Autofocus Problem: Shooting birds at the feeders on a snowy Sunday, I had the rare opportunity to find a Cardinal and a Downy Woodpecker dining together. Results were very...

mffox Loc: Avon, CT

Shooting birds at the feeders on a snowy Sunday, I had the rare opportunity to find a Cardinal and a Downy Woodpecker dining together. Results were very disappointing: although I was spot autofocusing on the feeder, the feeder and the birds were fuzzy, while the evergreen in the background (8-10 feet behind the feeder) were sharp.

Using Olympus OMD EM10 with 45-150mm Zuiko lens, Aperture Priority, Auto ISO and WB. (See EXIF Data on attached photos.

Any help will be most appreciated.
Mark

(Download)

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

Contrast and pattern of the woodpecker is very similar to that of the tree. Maybe this is what fooled auto focus. I totally missed it in the first image.

carl hervol Loc: jacksonville florida

I never use auto focus for these kind of pic .

If you used center spot your birds are not in the center it on the trees.

orrie smith Loc: Kansas

Your camera could be back focusing and needs to be adjusted. That is where it's focus goes beyond where your focus point is. I do not know about Olympus, but it can be adjusted on Nikons. Google focus adjustment for Olympus and see if anything comes up.

Carlo Loc: Maryland, NW.Chesapeake Bay

Maybe focusing on 1 specific bird would produce a different more clear result..??

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

mffox wrote:

Shooting birds at the feeders on a snowy Sunday, I... (show quote)

Use manual focusing and at least F8 to get depth of field.

mffox Loc: Avon, CT

Thank you.

mffox Loc: Avon, CT

Do you use Manual focus? And, if not center, what would you suggest?

mffox Loc: Avon, CT

Thank you

mffox Loc: Avon, CT

Thank you. Later in the day I switched to a Minolta 35MM film lens and got a few sharp shots of Mr. Cardinal, but had to open aperture to 4.5 to get enough light, which gave me a nicely blurred background.

Don, the 2nd son Loc: Crowded Florida

My experience with AF has been that even when I choose center spot and carefully put the spot on my subject the focus initially and rather consistently goes beyond to the more contrasty background when there is one. If I keep refocusing (pressure off shutter button, repress to re-acquire) time and again I may get one in focus out of six or so. That's when I switch to manual focus.

orrie smith Loc: Kansas

mffox wrote:

Thank you. Later in the day I switched to a Minolta 35MM film lens and got a few sharp shots of Mr. Cardinal, but had to open aperture to 4.5 to get enough light, which gave me a nicely blurred background.

Please use "quote reply" and we will know who you are responding to.

MMC Loc: Brooklyn NY

Did you crop these pictures ?

mffox wrote:

Shooting birds at the feeders on a snowy Sunday, I... (show quote)

leftj Loc: Texas

Don, the 2nd son wrote:

My experience with AF has been that even when I choose center spot and carefully put the spot on my subject the focus initially and rather consistently goes beyond to the more contrasty background when there is one. If I keep refocusing (pressure off shutter button, repress to re-acquire) time and again I may get one in focus out of six or so. That's when I switch to manual focus.

You need to change your settings to back button focus so you are not re-focusing every time you press the shutter button.

mffox Loc: Avon, CT

orrie smith wrote:

Please use "quote reply" and we will know who you are responding to.

Thanks. I learn something new every day.