35
Using the Camera
Subjects not suitable for autofocus
FinePix S8000fd uses a high-precision autofocusing
mechanism. However, it may have difficulty focusing on the
following:
• Subjects photographed through glass
• Subjects that do not reflect well, such as hair or fur
• Subjects with no substance, such as smoke or flames
• Dark subjects
• Subjects with little or no contrast between the subject and
the background (such as subjects dressed in the same color
as the background)
• Shots where another high-contrast object (not the subject) is
close to the AF frame and is either closer or further away
than your subject (such as a shot of someone against a
background with strongly contrasting elements)
For such subjects use AF/AE lock (➝p.34) or “MF” Manual
focus mode (➝p.85).
AF-assist illuminator
Use this illuminator to focus on the subject in dimly lit
conditions.
When pressing the shutter button down halfway, the
camera fires the AF-assist illuminator (orange) while
focusing on your subject.
MEMO
• Even when the AF-assist illuminator fires, the camera
may have difficulty focusing in some conditions.
• The camera focuses most easily when a picture is taken
at a distance of around 1.8 m (5.9 ft.) with wide-angle or
telephoto.
• Even though there is no danger to safety, do not expose
it directly in someone’s eyes.
• When using the AF-assist illuminator in Macro mode,
the camera may have difficulty focusing to take close-
up shots.
• See p.111, 112 for information on turning the AF-assist
illuminator off.
• AF-assist illuminator does not fire in ,, ., , ,
, , or mode.
Very shiny subjects such
as a mirror or car body
Fast moving subjects
AF-assist
illuminator