Canon SX30is bridge camera

[wrinklyo]

Recently bought a Canon SX30is 35x zoom bridge camera, and it has this habit when I zoom into a distant object that it zooms back out again on it's own - anyone know why it does this and what I can do to stop it? I've tried it on a number of different settings and it seems to act the same, especially with night shots or shots of high flying aircraft, for example.



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[Dolby]

Maybe searching for focus?

 

[wrinklyo]

Maybe searching for focus?

You could be right there, but I would have thought it would try to focus at full zoom, not roll back to wide angle to focus. It's a bit of a bummer too, coz by the time I get it zoomed into the subject again, it's too late to take the picture.
I also tried switching off every auto function, such as IS and Auto AE, etc which didn't help, but like you say, you can't really switch auto focus off..





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[Dolby]

If you - for example - zoom to 500mm onto an object and it zooms out again, does it go to 480mm or all the way back in?

I'm pretty sure you can manual zoom - there's an MF logo under the macro on the wheel?

 

[wrinklyo]

If you - for example - zoom to 500mm onto an object and it zooms out again, does it go to 480mm or all the way back in?

I'm pretty sure you can manual zoom - there's an MF logo under the macro on the wheel?

It seems to go all the way in to 24mm wide angle.

Ah, manual focus. (Pause for lightbulb moment...) I must try that! I always used that feature for macro shots before I got this super-zoom. Thanks Dolby.




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[Dolby]

Oh - if it goes all the way to 24mm I have no idea

 

[wrinklyo]

Just tried the manual focus method and it worked fine at full zoom onto a blank painted wall which the auto focus couldn't latch onto.

Now that I've got a workaround, I can at least take photo's while sorting out the zoom retraction problem later.

Thanks for the help. Will post further findings here as I discover them.




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