SX2002 Loc: Adelaide, South Australia

My mate has a Canon DSLR, not sure which model, did look but forget just now. (I can find out but don't think it's a model specific issue)
He gave it to me and said could I get anything good out of it re pic quality.
I had it in Auto and focused on my subject which it did quite quickly but just as quick, it jumped out of focus..?
After repeated attempts, it eventually locked on but several shots were missed while mucking around trying to get focus.
Any ideas, his pics are always blurry and I believe this is the problem, whatever causes it...?

Haydon

Unless you're a Canon technician, the easiest answer is to get it properly serviced.

elf

there is a mode to tell it where to focus. Tell it to focus on the center of the screen. maybe this will help.
Ed

SX2002 Loc: Adelaide, South Australia

That was my thought as well Ed...I'll have to look more closely and see what focus points he's using...

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

A few things to know -
- Digital cameras use contrast to focus. Zoom in and try to focus on a plain piece of white paper and the lens will hunt. Draw a single line on the paper and it will have a much easier time. The takeaway is to watch what you focus on. A clear blue sky isn't going to work well
- The green Auto Mode relies heavily on contrast and will grab 'whatever it can' (that's a technical term - laf) that it feels is in focus. Sometimes what you want, sometimes not. Auto works as much as a machine can think, but eventually you might want to tell it what to do.

Even so, there could be a few issues -
- A dirty or defective filter. Remove the lens cap and see if there is a filter attached to the front of it. If so, remove it and try again. If dirty, clean it, if defective, replace it.
- A dirty lens. Shine a 'torch' at the front of the lens. Is it dirty? And, if you feel comfortable doing so, remove the lens and look at the back glass.
- A dirty sensor. Probably best to ask someone with experience to look at the sensor unless you're feeling brave, but it could be as simple as needing to be cleaned.

Once you clean everything, post a photo here, and we can help you further! Cheers! S-

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Sx, it's been a while since I've used auto, but if I remember correctly, on auto, you can't pick a focus point. The camera automatically enables all the points. So it will be free to focus on the highest contrast or the closest object which may NOT be the subject. That's why it's called Auto! But the center point is always the most sensitive, so if you use the center point on the subject while using auto, the center point usually will lock on first, assuming there is some contrast there to lock onto.
To pick a point you must be in a priority mode!!
That could possibly explain it.
SS

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I'm thinking that using just one focus point works best. There might be a button on back to easily move that single focus point if need be, for composition. That's how my T3i works :)

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

AF systems have been evolving. The model does matter.

RJN Loc: Lacey, Washington

I had a focus problem on my 5D III. Called Canon. Technician had me first reset to factory settings. Did not work so then they had me reset custom settings. Everything worked after that.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

It's been basically discussed already about the single focus point but from my perspective that's the only way to get accurate focus. If you're using all the focus points you're allowing the camera to decide where to focus. When using a single point you're forcing the camera to focus where you want it to.

If you have a manual it'll tell you how to accomplish this. If not you can download a manual (pdf) from the Canon site.

Danoj Loc: Winnebago Co. Illinois

Besides setting the outfoucs points, there may be up to three autofocus modes. On for a stationary subject, one for moving subjects and one which will lock on a stationary subject even if it moves.