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FZ10 Users Group | all galleries >> POTW 2005 Archive >> POTW April 23 - 29, 2005 > Rob Keaton
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23-APR-2005 Rob Keaton

Rob Keaton

Wounded Surfer
I was sitting on the beach shooting some surfers when a guy with a bloodied forehead carrying a surfboard walked right past me and straight to the lifeguard who was sitting in his truck. I don't think he was seriously hurt. I tried to snap a quick shot of him walking past, but - big shock - the FZ10 couldn't autofocus quickly enough so it didn't come out. The ones from this angle came out fine though, and I think the look on the lifeguard's face tells you everything you need to know anyway.

There was significant vignetting because I had my new TCON-17 lens on for help with the surf pictures and had to pu
ll back to get this shot. I tried to crop it all out and got most of it.

Panasonic DMC-FZ10
1/500s f/5.6 at 33.1mm iso50 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Guest 27-Apr-2005 15:42
I see, I misunderstood your question. The FZ10 has the option of 'spot mode' focusing (with a small box in the center of the viewfinder) or you can simply turn spot mode off. I have found it doesn't like spot mode when shooting things like a surfing lineup - too much to choose from. So I was using it in regular 'full frame' focus mode at the time.
Guest 27-Apr-2005 08:20
The focus mode is independent of the mode knob. I've got an FZ20, so it might be a little different, but on the 20, there are a bunch of different focus modes. A very small box, a larger box, a line of 3 boxes, and a set of 9 boxes. Originally I tried the very small box, but found it often had trouble focusing. For my fast-action hockey and semi-fast-action baseball shots I've started using the larger box, and it seems to do a very good job. With the small box, there often isn't a enough contrast in the box for the camera to detect focus (even more so with the TCON on).
FZ10 Users Group27-Apr-2005 04:19
Aah, you didn't miss my critical comment about the auto focus did you, Chuck. Well I'm fairly sure I was just in "P" mode at the time. I've been experimenting with using the manual modes when I shoot surfing with varying degrees of success. And since I just got the new teleconverter lens I was trying to start simple and just get used to the added lens in auto mode. But the main point is that - yes - I have trouble getting my FZ10 to auto-focus quickly. It's very tempermental and often needs two or three half-presses of the shutter to get the settings right. Am I doing something wrong perhaps? It's possible. I find it frustrating, especially when shooting something like surfing wherein I can't just be patient with it, I have to shoot the instant the action happens or I miss it.
FZ10 Users Group27-Apr-2005 00:37
Great concentration on a rather intense moment. Bea.
Guest 26-Apr-2005 22:12
Cool shot, does a good job of telling a story.

Regarding the speed of the auto-focus, what focus mode were you using?