Canon Rebel XSI auto focus problems: What should I do?
674740
new mom- The number of highly positive reviews vastly outnumber the negative reviews mentioning "auto-focus problems" here at Amazon. And you don't see this "problem" ever mentioned in professional reviews of the camera. I strongly suspect the "auto-focus problems" you're referring to are actually caused by a very common beginner's mistake. The Xsi has 9 independent auto-focus points available. The full auto mode which beginners are likely to start out with will use all 9 points at the same time. What this means is that the camera will end up picking the auto-focus point or points which present the camera with the best contrast for determining correct focus. The focus points the camera selects, however, aren't necessarily the best ones for the photographer because the camera doesn't really know what part of the scene is the subject and what parts are the background. The proper technique is to not use FULL auto mode but one of the other modes - P, Av, Tv or M - and to manually (pre)select ONE auto-focus point. Generally, you'll pick either the center point or the one focus point closest to your actual subject in the frame. Many photographers will use a "focus and recompose" method where they auto-focus on the subject using just the center focus point and, while still half pressing the shutter release button, reframe the scene as desired. This works very well in most cases (although there are exceptions where recomposing can cause the focus to shift too much in some fairly specific cases but this is a matter of geometry and not camera design). I believe with the proper techniques, you'll find the Xsi can focus VERY accurately and give you quite professional looking results. P.S. - Shooting active preschoolers can be a bit of a challenge in itself but I'll leave that discussion for another day. :)
2234811
Yeah the biggest complaint for the SX200IS was the automatic flash every time. I'm gonna wait to see if that has been fixed in the SX210IS before I go ahead an order. Looks like a great improvement in every other area!I'm glad I held out on getting my super-zoom point and shoot! Within the last few weeks Nikon, Fujifilm, Canon, and Panasonic all announced their Spring 2010 models. There are some real good options out there!
871930
You need to use auto focus if you don't want to manually focus in and out on close ups or long distance shots. It sounds like you zoomed to fast and it couldn't adjust fast enough or you have it set to some weird manual setting. This happened to me that's why I am trying to offer advice.
1416554
I believe it is a faulty lens. My brother has a t3i and has had no such issue. You should try the lense on another camera before returning though.
563635
I would suggest that you reach out to Canon corporate. They have EXCELLENT customer support.
1591778
Try switching the camera dial to (m) fir manual focus along with the lens placed in manual mode. That should take care of your issue. I too have the A77 and that's what works for me.
873231
I have a 7D. it sounds like you have your camera set on the self timer or something. Try the continuous shot. It should work.
220774
I have the same problem with the autofocus for video recording (even when set to "Full AF"). It occurs mostly during zooming in and not as much when zooming out. Sometimes, after zooming in, it will lose the focus and then regain it or not at all at times. This problem has occurred in bright light and sun outdoors and indoors in decent and dim light.It's too bad since the quality (color and clarity) seems excellent.
112229
I had that problem, the aperture problem which resulted in overexposure. Called Fujifilm, sent the camera, and it fixed and came back. I paid the shipping cost to their service center but service was quick and replacement itself was free. I had that problem with quite early lot, but I guess current lot does not have such problem or if you have then you can get the replacement service.
1080092
Definitely turn ON your AF-assist Beam. This is a beam of light that helps your camera to auto focus more accurately. Try evaluative metering instead of the center weighted avg. Evaluative metering will cover a greater range of complex lighting situations. M3 will allow you to focus better without camera shake in the zoom capacity up to 46x digital (pg 81 of your manual) but your pixels are greatly reduced so playback and prints at a larger size will be compromised. Unless you really need to get clear photos at a great distance stick with L superfine as mentioned above. Try keeping the ISO in Auto. And please comment again so we know if anything has worked for you. Definitely turn ON your AF-assist Beam. This is a beam of light that helps your camera to auto focus more accurately. Try evaluative metering instead of the center weighted avg. Evaluative metering will cover a greater range of complex lighting situations. M3 will allow you to focus better without camera shake in the zoom capacity up to 46x digital (pg 81 of your manual) but your pixels are greatly reduced so playback and prints at a larger size will be compromised. Unless you really need to get clear photos at a great distance stick with L superfine as mentioned above. Try keeping the ISO... » Read More Definitely turn ON your AF-assist Beam. This is a beam of light that helps your camera to auto focus more accurately. Try evaluative metering instead of the center weighted avg. Evaluative metering will cover a greater range of complex lighting situations. M3 will allow you to focus better without camera shake in the zoom capacity up to 46x digital (pg 81 of your manual) but your pixels are greatly reduced so playback and prints at a larger size will be compromised. Unless you really need to get clear photos at a great distance stick with L superfine as mentioned above. Try keeping the ISO in Auto. And please comment again so we know if anything has worked for you. « Show Less
298942
I second guessed myself as well in the beginning. The lens has a pretty long manual throw. i.e. it takes some big turns to get things into focus manually. Keep trying and it should eventually get things into focus.
1037072
first things first, be sure that it's in auto mode. There's also a manual focus mode. To check all your settings, simply swipe the shutter button up, you'll see the manual setting sliders. Check if the focus slider rests in auto mode. If it is not, slide all the way to your left, and leave it there. If this is not the case, check for the updates. First you gotta be sure that you're running the latest version of both the OS and the camera app. If no updates available, try to uninstall and install the camera app again. If nothing works, could be a hw problem. Let me know how it goes. Cheers.
1503492
The only thing I can think to try is turn off your auto focus to see if that helps. Good luck
1437414
No auto focus supported, try the Auto adapter for E-mount cameras.B00D9BKLX8
296069
yeah, i had one with a bad focus ring. returned it, got a new one and now it works awesome!
2043807
Hello! I have this same issue but with my Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM, so i guess uit was because the engine inside has a little problem and can only be useful in amanual mode. By any chance did you try to rotate the lens while you were on Automatic mode? Because that causes a rupture in the mechanism inside, if the problem is from the beggining then ask the dealer if it can fix it, otherwise use it in manual, it actually improves the quality pf the photos!
699880
Ah, the Rebel XT -- I had one of those for a while. Small LCD screen did make it a bit hard to check if something was in focus or not. The Canon 100-300mm USM isn't a bad lens. But you might consider upgrading the 28-80mm USM -- even the newer kit lens, the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, is an improvement. You might also enjoy working with a fast prime lens for the background blurring it can provide. Something like the the Canon 50mm f1.8 or 50mm f1.4 or 85mm f1.8 are excellent lenses. Cool images, by the way!