odklizec
PK
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.
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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