pic below with the 770SW showing a huge focus range, the rock in the foreground is very close, I was afraid to bump my lens on it and yet there is acceptable focus both near and far.
This pic taken with Canon 570IS in similar conditions.
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Below another pic below with the 770SW showing a huge focus range, the rock in the foreground is very close, I was afraid to bump my lens on it and yet there is acceptable focus both near and far.
This pic taken with Canon 570IS in similar conditions.
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