Help with Auto and Manual Focus - OLY E-500

[Changedsoul]

Hi, I’m having problems with the AUTO focus on my new OLY E-500. At first I thought the camera was either junk or broken until I manually focused and had better results.

Anyways, here are two pictures I took, one with Auto focus and the other manually. The auto focus is a bit blurred, and I am sure I could have gotten the manual focus image even crisper, but for those who know of the E-500, they know it has a very small view finder. They are full size and highest resolution (5MB files)

http://www.geeklab.biz/davespics/auto.jpg
http://www.geeklab.biz/davespics/manual.jpg

The question I am asking is this. Is there a way to help the auto focus do a better job? I was focusing on the tree with no leaves. It seems every time I take a picture of a tree like this with no leaves, it comes out blurred. I have tried the different focus settings the camera has and all come out blurry. It focuses fine on other things, just not so good on trees it seems.

Any Ideas why this is happening? Is there a better way to get crisper images with auto focus? If I have to use manual focus in times like these, is there a technique when there is such a small view finder?

Please help, thanks.

[another view]

Warning for dial-up users, those are large files, however they do help to see what's going on.

You were focusing on the tree in the center of the frame in the background? It's hard to say what happened because there is a lot going on in this shot. I'm not generally a fan of "brick wall tests" but this might be a good time to try one. Shoot a picture of a brick wall that's well lit (bright sunlight is fine - it will help the AF system even if it doesn't make the best pictures). Lots of things could work for this test actually, you just don't want something close to it - a mailbox on a post, a fence from the side (not along the length of it), etc.

What I'm thinking is that maybe the camera saw a different focus target than the one you intended. A test shot like I described above might rule out a camera problem.

[WesternGuy]

Changedsoul -- a couple of things I noticed.

In the "auto" one, the siding on the house is very much in focus, whereas in the "manual" one it is slightly out of focus.. This suggests to me that in the "auto" one, your auto focus system was looking at the house and not the tree. The tree, being closer, is out of focus.

When you focus manually, you get the tree you wanted.

I would agree with another view that a "brick wall" test is in order. HTH

Cheers,

WesternGuy

[Changedsoul]

Thanks for the info, I will do the brick wall test. I wish I would have gotten this camera in the summer. It really sux trying to learn and trouble shoot in 10 deg weather :mad2:

Sorry for the HA-UGE pics lol.

[Greg McCary]

There are several different ways that af can be programmed on the E500. Check page 68 of the manual.
Greg

[Changedsoul]

ok, I did a brick wall test. There wasnt much of a brick wall, but the auto focus frame was well within the brick wall. Here are the two pic I took of the brick wall. One was with the Auto focus frame set on Auto, the other was set with the frame set to center. Auto focus mode was set to S-AF for both.

http://www.geeklab.biz/davespics/autoframe.jpg
http://www.geeklab.biz/davespics/centerframe.jpg
I shrunk them a bit :thumbsup: although they are still 2MB each.

Now after I took these pics, I again took a pic of the tree and the tree was blurred more than the brick wall. I did not upload the tree beause it looked the same as the ones I already uploaded. The brick wall doesnt seem to bad to me but I would think it should be in focus more than it is. I was only about 25 feet from it and the lens was at 14mm with an apature of 3.5. I was also using a Tripod and had the camera set on a timer so it would not be shaking.

Is there something wrong with my autofocus? Please help, this is killing me. If this is as good as it gets with this camera, I can adjust my standards, but if its not.....Ughhh Ill have to have it sent in to get repaired.:mad2:

[Changedsoul]

I have an update, and seen as I havent seen a post back to my further tests, I am guessing either people havent gotten to it, or nobody knows, lol. Anyways I did more tests today with another E-500 and my Lens.

Two E-500 bodies, one lens. Long story short, My camera consistantly had blurred pics, the cam I was comparing againts had much crisper pics. Both cams had same settings, and both were using a tripod. So I sent off an email to OLY about getting it repaired and now I am waiting for a responce :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: . Thanks for the help