How to keep focus with Lumix G2 and 45-200 lens

[keith_alabaster]

I feel almost embarassed asking such a question but as I am getting so frustrated I'll live with it.

I recently bought the G2 Lumix unit and have been really impressed with the results. I then bought the 45-200 lens thinking I should be able to zoom in on targets much further away, and I can - to a degree. If I set the camera to manual and use the focus ring, the image suddenly becomes much larger in the sense that the lens is doing what it should - and is REALLY zooming in. However, as soon as I begin to depress the shutter button, the image (and final picture) returns to the zoom that it had been before I started the manual focus. The finished shot is in focus but now appears much further away.

My apologies if that is an awful description of my problem but as it is my first camera of note I am still learning the terms for things. I HAVE read the manual for both the camera and the lens although that doesn't necessarily mean that I have fully understood it....

Thanks
Keith

 

[illegalfunk]

when you touch the focus ring and the picture in the viewfinder becomes REALLY zoomed in, this is just the camera expanding the image on the viewfinder, so you can really see if the image is in focus or nor in fine detail.

The image itself is a bit fuzzy, because its ditially zoomed in so much I guess. Don't think there is anyway to retain this image as it's just part of the focussing function.

I guess you could blow the image up on your computer and would bascially be doing the same thing, but with the obvious loss in image quality.

Hope this helps.

 

[AJQS]

You need to turn off manual focus assist. You can activate it as necessary, on the GH1 it's half press shutter to AF, then left arrow then choose the point to zoom in on and press menu/set, then use the MF ring to adjust focus. if you don't want to hold the shutter half way whils tdoing this (I find it impossible to be holding it down and adjusting) then press AEL or turn the focus select dial to MF. I think it's slightly different on the G2 though.

I found the 45-200 to be a bit of a swine with AF, constantly needing MF corrections to get it right, not a patch on the 14-45mm's performance.

 

[keith_alabaster]

Thank you very much for your responses - so effectively this is a feature to 'assist' with the detailed focussing rather than being another part of the zoom capability? Wow - do I feel about 2 inches tall now

It's a shame that I cannot take a picture whilst in the 'focus assist' mode as it REALLY does zoom in fantastically whilst it is in progress.