Shooting Hard-to-Focus Subjects

(Focus Lock, AF Lock, and Manual Focus)

It may be difficult to focus on the following types of subjects.

• Subjects with extremely low contrast to the surroundings
• Scenes with a mixture of near and far subjects
• Subjects with extremely bright objects at the center of the composition
• Subjects that are moving quickly
• Subjects through glass: Try to shoot as close to the glass as possible to reduce the chances of light reflecting back off of the glass that could fool the camera's auto focus system

Shooting with the Focus Lock

1. Aim the camera so that an object at the same focal distance as the main subject is centered in the viewfinder or in the AF frame displayed in the electronic viewfinder or LCD monitor.

2. Press the shutter button halfway to lock the focus.

3. Keep the shutter button pressed while you recompose the image and press the shutter button all the way to shoot the image.

Shooting with the AF Lock

• This feature cannot be used in the [Auto] or [Sports] mode.

1. Aim the camera so that an object at the same focal distance as the main subject is centered in the AF frame.

2. Press the shutter button halfway and press the <MF> button. The [MF] indicator will appear on the LCD monitor or electronic viewfinder.

3. Re-aim the camera to compose the shot as desired and shoot.

• To release the AF Lock press the <MF> button.

The AF Lock feature is convenient because you can let go of the shutter button to compose the image. Moreover, the AF Lock is still effective after the picture is taken, allowing you to capture a second image while maintaining the same focus distance. When shooting with the focus lock or AF Lock using the LCD monitor, setting the AF frame to [Center] makes shooting easier since the camera focuses using the center AF frame only. Because and do not display the AF frame, aim the camera to focus on the subject.

Shooting in Manual Focus Mode

In this mode the focus can be manually set and cannot be used in the [Auto] or [Sports] mode.

1. Use the or button to adjust the focus while holding the MF button down.

• MF ad the MF indicator are displayed.
• When the (Rec.) menu's [MF-Point Zoom] is set to [On], the portion of the image in the AF frame will appear magnified*.
  * When using and , digital zoom or while displaying the image on a TV, the display magnification is not available.
  * You can also set the camera so that the image displayed is not magnified.
• The MF indicator show approximate distance figures. Use them as a shooting guideline only.

To cancel the Manual Focus: Press the <MF> button.