RX10 anomalies on long zoom - advice request (2 Viewers)

[Gorlash]

I've had the RX10M3 for a couple of years now. After years of using Lumix large-sensor cameras, I've been stunned at how superb this camera is!!

However, there is one anomaly that I have had with this camera, and I'm hoping someone can give me some insight into how to deal with it...
It annoys me enough that I upgraded to the RX10M4, hoping it would fix that, but from preliminary shooting yesterday, I think it is going to have the same issue.

So the issue is this... I often find myself shooting long-zoom images at flying objects, but the camera has a tendency to, rather than focusing on the object, it will actually throw it way out of focus instead!! To give a more-detailed description of the situation, I will zoom out to full 600mm, then try to locate the flying object. When the object first comes into the field, it is visible, and almost in focus - but when I half-press the button to force focusing, it throws it way out of focus instead!!! It does this on all of Auto, P, and S shooting modes; I typically use S for long-zoom shooting, so I can force a fast shutter speed - my intent is that it will adjust ISO instead, to get proper exposures, because a moderately-high ISO still gives excellent images with this camera. However, the loss of focus is a show-stopper!! What is going on here, why does the camera do this??

I have found that if I zoom back out to 400mm or so, it will then focus happily, but then when I zoom back in again, with the object already mostly in focus, the half-press will still throw it way out of focus. Actually, in some cases, just the act of zooming back in on the object with cause this loss of focus event. This does not happen with objects on the ground, only with flying objects... I'm guessing that part of the problem is that the object is so small, but the fact is that the camera is able to focus on those flying objects, if it would just let itself do so!!

Does anyone have any insights on this situation???

 

[MalR]

I have the RX10IV, and while it will sometimes lose focus in the situations you describe, it certainly isn't a constant issue. Presumably, the flying "objects" are fairly distant? If so, make sure you have the focus limiter switch set to 3m to infinity. I understand this significantly reduces the chances of the camera hunting to acquire focus.

The flip side of that, of course, is that if you later want to photograph something closer than 3m, you must remember to reset the switch. I've been caught out a few times by forgetting to do that.

If that isn't the problem, the only other thing I could suggest is to wait until the object is bigger in the viewfinder (presuming it's coming towards you) rather than trying to lock focus as soon as you see it. The smaller the object, the more likely the focus will miss it.

Malcolm

 

[Gorlash]

I am also looking at that 3m-to-infinity switch; I'll do some testing with that and see if it helps.

As far as waiting for the object to get bigger, that typically isn't really an option; the subjects in this situation are either aircraft or birds, and typically won't change significantly in size as they pass by...

 

[mav12]

what focus node are you using does your camera have zone and wide if ao try these rather than a single point also are you using af continuous mode if your camera has that

 

[Gorlash]

That's a good question, about focus mode... default is 'wide', and I haven't previously changed that. I'm going to try changing it to 'center' for these tests.
I've also been using AF-All mode, which switches between Single and Continuous automatically, depending on whether the target is moving... I'm going to experiment with using Continuous AF mode when trying to shoot flying objects, and see if my results improve any...

 

[mav12]

i dont have your camera but a a7iii think it has similar af , changing to continious af may solve your problem , also i use zone or wide for flying birds and it locks on no problem , i sometimes have problems if the bird is below the horizion , eg against trees or grass thr focus will jump to the trees ,