GRDIII Macro AF problem

[thelps]

Pavel,

Hopefully I should have my GRD III this week, there was a error in shipping advice and I still don't have mine yet.
When I get it I will run the tests and post the results for all to examine!

Camera design is quite complex and I have heard that even if it is a HW issue a clever programmer may be able to write code to "get around" the problem - Maybe I am being hopeful here!

[young124444]

I have similar problem, the support staff at ricoh manage to reproduce the problem consistently and it looks far worse than my own testing.

I have sent in the unit for repair, now waiting for their updates...

[odklizec]

Hi young and welcome here! The problem indeed appears to be something that affects only certain number of cameras. Ricoh replaced my initial sample with another one and this second one works fine so far. I'm sure you will soon get a new camera or camera with replaced lens assembly.

Enjoy the forum!

[young124444]

Hi odklizec,

i just got back my GRD3 today, the technician re calibrated the focusing, the problem seems to resolve.

I just got a GV-2 today too!! so excited, is a used unit, got it for about USD $120, is quite a deal in my country.

Cant wait to bring it out

[GR_artist]

Ah, what a pain!

I because of some issues, I once sent in my GRD III. Before, focusing was working fine, but after they exchanged the lens assembly, I sometimes get focusing errors.

The macro focusing issues are one thing (which my camera also suffers from), the other is that the camera seems to front focus (that is, focusing on things nearer to the camera, right?) occasionally.
I focused on the edge of the seat of a chair, holding the camera about 1 meter from it in a 45° angle. When I reviewed the photo, focus was more on the upper part of the back of the chair. The edge should have provided enough contrast for reliable AF...
After checking the amount of back focus in Macro AF, I noticed that it back focuses to nearly same amount it front focuses in Spot AF, that is roughly 30 cm.

The front focusing is somewhat harder to reproduce. I only (or mostly?) experienced this problem in very bright light or light reflecting off surfaces like a white wall or that wooden chair.
But then, under the right conditions, this problem remains quite reproducible and consistent.

Generally, focusing accuracy seemed to have dropped quite a bit after I sent the camera in.
I guess I have to call Ricoh support :/