Beginner Close up fails to focus

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Akis Tzortzis

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Akis
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i have a few digital cameras and they all seem to suffer a very common issue. I am trying to focus onto something close up, say 1" or 2" or thereabouts. What happens is the auto-focus tries to focus in, and it tries for about 1-1.5 seconds. During that time I can see and hear (on the Canon digital camera) the cogs turning as it is trying to focus. While the cogs are turning inside the lens there is a moment where it has focused perfectly, so I can see on the screen a perfectly clear picture. But then it skips past this perfectly focused point and goes into a "blurry" image. So it is impossible to take a clear photo. This happens in exactly the same way on my Canon digital camera where I can actually hear the lens struggling to focus, as well as on two Android cameras, both 8MP. I am confident that the lenses have the ability to focus, but something in the software artificially prevent them from doing so. Can anyone please help me on this? many thanks!
 
I'm still learning myself but the lens you are most likey using aren't designed to take close up pictures, that's what a macro lens is for. You can turn the auto focus of and focus manually though but all equipment has it's limitations.
 
Have you tried manually focusing it at the distance your trying for? That'll tell you whether the lens is capable of it or not. Otherwise quick Google search of the lens in question and you'll be able to find out the minimum focusing distance of that lens.
 
The camera is a Panasonic Lumix DMC-Fs37, not a Canon, sorry. The minimum distance appears on the LCD screen and it is 0.05m - which is around 2". There is no manual focus, not on the Panasonic and not on the Android cameras, and I cannot do it manually.

The reason that i believe that the lenses can focus closer than they seem to, is because during the focusing I can see the object really clearly. I believe it is a hardcoded, software auto-focus issue.
 
Akis Tzortzis said:
The camera is a Panasonic Lumix DMC-Fs37, not a Canon, sorry. The minimum distance appears on the LCD screen and it is 0.05m - which is around 2". There is no manual focus, not on the Panasonic and not on the Android cameras, and I cannot do it manually.

The reason that i believe that the lenses can focus closer than they seem to, is because during the focusing I can see the object really clearly. I believe it is a hardcoded, software auto-focus issue.
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My guess is simply that what you believe is wrong. :) and based on a lack of understanding of how lenses work (sorry :) )
Lenses are designed to focus from close to infinity, making lenses that focus really close is expensive and creates compromises at other distances.

If your camera is struggling to focus as close as it's designed to, that's probably due to a lack of contrast on your subject, commonly caused by low light levels.
 
The other thing maybe there isn't enough contrast for the autofocus to work it out. So you can see it passing through the correct focus point on screen, but the camera isn't able to know its in focus and goes past it.
 
Have a look at the manual from here: http://www.manualscamera.com/panasonic-lumix-dmc-fs37

Need to be in Macro mode, at the wide end (fully zoomed out), and 5cm away.

•We recommend using a tripod and the Self-timer.
•We recommend setting the flash to [off] when you take pictures at close range.
• If the distance between the camera and the subject is beyond the focus range of the camera, the picture may not be properly focused even if the focus indication lights.
• When a subject is close to the camera, the effective focus range is significantly narrowed. Therefore, if the distance between the camera and the subject is changed after focusing on the
subject, it may become difficult to focus on it again.
• Macro Mode gives priority to a subject close to the camera. Therefore, if the distance between the camera and the subject is far, it takes longer to focus on it.
• When you take pictures at close range, the resolution of the periphery of the picture may decrease slightly. This is not a malfunction.
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Back off a little bit and see if it'll focus at that distance. If so, move forward a fraction and try again. Remember how close you can get and still achieve focus. As Omens has said, chances are the camera will need to be in Macro mode as well. On my DMC-FZ72, the button for this is marked "AF/AF(picture of a flower)/MF" but your camera is probably different - read the manual to find out more.
 
omens said:
Need to be in Macro mode, at the wide end (fully zoomed out), and 5cm away.
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This is the most common problem - not realising you have to be zoomed out to get the closest focus and greatest magnification.

Lots of people assume you need to zoom in, but lens physics don't work that way.
 
Alastair said:
This is the most common problem - not realising you have to be zoomed out to get the closest focus and greatest magnification.

Lots of people assume you need to zoom in, but lens physics don't work that way.
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It's something I learned from using my Canon G12. Great at macro focussing but you have to be zoomed out. Figured it might be something similar for OP.
 
Contrast-detect autofocus often works better on vertical lines rather horizontal ones. Can you rotate the camera or the subject? Or temporarily put something else in the frame which the camera can focus on, e.g. the tip of a pencil?

Alternatively get it to focus on something else as close as you can, and then move the camera to achieve focus on your subject. You'll need to zoom in on live view or use focus peaking. This is exactly what macro focusing rails are for, btw.
 
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