Occasional poor auto-focus on Minolta A1

Has anyone else found that their Minolta A1 occasionally gives a "correct
focus" indication (green dot in viewfinder) but the resulting photo is out
of focus?

I've eliminated camera-shake as the cause of my blurred photos (some blurred
ones are at 1/1000 sec). It seems to be mainly when the lens is towards the
wide-angle end of the zoom and it's when I'm taking pictures where the whole
of the subject is at infinity - there's no window or nearby piece of grass
that the camera could be focussing on, yet the result is as if it had
focussed at about 1 metre. Sadly the viewfinder and back-of-camera screen
are not good enough to use as focussing aids, and the picture appears sharp
when viewed at normal size: you can only tell that it's blurred when you
zoom right in.

Before I return the camera as faulty, I wanted to gauge how widespread the
problem is.

Martin Underwood wrote:

Has anyone else found that their Minolta A1 occasionally gives a "correct
focus" indication (green dot in viewfinder) but the resulting photo is out
of focus?

I've eliminated camera-shake as the cause of my blurred photos (some blurred
ones are at 1/1000 sec). It seems to be mainly when the lens is towards the
wide-angle end of the zoom and it's when I'm taking pictures where the whole
of the subject is at infinity - there's no window or nearby piece of grass
that the camera could be focussing on, yet the result is as if it had
focussed at about 1 metre. Sadly the viewfinder and back-of-camera screen
are not good enough to use as focussing aids, and the picture appears sharp
when viewed at normal size: you can only tell that it's blurred when you
zoom right in.

Before I return the camera as faulty, I wanted to gauge how widespread the
problem is.



My 7Hi does that. I use only the point focusing and never the wide, but
every now and then I just get an out of focus image. I always check to
make sure the dot is white too.

I don't know why this happens, but it does make me shoot 2 or 3 of
everything.

Clyde

Martin Underwood wrote:

Has anyone else found that their Minolta A1 occasionally gives a "correct
focus" indication (green dot in viewfinder) but the resulting photo is out
of focus?

I've eliminated camera-shake as the cause of my blurred photos (some blurred
ones are at 1/1000 sec). It seems to be mainly when the lens is towards the
wide-angle end of the zoom and it's when I'm taking pictures where the whole
of the subject is at infinity - there's no window or nearby piece of grass
that the camera could be focussing on, yet the result is as if it had
focussed at about 1 metre. Sadly the viewfinder and back-of-camera screen
are not good enough to use as focussing aids, and the picture appears sharp
when viewed at normal size: you can only tell that it's blurred when you
zoom right in.

Before I return the camera as faulty, I wanted to gauge how widespread the
problem is.



My 7Hi does that. I use only the point focusing and never the wide, but
every now and then I just get an out of focus image. I always check to
make sure the dot is white too.

I don't know why this happens, but it does make me shoot 2 or 3 of
everything.

Clyde

"Clyde" wrote in message
news:GecJc.78915$IQ4.30779@attbi_s02...
Martin Underwood wrote:

Has anyone else found that their Minolta A1 occasionally gives a
"correct
focus" indication (green dot in viewfinder) but the resulting photo is
out
of focus?

I've eliminated camera-shake as the cause of my blurred photos (some
blurred
ones are at 1/1000 sec). It seems to be mainly when the lens is towards
the
wide-angle end of the zoom and it's when I'm taking pictures where the
whole
of the subject is at infinity - there's no window or nearby piece of
grass
that the camera could be focussing on, yet the result is as if it had
focussed at about 1 metre. Sadly the viewfinder and back-of-camera
screen
are not good enough to use as focussing aids, and the picture appears
sharp
when viewed at normal size: you can only tell that it's blurred when you
zoom right in.

Before I return the camera as faulty, I wanted to gauge how widespread
the
problem is.

My 7Hi does that. I use only the point focusing and never the wide, but
every now and then I just get an out of focus image. I always check to
make sure the dot is white too.

I don't know why this happens, but it does make me shoot 2 or 3 of
everything.

Ah, it happens with the 7Hi as well, does it? My dad's got a 7i and has
never had a problem.

I always use cross-hair (point) focussing and not rectangle (region)
focussing - except when it changes back spontaneously and I don't notice!
But I'm confident that I've had focussing problems with both focussing modes
and I know that it's happened when I've had a focus confirmation rather than
a red "cannot focus" signal.

Unfortunately the focus distance is one of the few parameters which isn't
recorded in the EXIF information - that was the first place I looked to see
what the camera had focussed on. I'm guessing that it's focussing too close
based on the fact that everything is blurred, but that closer objects look
slightly sharper than distant objects. Unfortunately it's so rare that I
can't do any tests to see if the focus is better at a smaller aperture than
a large one due to depth of field.

Could a polarising filter affect focussing? I'm not sure whether mine is a
linear or a circular filter, but I'd have thought that if it was affecting
focussing, it would be an all-or-nothing thing: that I'd get "failed to
focus" rather focussing very close instead of at infinity.

I know what you mean about needing to take several pictures. The only time
it occurs is when I don't bother to check before leaving the scene I was
photographing :-( I tend to take three bracketed photos anyway to choose
the best exposure.

"Clyde" wrote in message
news:GecJc.78915$IQ4.30779@attbi_s02...
Martin Underwood wrote:

Has anyone else found that their Minolta A1 occasionally gives a
"correct
focus" indication (green dot in viewfinder) but the resulting photo is
out
of focus?

I've eliminated camera-shake as the cause of my blurred photos (some
blurred
ones are at 1/1000 sec). It seems to be mainly when the lens is towards
the
wide-angle end of the zoom and it's when I'm taking pictures where the
whole
of the subject is at infinity - there's no window or nearby piece of
grass
that the camera could be focussing on, yet the result is as if it had
focussed at about 1 metre. Sadly the viewfinder and back-of-camera
screen
are not good enough to use as focussing aids, and the picture appears
sharp
when viewed at normal size: you can only tell that it's blurred when you
zoom right in.

Before I return the camera as faulty, I wanted to gauge how widespread
the
problem is.

My 7Hi does that. I use only the point focusing and never the wide, but
every now and then I just get an out of focus image. I always check to
make sure the dot is white too.

I don't know why this happens, but it does make me shoot 2 or 3 of
everything.

Ah, it happens with the 7Hi as well, does it? My dad's got a 7i and has
never had a problem.

I always use cross-hair (point) focussing and not rectangle (region)
focussing - except when it changes back spontaneously and I don't notice!
But I'm confident that I've had focussing problems with both focussing modes
and I know that it's happened when I've had a focus confirmation rather than
a red "cannot focus" signal.

Unfortunately the focus distance is one of the few parameters which isn't
recorded in the EXIF information - that was the first place I looked to see
what the camera had focussed on. I'm guessing that it's focussing too close
based on the fact that everything is blurred, but that closer objects look
slightly sharper than distant objects. Unfortunately it's so rare that I
can't do any tests to see if the focus is better at a smaller aperture than
a large one due to depth of field.

Could a polarising filter affect focussing? I'm not sure whether mine is a
linear or a circular filter, but I'd have thought that if it was affecting
focussing, it would be an all-or-nothing thing: that I'd get "failed to
focus" rather focussing very close instead of at infinity.

I know what you mean about needing to take several pictures. The only time
it occurs is when I don't bother to check before leaving the scene I was
photographing :-( I tend to take three bracketed photos anyway to choose
the best exposure.

Martin Underwood wrote:

"Clyde" wrote in message
news:GecJc.78915$IQ4.30779@attbi_s02...

Martin Underwood wrote:


Has anyone else found that their Minolta A1 occasionally gives a

"correct

focus" indication (green dot in viewfinder) but the resulting photo is

out

of focus?

I've eliminated camera-shake as the cause of my blurred photos (some

blurred

ones are at 1/1000 sec). It seems to be mainly when the lens is towards

the

wide-angle end of the zoom and it's when I'm taking pictures where the

whole

of the subject is at infinity - there's no window or nearby piece of

grass

that the camera could be focussing on, yet the result is as if it had
focussed at about 1 metre. Sadly the viewfinder and back-of-camera

screen

are not good enough to use as focussing aids, and the picture appears

sharp

when viewed at normal size: you can only tell that it's blurred when you
zoom right in.

Before I return the camera as faulty, I wanted to gauge how widespread

the

problem is.

My 7Hi does that. I use only the point focusing and never the wide, but
every now and then I just get an out of focus image. I always check to
make sure the dot is white too.

I don't know why this happens, but it does make me shoot 2 or 3 of
everything.


Ah, it happens with the 7Hi as well, does it? My dad's got a 7i and has
never had a problem.

I always use cross-hair (point) focussing and not rectangle (region)
focussing - except when it changes back spontaneously and I don't notice!
But I'm confident that I've had focussing problems with both focussing modes
and I know that it's happened when I've had a focus confirmation rather than
a red "cannot focus" signal.

Unfortunately the focus distance is one of the few parameters which isn't
recorded in the EXIF information - that was the first place I looked to see
what the camera had focussed on. I'm guessing that it's focussing too close
based on the fact that everything is blurred, but that closer objects look
slightly sharper than distant objects. Unfortunately it's so rare that I
can't do any tests to see if the focus is better at a smaller aperture than
a large one due to depth of field.

Could a polarising filter affect focussing? I'm not sure whether mine is a
linear or a circular filter, but I'd have thought that if it was affecting
focussing, it would be an all-or-nothing thing: that I'd get "failed to
focus" rather focussing very close instead of at infinity.

I know what you mean about needing to take several pictures. The only time
it occurs is when I don't bother to check before leaving the scene I was
photographing :-( I tend to take three bracketed photos anyway to choose
the best exposure.


I don't use a polarizing filter at all. So, I doubt that's it. I don't
know what it doing it though.

Clyde