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PowerShot SX720 HS no longer focuses on distant objects

Kemiom
Apprentice

I purchased my camera in 2017 and have been extremely happy with the way it has performed.  (With a tripod, I could actually take a picture of Jupiter and four of its moons would show up in the picture!)  However, now, I can't get a decent focus on a bird in a tree across the street.  I noticed the problem last fall when the weather began to get cold.  Has anyone else had a problem like this?  Is there a fix for this?  I have checked my settings and they seem to be where they are supposed to be.  I almost always use the auto mode (Hand-held night scene for Jupiter).  Maybe the camera is just worn out now.

3 REPLIES 3

Mark35mmF2
Product Expert
Product Expert

Hi there,

The only thing I would check is to make sure the camera is not set to the Macro mode, but this should not be the case if you are shooting in Automatic. Otherwise it may be that the lens is not as well aligned as it used to be.

https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/service-repair

Thank you for your response.  I am wondering if cold weather affected it some way.  I first noticed the problem when I was trying to focus in on an owl last winter.  The temperature had to have been about 20 degrees (well below the 32 minimum).  It has had plenty of time to warm up but the pictures remain blurry after 40x when I focus on something far away.  Sometimes I can get a good focus at 80x on objects that are in my back yard.  Puzzling.

Kemiom
Apprentice

An update on my camera.  I called Canon support and they told me to send it in.  I did and they were not able to repair the issue due to it not being a current model.  They, instead, offered me an SX740hs at a very discounted price which I accepted.  Now just need to learn some of the added and changed features.  Thanks for taking the time to respond to my question.

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