FinePix HS20EXR
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Focusing help with the HS20 EXR
Hi everyone, I am very new to photography but I am learning rapidly!
Today I ventured down to our local nature reserve and spotted a mating pair of Fly Catchers going in and out of their nest box and resting if only for a few seconds on a fallen tree branch.
Now the problem I have is firstly trying to focus from around 30feet on a very thin branch, for some reason I always pick up the background which is full of trees, bramble and other foliage. I was able to get some sort of focus by aiming at another part of the tree that was thicker then to hold and keep the shooting button half pressed, then pan the camera to the well visited thin branch.
This worked fine but as soon as I let go of the half pressed button the camera wants to refocus and I have to start all over again! Meanwhile the bird has come, had lunch, raised it's young and gone back abroad!
So hopefully someone can advise me with a way of fixing the focus on a subject without the need to keep the shoot button half pressed resulting in drainred batteries and an aching finger! 
Here is the shot I was attemting to get, but sadly without a tripod at hand and unable to maintain the forcus as you can see it is a little on the blurry side. 
Thanks in advance,
Paul
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Try Manual Focus to get it pin sharp on the LCD and choose as fast a shutter speed as possible, and if it's a little dark try bumping up the ISO.
See you at www.point-n-shoot.co.uk
Callancool
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Though cameras have a 'focusing spot' [ ] , the actual spot can be very small indeed . Smaller than the marked square.
On mine it's exactly along the bottom line of that square.
Strong cantrast within your subject will help , as will trying to get the focus spot between an edge and the background .
The hardest bit though is not moving that spot while depressing the button the rest of the way.
Any interruption to the view with objects of any kind in front of what you are shooting may cause great trouble with the camera on continuous focusing.
If you have it , try switching to single focus. Once locked it should not move again until the shutter is completely depressed.
The down side may be that you need several attempts to get the focus right in the first place making you repeatedly come off of the shutter button.
Another option would be to press the FL button ( again if the camera has one ) once you have you focus obtained.
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Hello Paul what Ray said is spot on But personally when I shoot at that range I always try to use manual focus you have full control on what you want to focus on and can be a lot quicker then auto mode manual focus isn't as scary has it sounds give it a try
also you really need a tripod to get clear shots
John My HS20EXR gallery http://www.myfinepix.co.uk/gallery/805837
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The AE/AF lock button locks the xposure and the fucos.
My gallery http://www.myfinepix.co.uk/gallery/808279
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Hi everyone, thank you for your kind comments. I think from what Calloncool and John mentioned about the manual focus may be worth a try. Yes it seems a little scary especially when you start the manual focus and it automatically zooms into the area in question so you can focus on your subject, i know practice, practice, practice is the key and that I can guarantee I will.
Hi ray, I'm not sure if there's a 'single focus' option or a FL button on my camera (still lot's of the manual to read through), but I will certainly look into this and the contrast settings.
Alex, the AE/AF button is something I've not been able to fully understand as yet. I have read through this area of the large pdf downloadable document about this camera and I have found this part a little confusing. So maybe this could be the answer............as soon as I can work it out.......
View my gallery at: http://www.myfinepix.co.uk/gallery/850688 or www.devonartist.co.uk
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Hi Paul.
The AE /AF button can od the same job .
The switch for the lens to go maunual can have two or three positionsmarked either . C .S .M Continuous , Single , Manual.
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Again thank you everyone it's been a very helpful topic. I had a play with the settings this evening and first had a go with the AE/AF LOCK button.
To begin with nothing seemed to happen and every time I let go of the shutter button then half pressed it again the camera refocused which is what I've been trying to avoid! However, after searching through the settings I noticed that in Set-Up/AE/AF LOCK MODE I had the setting on AE&AF ON WHEN PRESSED and changed it to AE&AF ON/OFF SWITCH. After this I was able to lock the focal point on a subject which maintained the lock until I re-pressed the AE/AF button again which is great!
The other method 'Manual Focus' also worked a treat especially attempting to focus on something very thin such as a twig so a very handy facility.
I suppose the best thing about all this is that I can now set up the camera focused on a perch such as a site for a Kingfisher I would like to get a much more detailed photo. This will save the problem with my previous experience such as "it's there, quick get the photo - darn it the camera won't focus on the perch!"
I tried the settings this evening in near dark back garden (through the window) and was able to focus on the stem of a teasle and maintain that focus no matter where I panned the camera as with the photo below. I used a 200 ISO, 1/2 shutter speed and a F-Stop of 5.6, it's amazing how it looks like broad daylight when it's very nearly dark!
Thanks again everyone, you have been a great help to a newbie!
Paul
View my gallery at: http://www.myfinepix.co.uk/gallery/850688 or www.devonartist.co.uk
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Happy to hear you sorted out your focusing problem
Cant wait to see your results
JOHN