Powershot G5 X soft people close-ups

[mknabster]

Hi all! I recently purchased a new Powershot G5 X, and i'm noticing some issues when shooting people using P. I first noticed this when taking a selfie with the screen facing me, and then later on when shooting my wife. The camera seems to like to focus on the background and not the foreground (us) despite us taking up a majority of the frame.I also tried shooting her zoomed in and the same thing happened, where i'm sure i was an the minimum focusing distance there.

What do you think is the issue here, could it be something with P mode, or a setting i need to tweak? I haven't tried Auto yet because i like to have the ability to shoot in RAW. Any ideas would be helpful!

[Tronhard]

Are you using the G5X or G5X MkII?   If you can show us an example of the photos that are the issue, along with the EXIF settings, it would help.  If the issue is just with selfies, then I would normally suggest using a cellphone - they are designed for that sort of thing: cameras, not so much.

[mknabster]

Hi Trevor, thanks for your response! It is the original G5X. So i have two examples to share, one is using it like a selfie, while the other is me shooting normally. I do get your point regarding the cell phone, but the quality of this far surpasses what my cell phone can take. As far as the images to share, I put them up on my cloud site here, and they are in the original RAW format, which i assume does house the EXIF info you're looking to see? 

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/v4ksgwus5dskt/Canon_Soft_Focus

[jrhoffman75]

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@mknabster wrote:

Hi Trevor, thanks for your response! It is the original G5X. So i have two examples to share, one is using it like a selfie, while the other is me shooting normally. I do get your point regarding the cell phone, but the quality of this far surpasses what my cell phone can take. As far as the images to share, I put them up on my cloud site here, and they are in the original RAW format, which i assume does house the EXIF info you're looking to see? 

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/v4ksgwus5dskt/Canon_Soft_Focus

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I downloaded the two files and examined them in DPP4.

It looks like your camera is using a central focus point. DPP4 has a tool to show focus points but it is not working on your images.

In neither photo is your subject centered, so that might be the issue.

In addition, in the selfie mode the subject may be closer to the camera than the closest focusing distance.

I will see if I can see the focus points in Lightroom.

[jrhoffman75]

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@jrhoffman75 wrote:

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@mknabster wrote:

Hi Trevor, thanks for your response! It is the original G5X. So i have two examples to share, one is using it like a selfie, while the other is me shooting normally. I do get your point regarding the cell phone, but the quality of this far surpasses what my cell phone can take. As far as the images to share, I put them up on my cloud site here, and they are in the original RAW format, which i assume does house the EXIF info you're looking to see? 

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/v4ksgwus5dskt/Canon_Soft_Focus

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I downloaded the two files and examined them in DPP4.

It looks like your camera is using a central focus point. DPP4 has a tool to show focus points but it is not working on your images.

In neither photo is your subject centered, so that might be the issue.

In addition, in the selfie mode the subject may be closer to the camera than the closest focusing distance.

I will see if I can see the focus points in Lightroom.

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That is exactly what is going on.

[Tronhard]

Hi again.
I have a couple of the original G5X cameras myself and they are great units.  I have downloaded the files you supplied and my first reaction is that it looks to me like the point of focus in on the centre of the image area and not on you.  Since in both images, that point is well behind you, it has rendered your faces out of focus.

Given that the G5X does not have eye focus or tracking, I wonder how you chose the point of focus.

On P45 of the User Manual LINK HERE , there is a reference to the ability to have a person's face recognized if they are first registered with the camera.  This is explained from P 46 onwards.  There is also a Face Select and a Touch Focus feature,  using the LCD screen to select your face manually, referred to on P90

[mknabster]

Great to hear about the G5X, i had heard great things about it, plus i love the fully articulating screen.

I guess i was treating the camera like a cell phone thinking it would know to focus the foreground and the not the background like in the selfie example. I like using the EVF and leave the screen closed, so i might not have been taking as much care to make sure it's focusing on the correct thing, at least in the normal example.

After this happened, I was looking at the settings and found Face ID settings and AF method of 'L' +Tracking, could either help at all?

[Tronhard · Accepted solution]

The camera is designed so that if you are taking selfies, you will be using the LCD screen rotated to face you, and then you can use either touch screen to manually set the focus point, or the L+Tracking to get the camera to select you, and check + compose yourselves within the image.

[mknabster]

Oh yes, sorry if i wasn't clear there, i use the EVF during normal shooting and the flipped screen for he selfies. But good to know on he tracking, i'll give that a shot and see how that works out. Thanks!