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GRDIII Macro AF problem

Not so long after the GRDIII release, people reported some AF problems. While preparing GRDIII ISO test, I found at least one consistently reproducible AF problem. OK, consistently reproducible with my test camera ;)

It seems to me, that if the camera is in Macro mode and focuses at distance greater than 30cm, it's often (if not all the times) out of focus. Please see this image:


Left column shows crops from photos taken in Spot AF mode. Right column is from photos taken in Macro Spot AF mode. First row was handheld, but with reasonable fast shutter speed to prevent the camera shaking. The rest of photos were taken with camera laid on a solid surface and with self timer. As you can see, the crops in right column (Macro Spot AF) are completely off. First row indicates that the photos are front focused. Notice the numbers behind the apple. It seems to me that the camera is focused in front of where it should be? I also noticed such "front" focus in some "real world" photos, where the main subject of interest was blurry (out of focus) with visibly sharper background.

Could you please test your cameras and eventually post your experience here? I already reported this problem to Ricoh. But the more reproducible reports we have, the better chances for quick fix.

One may to ask why would anyone use Macro mode at distances greater than 30cm? The answer is simple. I don't know like others, but I was used to use the Macro AF whenever I wanted more precise focus. It was very slow method of AF, but very precise! This little trick worked great in GRDI and GRDII, but it seems it's now broken in GRDIII? Your experiences?

UPDATE: 16.10.2009
Yesterday I got a replacement GRDIII from Ricoh and it seems there is no such problem reproducible! I did some quick tests with both cameras and I'm now convinced the first sample is HW faulty. I now even hear the sick sound of the original GRDIII AF mechanism while focusing. It sounds very unhealthy compared to newly arrived sample. I want to test both cameras at longer distance and both in macro/non-macro mode. But it really seems the first sample is HW faulty.
 

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I just tried with my GRD3 a couple of times, and finally two times with 2s self timer and camera resting on table. Distance was 50 cm. I get good focus both with macro AF and spot AF, and I'm unable to tell any difference between the two.
 
Thanks for info Tommy! Could you please try it at distance about 1m? Did you try it in Aperture mode and with f1.9? It's most noticeable at this aperture.

Maybe it's just my sample camera?
 
I used auto mode the first time, but it selected 1.9.

This time I used f1.9, ISO 64, and 100 cm to target. The light was getting dim, so I first got 1/10 s shutter speed, but with the help of a desk lamp it went to 1/97 s. There is still no difference between spot AF and macro AF. The one and only difference I got was when spot AF missed once.

I don't know exactly how much sharpness to expect though. I took a picture of a page in a book with a 12 pt font, and I could read the text at 16x zoom in the camera LCD, but it was rather smudged.
 
Strange thing Tommy. I got a confirmation from my contact in Ricoh, that he managed to reproduce this issue with his GRDIII.

Anyone else with GRDIII can confirm or deny this Macro AF problem?
 
I had the same problem. Macro focusing at far distances are blur..... is this a software problem or a product fault?
 
Interesting find Pavel. I will try with my GRD III this week sometime and will report my findings
 
fei:
Nobody knows yet. Unfortunately, Ricoh technicians cannot reproduce this issue and there are not many reports from other users. So it points to a limited HW issue rather than FW problem. But it's hard to say without some more tests and reportedly reproducible examples of this problem.

Could you please post some examples of your issue and your GRDIII serial number?

sagar
Thank you in advance! The more people will test it, the better chance it will be reproduced by Ricoh folks.
 
odklizec":2tcy6i06 said:
fei:
Nobody knows yet. Unfortunately, Ricoh technicians cannot reproduce this issue and there are not many reports from other users. So it points to a limited HW issue rather than FW problem. But it's hard to say without some more tests and reportedly reproducible examples of this problem.

Could you please post some examples of your issue and your GRDIII serial number?

Sent you PM. :)
 
Pavel,

Hopefully I should have my GRD III this week, there was a error in shipping advice and I still don't have mine yet.
When I get it I will run the tests and post the results for all to examine!

Camera design is quite complex and I have heard that even if it is a HW issue a clever programmer may be able to write code to "get around" the problem - Maybe I am being hopeful here!
 
I have similar problem, the support staff at ricoh manage to reproduce the problem consistently and it looks far worse than my own testing.

I have sent in the unit for repair, now waiting for their updates...
 
Hi young and welcome here! The problem indeed appears to be something that affects only certain number of cameras. Ricoh replaced my initial sample with another one and this second one works fine so far. I'm sure you will soon get a new camera or camera with replaced lens assembly.

Enjoy the forum! ;)
 
Hi odklizec,

i just got back my GRD3 today, the technician re calibrated the focusing, the problem seems to resolve.

I just got a GV-2 today too!! so excited, is a used unit, got it for about USD $120, is quite a deal in my country.

Cant wait to bring it out :D
 
Ah, what a pain!

I because of some issues, I once sent in my GRD III. Before, focusing was working fine, but after they exchanged the lens assembly, I sometimes get focusing errors.

The macro focusing issues are one thing (which my camera also suffers from), the other is that the camera seems to front focus (that is, focusing on things nearer to the camera, right?) occasionally.
I focused on the edge of the seat of a chair, holding the camera about 1 meter from it in a 45° angle. When I reviewed the photo, focus was more on the upper part of the back of the chair. The edge should have provided enough contrast for reliable AF...
After checking the amount of back focus in Macro AF, I noticed that it back focuses to nearly same amount it front focuses in Spot AF, that is roughly 30 cm.

The front focusing is somewhat harder to reproduce. I only (or mostly?) experienced this problem in very bright light or light reflecting off surfaces like a white wall or that wooden chair.
But then, under the right conditions, this problem remains quite reproducible and consistent.

Generally, focusing accuracy seemed to have dropped quite a bit after I sent the camera in.
I guess I have to call Ricoh support :/
 
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