ID needed - The Curse of Auto-Focus

From: ted.held at us.henkel.com on 2008.09.12 at 17:17:45(18513) The blurry picture of the bloom is theresult of that idiotic feature of "modern" cameras called "Auto-Focus".Notice how the far background comes in nice and sharp? In the old days(don't I sound like a real fogy?) the photographer made a simple adjustmentso whatever she or he wanted to be in focus WAS in focus. Now that littleartistic and scientific task is presumed by some computer chip that don'tknow nuthin. It is especially bad when it comes to close-ups. InCyndi's picture the overwhelmingly dominant feature she wanted to depictis completely ignored by Auto-Focus in favor of 2% of the frame that eventhe most amateur of picture-takers would know was not where the focus wasintended. You'd think the camera would at least focus on whatever is inthe center, target area of the screen. But no, it looks around for somethingit fancies and that's what you get, like it or not. This is not Cyndi'sfault. She is the victim. My digital does this too, and as faras I can figure it can't be switched off. I guess I'll have to spring fora more expensive camera in order to NOT get that feature built in. Sheesh. A little good-natured rant to end theweek. Now back to plants. Ted. HTML +More Cyndikrall@aol.com Sent by: aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com 09/11/2008 07:57 PM Please respond to Discussion of aroids To aroid-l@gizmoworks.com cc Subject [Aroid-l] ID needed Does anyone know what this plantis? Found it at a local garden center. Sorry for the blurry pic of thebloom! Cyndi Psssst...Have you heard the news? There'sa new fashion blog, plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com._______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l --=_alternative 005F1371852574C2_=----=_related 005F136C852574C2_

From: Cyndikrall at aol.com on 2008.09.12 at 22:17:59(18521) Feel free to pick on me Ted, you are not the first! LOL. I know the pic was horrid, but by the time I realized it, the inflo was gone. I got a new camera for Mothers Day, and I'm still trying to get used to it, with mixed results, obviously, lol. My old camera was 10 years old and had none of the new features I have now. Ugh! A victim! YES, I am a victim of technology!!! ;-) Cyndi HTML +More In a message dated 9/12/2008 1:57:39 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, ted.held@us.henkel.com writes: The blurry picture of the bloom is the result of that idiotic feature of "modern" cameras called "Auto-Focus". Notice how the far background comes in nice and sharp? In the old days (don't I sound like a real fogy?) the photographer made a simple adjustment so whatever she or he wanted to be in focus WAS in focus. Now that little artistic and scientific task is presumed by some computer chip that don't know nuthin. It is especially bad when it comes to close-ups. In Cyndi's picture the overwhelmingly dominant feature she wanted to depict is completely ignored by Auto-Focus in favor of 2% of the frame that even the most amateur of picture-takers would know was not where the focus was intended. You'd think the camera would at least focus on whatever is in the center, target area of the screen. But no, it looks around for something it fancies and that's what you get, like it or not. This is not Cyndi's fault. She is the victim. My digital does this too, and as far as I can figure it can't be switched off. I guess I'll have to spring for a more expensive camera in order to NOT get that feature built in. Sheesh. A little good-natured rant to end the week. Now back to plants. Ted. Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new fashion blog, plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com. -------------------------------1221257879----==============R97521820028559437=

From: hermine <hermine at endangeredspecies.com> on 2008.09.12 at 22:20:56(18522) At 10:17 AM 9/12/2008, ted.held@us.henkel.comwrote: The blurrypicture of the bloom is the result of that idiotic feature of"modern" cameras called "Auto-Focus". Notice how thefar background comes in nice and sharp? In the old days (don't I soundlike a real fogy?) the photographer made a simple adjustment so whatevershe or he wanted to be in focus WAS in focus. Now that little artisticand scientific task is presumed by some computer chip that don't knownuthin. It is especially bad when it comes to close-ups. So you are an ancient geezer also who speaks in terms of REAL CAMERAS? iused to be a photographer for one of my day jobs, a term I assume isfamiliar to musicians and artists and I was GOOD. gimme a digital cameraand i am a MORON. i am astounded however at the quality of the amateur photos in thisplace, they out do the photos I saw in books taken by real cameras upuntil about 12 years ago. hermine HTML +More --=====================_206914234==.ALT----==============P09015720404103909=

From: "Weaver, Bill" <bill.weaver at hp.com> on 2008.09.12 at 23:36:17(18523) I have found that many cameras will exhibit this behavior if the object in the foreground is too close for it to physically focus on and is simply ignored in favor of something it can focus on. This being said, I have seen and purchased several digital cameras with a 'macro' setting that reverses this problem and focuses quite nicely on the itty bitty thing in the foreground. To check if your digital camera has such a capability, look for a 'focus' setting or button and set it to 'macro' or 'close-up' or the setting that displays the little flower icon. Hope this helps. Bill HTML +More From: aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com [mailto:aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com] On Behalf Of ted.held@us.henkel.com Sent: Friday, September 12, 2008 10:18 AM To: Discussion of aroids Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] ID needed - The Curse of Auto-Focus The blurry picture of the bloom is the result of that idiotic feature of "modern" cameras called "Auto-Focus". Notice how the far background comes in nice and sharp? In the old days (don't I sound like a real fogy?) the photographer made a simple adjustment so whatever she or he wanted to be in focus WAS in focus. Now that little artistic and scientific task is presumed by some computer chip that don't know nuthin. It is especially bad when it comes to close-ups. In Cyndi's picture the overwhelmingly dominant feature she wanted to depict is completely ignored by Auto-Focus in favor of 2% of the frame that even the most amateur of picture-takers would know was not where the focus was intended. You'd think the camera would at least focus on whatever is in the center, target area of the screen. But no, it looks around for something it fancies and that's what you get, like it or not. This is not Cyndi's fault. She is the victim. My digital does this too, and as far as I can figure it can't be switched off. I guess I'll have to spring for a more expensive camera in order to NOT get that feature built in. Sheesh. A little good-natured rant to end the week. Now back to plants. Ted. Cyndikrall@aol.com Sent by: aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com 09/11/2008 07:57 PM Please respond to Discussion of aroids To aroid-l@gizmoworks.com cc Subject [Aroid-l] ID needed Does anyone know what this plant is? Found it at a local garden center. Sorry for the blurry pic of the bloom! Cyndi Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new fashion blog, plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com._______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l --_000_8EF85FCDFC880B4E98A4D867ACB491F72467118D7EGVW1090EXBame_-- --_004_8EF85FCDFC880B4E98A4D867ACB491F72467118D7EGVW1090EXBame_

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