Shooting tips and information

The camera does not turn on even when a battery is loaded

The battery is not fully charged

  • Charge the battery with the charger.

The battery is temporarily unable to function because of the cold

  • Battery performance drops at low temperatures. Remove the battery and warm it by putting it in your pocket for a while.

A language-selection prompt is displayed

The dialog shown in the illustration will be displayed in the following circumstances:

  • The camera is turned on for the first time
  • You previously ended initial setup without choosing a language

Choose a language as described in “Initial setup”.

gInitial setup

No picture is taken when the shutter button is pressed

The camera has turned off automatically

  • The camera automatically enters sleep mode to reduce the drain on the battery if no operations are performed for a set period of time.

    gSleep

    Press the shutter button halfway to exit the sleep mode.

    The camera will turn off automatically if left in sleep mode for 5 minutes.

The flash is charging

  • On the monitor, the # mark blinks when charging is in progress. Wait for the blinking to stop, then press the shutter button.

Unable to focus

  • The camera cannot focus on subjects that are too close to the camera or that are not suited to autofocus (the AF confirmation mark will blink in the monitor). Increase the distance to the subject or focus on a high contrast object at the same distance from the camera as your main subject, compose the shot, and shoot.

Subjects that are difficult to focus on

It may be difficult to focus with auto focus in the following situations.

AF confirmation mark is blinking.
These subjects are not focused.

Subject with low contrast

Excessively bright light in center of frame

Subject containing no vertical lines

AF confirmation mark lights up but the subject is not focused.

Subjects at different distances

Fast-moving subject

Subject not inside AF area

Noise reduction is activated

  • When shooting night scenes, shutter speeds are slower and noise tends to appear in images. The camera activates the noise-reduction process after shooting at slow shutter speeds. During which, shooting is not allowed. You can set [Noise Reduct.] to [Off].

    gNoise Reduct.

The number of AF targets is reduced

The size and number of the AF targets changes with the aspect ratio, the AF target mode, and the option selected for [Digital Tele-converter].

gDigital Zoom (Digital Tele-converter)

gSetting the image aspect

gSelecting the AF target mode (AF target settings)

The date and time has not been set

The camera is used with the settings at the time of purchase

  • The date and time of the camera is not set when purchased. Set the date and time before using the camera.

    gInitial setup

The battery has been removed from the camera

  • The date and time settings will be returned to the factory default settings if the camera is left without the battery for approximately 1 day. The settings will be canceled more quickly if the battery was only loaded in the camera for a short time before being removed. Before taking important pictures, check that the date and time settings are correct.

Set functions are restored to their factory default settings

When you rotate the mode dial or turn off the power in a shooting mode other than P, A, S, M, or n, any settings you have altered will be reset to default values.

Image taken appears whitish

This may occur when the picture is taken in backlight or semi-backlight conditions. This is due to a phenomenon called flare or ghosting. As far as possible, consider a composition where strong light source is not taken in the picture. Flare may occur even when a light source is not present in the picture. Use a lens hood to shade the lens from the light source. If a lens hood does not have effect, use your hand to shade the lens from the light.

gInterchangeable lenses

Unknown bright dot(s) appear on the subject in the picture taken

This may be due to stuck pixel(s) on the image pickup device. Perform [Pixel Mapping].

If the problem persists, repeat pixel mapping a few times.

gPixel Mapping - Checking the image processing functions

The subject appears distorted

The following functions use an electronic shutter:

movie recording/the SCN mode panorama, “silent”, and “multi-focus shot” options/the Z mode “silent”, panorama, and “focus bracketing” options

gRecording movies in photo shooting modes

gShooting in scene mode (SCN mode)

gShooting in advanced photo mode (Z mode)

gShooting a Panorama

g[Focus Bracketing]: Varying Focus Distance over a Series of Shots

This may cause distortion if the subject is moving rapidly or the camera is moved abruptly. Avoid moving the camera abruptly during shooting or use standard sequential shooting.

Lines appear in photographs

The following functions use an electronic shutter, which may result in lines due to flicker and other phenomena associated with fluorescent and LED lighting, an effect that can sometimes be reduced by choosing slower shutter speeds:

movie recording/the SCN mode panorama, “silent”, and “multi-focus shot” options/the Z mode “silent”, panorama, and “focus bracketing” options

gRecording movies in photo shooting modes

gShooting in scene mode (SCN mode)

gShooting in advanced photo mode (Z mode)

g[Silent [♥]] Mode

gShooting a Panorama

g[Focus Bracketing]: Varying Focus Distance over a Series of Shots

The camera is stuck in manual focus (MF) mode

Some lenses are equipped with a manual focus clutch that engages manual focus when the focus ring is slid back. Check the lens. More information can be found in the lens manual.

Changing the number of frames or adding frames to the index playback display

Use the [G/Info Settings] > [G Settings] option in custom menu N to change the number of frames shown in or add frames to the index playback display.

gAdding information displays

Hiding menu guides

Press the INFO button to hide or show on-screen guides in the menu display.

gBasic menu operations

Viewing the functions assigned to dials and buttons

Use the options in Custom Menu M to view the functions assigned to camera controls.

[Button Function]/[qR Function]/[Dial Function]

gButton Function

gqR Function

gDial Function

Movies do not play back smoothly when viewed on a TV

The movie frame rate may not match the video standard used in the TV. View the movie on a computer instead. Before recording movies for display on a TV, choose a frame rate that matches the video standard used in the device.

gVideo Frame Rate