T3i: When I take pictures they save to the SD card, but not when my wife takes the pictures. . .

[cmdevans]

I'm pretty sure this is a user error issue, but wanted to see if theis has ever happened to anyone.

When I use the camera, the pictures are saved to the sd card.  When My wife uses the camera, she'll take the picures, but they dont save to the card.  I had here start spot checking the photos, and the ones she reviews save, but only those.

I am sort of at a loss here as to what she might be doing.  It is not an SD card error, as that we have multiples, and they all work fine for me, same with the batteries.

If anyone has a suggestion I would love to hear it!

[BurnUnit]

Is she possibly gripping the camera differently than you do? Is she maybe left handed and you're right handed? Without realizing it she might be making contact with the Delete button during the process of shooting. Have you set some Custom Function buttons differently than the default settings? I'm stumped as what else might make the camera act this way only when she uses it.

[cmdevans]

So, I sat down for a bit with my wife and the camera, again.  I think I have it figured out.

My wife seems to have an issue dealing with the autofocus.  If you press the shutter button all the way once, the picture is not actually taken, even if it sounds as though the shutter has been activated.  So, she is electing to switch to manual focus rather than attempt to get used to the autofocus.

I did actually place her finger on the shutter button, pressed it down to autofocus, then to take the picture, so she does know the amount of pressure needed for each.  I have a feeling she will still opt to use manual focus, unfortunately.

At least that will be good practice for her.  I plan on getting a 500mm or 1000mm manual focus lens for the camera for pictures of the moon and such.

Thanks for the reply.

[Stephen]

Hi cmdevans!

When I was tech support on the phones, this was a very common "issue." New users didn't realize that the shutter on Rebel/EOS cameras is two-step. Help her understand that she should press the shutter button halfway to focus. She'll hear the focus confirmation beep, then continue to press the rest of the way down to take the photo.

Mashing the button all the way down rarely results in a great photo! 

Here's a great YouTube Series to show help her learn the ins-and-outs of basic photography terms and the camera: EOS-101

[BurnUnit]

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@cmdevans wrote:

My wife seems to have an issue dealing with the autofocus.  If you press the shutter button all the way once, the picture is not actually taken, even if it sounds as though the shutter has been activated.  So, she is electing to switch to manual focus rather than attempt to get used to the autofocus.

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Sounds like you've nailed it. That's one of those possibilities that I hadn't even considered. I guess because I know for a fact that my camera WILL take out-of-focus pictures AND record them to my memory card. Apparently the camera responds differently between making no autofocus adjustment and making what it thinks is the best autofocus adjustment under the conditions and in a limited amount of time.

But for better or worse, most newer cameras don't provide much in the way of manual focusung aids. Mostly because they don't need to. I wonder if your wife  might have better luck working with "back button focus", assuming your T3i allows for that custom setting. This would make focusing and shooting two seperate operations, more like shooting with an older manual focus camera.