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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

New FZ 1000, images not sharp and AF not great. (1 Viewer)

STS

Well-known member
Hi all,
Just wondering if I'd got a bad 'un as images seem OK on the camera's screen but disappointing on a monitor. My old FZ 38 did a better job I reckon.

Also, AF doesn't seem to be able to focus on what I want, say a tall, thin stem at a distance of 30 feet or so in front of a tree at 50 feet.. No chance of focusing on said stem. At closer distances, the same issue.

I appreciate that not having had the camera for long I don't know my way around it particularly well yet but I'm beginning to get a nasty feeling that I've got a duff camera, so I'd be interested in others' experiences.

TIA,

Thomas
 
Hi Thomas,

I appreciate that not having had the camera for long I don't know my way around it particularly well yet but I'm beginning to get a nasty feeling that I've got a duff camera, so I'd be interested in others' experiences.

I've had my FZ1000 for about two years now and am pretty happy with it. Previously, I had an FZ30, and the FZ1000 is better in every regard (as it should be :)

Regarding your camera, you could try to find an object with fine detail and good lighting which your autofocus recognizes well, and see if that turns out perfectly sharp.

It might help to turn on the focus peaking option, which I really like well - it will show the sharp areas with purple or magenta pixels (actual colour configurable, I believe) in the viewfinder, so you'll know if the focus is in the right place.

(Off the top of my head, maybe that's only available in connection with manual focusing, but that's fine for testing camera sharpness, too.)

My experience with the autofocus is pretty good, but thin vertical lines can be a challenge. Usually (when shooting birds) I set up my autofocus mode to aim at a small area in the centre of the viewfinder only and aim directly at my desired target, and that gives me a good success rate.

You should also check whether the camera happens to be set to "release priority" (or something like that) at the moment. In that case, it might not wait for the lens to have completed the focusing action before taking the picture, and that could be one reason you end up with slightly out-of-focus shots, too. I think I've set my camera to "focus priority" ... I might miss a shot now and then, but that's OK if the rest of my photos are sharp :)

(Should the camera not be able to take sharp pictures in the first test, you don't need to worry about the autofocus, of course.)

Regards,

Henning
 
Hi Henning,

Thanks for your reply - I'll try the various setting you suggest and see how I get on.

Cheers,

Thomas
 
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