Ricoh shutter release in snap mode

[norman shearer]

Does anyone else who shoots from the hip find the shutter release in snap mode results in a lot of missed pics? When I say snap mode I don't mean fullpress snap..

I'm missing 50% of the shots I take and I'm buggered if I know the cause. I thought perhaps there was a setting in the menus that if the criteria wasn't met then the picture wasn't taken? Then I considered the odd shape of the shutter release and thought I might not be pushing the centre of the button and thus rocking the button rather than pressing it. So I tried to make a special effort to press the button firmly and that upped the shots I got but only by a small margin.

Recently I switched to multi area focus mode with 2.5m fullpress snap and that worked a treat as far as getting the shot goes but I'd like to get similar results with the different snap modes because I'm not a fan on letting the camera choose the focus point when shooting street.

That aside, I'm loving the camera and my LX5 has not been used since.

I'm considering getting the hood and some filters. Anyone got these already and regret it? Thanks

 

[kyteflyer]

I must confess, I did wonder where some of my shots disappeared to ("I was *sure* I had taken..fill in the blanks here)

 

[norman shearer]

Yes kyteflyer you misunderstand me. I realise you have 2 stages with snap mode. Stage 1 is pressing half-way to focus to the selected distance. Stage 2 is pressing fully home to take the shot. It is that mode that seems to be inconsistent for me. When I finish a session and check the camera I'm discovering I've only taken 50 or so shots when I actually intended to take 150 or so shots. I've tried emulating the problem when holding the camera normally but it always takes the shot then. Plus as I said in my original post the camera works fine in other modes so it can't be how I press the button.

 

[kyteflyer]

I guess I have misunderstood snap mode entirely then. I thought it was designed so you didn't have to do the halfway focus, ever, but that you could, if you wanted to, for regular shooting. I have found some shots simply go missing when I do full press, but I havent noticed it on the half-press then shoot mode.

 

[Ray Sachs]

I'm thoroughly confused. By "missed shots", I thought you meant shots that were out of focus - but you mean you're just not taking the exposure? I haven't had any such problems. As Sue indicates, there's no half-press needed in snap-focus mode. The whole point of snap-focus is that its pre-focussing for the "snap-focus" designated distance (1, 1.5, 2.5, or 5 meters, or infinity) and you don't have to give the camera the half press to find focus. So in snap focus, you just press the shutter button fully and it takes the shot. It doesn't take a terribly firm press, but you do have to push it all the way down. Full-press snap does the same thing but over-rides the existing autofocus setting and there I DO find I need to press fairly firmly to get through the half-press point so as not to ask the camera to auto-focus. I stopped using that mode because I was either not pressing hard enough (and getting an AF beep) or I was pressing too hard and getting camera shake that was causing too many blurred shots. So I just have the first fn button set to toggle between AF and snap-focus and alternate between them as I shoot.

The only time I've had shots just fail to record, though, is if I try shooting too quickly while the file is still being written to the SD card. Shooting in raw, the write times aren't super quick, so occasionally I'll take shots in too rapid a sequence and miss the ones taken while the card is writing. But that has nothing to do with whether I'm in snap-focus mode or not.

So I'm not clear on quite what you're doing and why you're not taking the exposures you thought you were. Have you tried holding the camera up so you can see the screen as you shoot (probably with auto-review on) and doing some tests to see what you're doing when you ARE getting the shots and what you're doing when you're NOT getting them? I don't have any other suggestions - sorry. But I'm not having that problem at all...

-Ray

 

[kyteflyer]

The only time I've had shots just fail to record, though, is if I try shooting too quickly while the file is still being written to the SD card. Shooting in raw, the write times aren't super quick, so occasionally I'll take shots in too rapid a sequence and miss the ones taken while the card is writing. But that has nothing to do with whether I'm in snap-focus mode or not.

ahhhhhhhhhhhh *DING* Thats whats happening with me, I suspect. Too used to dslr.

 

[norman shearer]

I'm thoroughly confused. By "missed shots", I thought you meant shots that were out of focus - but you mean you're just not taking the exposure?

Sorry Ray I presumed too much there - yes I mean missed as in not taken..

As Sue indicates, there's no half-press needed in snap-focus mode.

I didn't realise that. I thought 2 things happened on the half press - metering for correct exposure and the lens element moving to set snap distance. Thanks Ray, I don't know how I failed to see that in the manual..

The only time I've had shots just fail to record, though, is if I try shooting too quickly while the file is still being written to the SD card. Shooting in raw, the write times aren't super quick, so occasionally I'll take shots in too rapid a sequence and miss the ones taken while the card is writing. But that has nothing to do with whether I'm in snap-focus mode or not.

Yes, I noticed the delay in writing the file to the card and I probably lose the odd shot for that reason but I've allowed for that. I have continuous set to on in the hope that I can get a few shots fired before it begins writing to the card but that doesn't work out too well either. With these small cams I guess you have just gotta get your timing spot on. I'm still not quite used to the 28mm FL so tend to try and get 2 or 3 shots in the hope that I get one spot on.

So I'm not clear on quite what you're doing and why you're not taking the exposures you thought you were. Have you tried holding the camera up so you can see the screen as you shoot (probably with auto-review on) and doing some tests to see what you're doing when you ARE getting the shots and what you're doing when you're NOT getting them?

That's the weird thing about it - when holding the camera up it always takes the shot. I just cannot replicate the problem that way. :-/

It could be that half press I've been doing that confuses the camera after a time when in snap mode. I'll see how I get on now that I know that half press is pointless!

 

[norman shearer]

Went on a street shoot today in my home town and learnt a few things.

1) I'm not showing enough restraint and am taking excessive shots. Despite my being aware of the relatively slow write times I'm not allowing enough time between shots and a greater amount of shots are not taken for this reason than I first realised. It's partly because the town centre is relatively small and you can get round it in about 5 mins so I've been trying to squeeze in too many shots in too little time. So a little restraint there has helped and a few more circuits of the town has given the camera the needed time to write the files to the memory card. Even continuous shooting works better.
2) That half press of the shutter I was making may confuse the camera if done often enough and over time. I'm not convinced on this point though because I can't get it to happen when holding the camera upright - yet my testing is short term in comparison to street shooting so I'll say that it is still a possibility..
3) When I take a shot from the hip I often look down as I press the shutter. Not at the camera, but just down. Almost like I'm hanging my head in shame! Not relevant to this thread but it was just an observation I made today. With the Canon 5D and to a degree the Panasonic GH2 I used to flinch/grimace when pressing the shutter - I guess this behaviour is a variation on that.

Anyway, thanks Ray and Sue - between you I've overcome the one issue I was having with this camera. It was really bugging me as well because I never experienced it with the LX5. Maybe that has better write times - especially as you can write RAW only so the files will be a tad smaller. Must post some of my street work in here, once I find out how and the limits on file size etc. No time to look it up yet as I'm off out again. This time with the GH2 on a nature trail to test out some new lenses. I gotta keep away from Ebay - I've got legacy lenses coming out of my ears. ;-)