25
Step 3 Focus and Shoot
Basic Photography and Playback: Auto Mode
B During Recording
While pictures are being recorded, the O (wait) icon will be displayed, or the number of exposures
remaining/movie length indicator will blink. Do not turn the camera off, open the battery-chamber/
memory card slot cover, or remove or disconnect the power source while these icons are displayed.
Cutting power or removing the memory card in these circumstances could result in loss of data or in
damage to the camera or card.
C Autofocus
Autofocus may not perform as expected in the following situations. In some rare cases, the subject
may not be in focus despite the fact that the active focus area, or focus indicator, glows green:
• Subject is very dark
• Objects of sharply differing brightness are included in the scene (e.g. the sun is behind the subject
and is in deep shadow)
• No contrast between the subject and surroundings (e.g. when the subject is standing in front of a
white wall, wearing a white shirt)
• Several objects are at different distances from the camera (e.g. the subject is inside a cage)
• Subject is moving rapidly
In the situations noted above, try pressing the shutter-release button halfway to refocus several
times, or focus on another subject and use focus lock. When using focus lock, be sure that the
distance between the camera and the subject with which focus was locked is the same as that for
the actual subject.
D Focus Lock
To focus on an off-center subject when Center is selected for AF area mode, use focus lock as
described below.
• Be sure that the distance between the camera and the subject does not change while focus is
locked.
• When the shutter-release button is pressed halfway, exposure is locked.
D AF-assist Illuminator and Flash
If the subject is poorly lit, the AF-assist illuminator may light by pressing the shutter-release button
halfway, or the flash may fire by pressing the shutter-release button all the way down. The
illuminator has a range of about 1.9 m (6 ft. 2 in.) at the maximum wide-angle position and about 1.1
m (3 ft. 3 in.) at the maximum telescopic position. The AF-assist illuminator can be set to Off
manually (A105), although in this case the camera may not focus when lighting is poor.
Position the subject
in the center focus
area.
Press the
shutter-
release
button
halfway.
Confirm that the
focus area is green.
Continue holding
down the shutter-
release button
halfway and
recompose the
picture.
Press the
shutter-
release
button the
rest of the
way down.