topic Trouble with focusing using Canon SX70HS in Point & Shoot Digital Cameras

Trouble with focusing using Canon SX70HS

Bignick58 — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 16:10:16 GMT

I'm essentially photographing birds mainly and other wildlife and have had great success with the SX70HS. I previously had the SX50 and SX60 but wore them out and bought the SX70. I thought I'd got a reasonable understanding of the settings required to give me the photos I wanted but I'm now seeking advice from other birders who use this camera model.

In good light, I shoot in RAW and my default settings are on TV (~1/640 - 1/1000) ISO on automatic and centre weighted average meter reading, I'm not sure what autofocus I've had it on as the settings got changed! If the light is very good I'll use AV F8.0 and adjust the ISO between 100 and 320 to give a decent shutter speed.

My problem is that when I'm not particularly close to the subject the images are often not sharp/focused. I'm usually on ~maximum optical zoom so there could be an issue with camera shake but I don't think it is this because if the subject is in isolation, the focus seems OK. Please see the examples below.

The problem seems to be what the camera actually focuses on, even when in the viewfinder the image looks sharp and focused.

What would be my best settings to obtain a sharp image of - say a bird on the ground or on water, any help gratefully received.

Pics attached are close up shot showing sharp focus then a couple of more distant shots and cropped detail showing lack of sharpness. I don't know if the camera is faulty or whetehr I've somehow changed a setting that I'd previously used which isn't as good for these shots [Autofocus on one shot or servo or spot AF, Close range - sharp image and focusWhole bird appeared in focus in viewfinderbut when viewed is not sharpSame here, appeared in focusbut not sharp when viewedBird in isolation reasonably sharp

Re: Trouble with focusing using Canon SX70HS

atam1 — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 19:33:14 GMT

I think of a lot of other factors when an image isn't sharp: your hardware, of course, technique, and weather conditions at the time of capture.

Your camera has certain limitations when it comes to certain field of interest- wildlife (birding) or sports. I am pretty sure you know about these things. Next is your technique: hand-holding zooms at that range is difficult. try tripod or a sandbag with IS off. Is your Digital Zoom off? Your Optical Zoom will appear soft (grainy) once it goes beyond its recommended zoom range. Watch the Zoom Bar and do not go past White Color Code. The image looks muddy past this point.

Lastly, atmospheric change like heat and moisture affect images- sharpness and color alike. Too hot? You get distorted images; Too cold? You get hazy fuzzy images. Windy? You get camera shake..There are a lot of other contributing factors- computer screen resolutions. camera calibration, lens calibration , I mean a lot, really.

Close range: no problem. I see it. Distant subjects, problem. I going bad zoom setting with this one, not AF. I hope you find this helpful, please like and close the case when you're done thanks!

Re: Trouble with focusing using Canon SX70HS

Bignick58 — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 14:22:51 GMT

Thanks Atam1, I understand what you're saying and will experiment a little more, I think part of the problem in that the camera doean't know what I'm trying to focus on and will sometimes pick up something nearby as the point of focus.

Some subjects seem almost invisible to the camera- especially uniform browns and greys. I've just come back having taken 1k+ photos and looking through them, every now and then one shot stands out as being crisp and sharp but others taken in the same 'burst' of shots are fuzzy. I'll just keep trying different things to see if I can properly resolve it.

Cheers