Can anyone help me with two questions concerning my PowerShot SX540HS?

[kleetampa]

I'm generally fairly tech savy, but I'm having problems with two very basic functions on my PowerShot SX540HS.  I downloaded the full user manual and followed the instructions for both issues, but I am unable to answer these questions after lots of testing with the camera settings.

1.  Is there any way to force the flash to the ON position, but keep everything else set to AUTO? (I need extra light on African American faces when shooting outdoors).  The manual says that there should be an ON setting for the flash, but all I see is auto flash or off.  I don't see an ON setting that allows me to force the flash to fire.

2. I need help with how to set up the camera to focus on landscapes features way in the background (like a mountain range)  instead of focusing on something closer that appears in the frame, perhaps some leaves from a nearby tree.  When I tried testing the manual focus by following the instructions in the manual and setting the focus to infinity, the camera ISO settings went haywire and I got a completely overexposed photo.

I'd appreciate any help.  Thank SO much.

[John_]

As far as the flash and setting it to On you have to be in "P" Program mode to do that

For the focusing on where you want it you can use Focus Lock or Manual Focus. I don't think your camera has Flexi Zone focus where you can move the focus box to what part of the frame you wish to focus on. So those other 2 options are most likely your only ones which will work fine.

[kleetampa]

John,

Thanks SO much.  I was able to use the P mode to force the flash on, so that problem is solved.  I was also able to use the Focus lock while in P mode.  I guess the focus lock won't override the Auto focus when I am in Auto mode.  It's dark outside now, so I can't experiment with the Focus lock and the distant landscape, but I'll give that a try soon.  

If I use manual focus to set the focus to infinity to capture a distant landscape, is there a way to get the camera to correctly automatically set the ISO and shutter speed?  I can set the manual focus in P mode, but the camera is horribly overexposing the shots.  If I use manual focus, do I also have to manually set the ISO and shutter speed too?

[John_ · Accepted solution]

Your welcome!

For the brightness problem is your camera set to have the I-Contrast on Auto? If not try that to correct the bightness of images you've already taken or are going to take.

You can of course set the ISO and shutter speed manually too in P mode also for shots where I-Contrast doesn't work well enough for you.

P mode is basically Auto mode but It allows you to make changes where you want.