Nikon S600

[divingne1]

I just got this point and shoot camera today and tried to take some photos. I am struggling with the whole zoom/focus and macro/focus thing. When on the auto-focus mode I try to zoom on the frogs and they don't come into focus, but I can stand across the room and focus on my husband's eyeball as clear as day. On the macro setting I can't get them into focus either. Any suggestions? The camera has an auto-face detector on it. Could that be why I can't get my frogs in focus when zooming but I can get my husbands eyeball from across the room?

Here are a few pics that were in focus.
Through the glass

Through the glass

Camera stuck in the tank. The photo was rotated in photoshop.

Candy

[asilsdorf]

It may have trouble focusing due to the light level in the viv. I know my camera has trouble focusing in my vivs unless the frog is up at the top directly under the lights.
I usually have to shine a flashlight on the subject to get the camera to focus in the lower portion of the viv.

Also, you can try this:
Most point and shoot cameras I have used have a two step shutter release. Pressing the shutter button half way focuses the camera. Then pressing the rest of the way takes the picture.

Focus on an object that has decent contrast at the approximate distance the frog(s) will be. Then, while holding the button half way down to keep the focus, aim so that the frog(s) are in the frame and in focus and press the shutter release the rest of the way in. I have used this technique many times in a busy background when the camera has trouble deciding what to focus on.

[MonarchzMan]

Often I've found on auto-focus, it'll focus on the glass especially if it's spotty or scratched. That might be the issue. The dark light might be part of it too. Even if it seems bright, it might not be enough for the camera to adequately focus.

[divingne1]

I finally sat down and read the manual and it said it did that because it was trying to focus on too mny objects at different levels
Candy

[tkromer]

Most point-n-shoots have a "behind glass" setting, see if your Nikon has that, it will help immensely.

[chibisan]

I'm not sure if this'll help any, but I know with my canera (although it's a dslr) that in the macro setting there's kind of a sweet spot where it'll focus, but if you move away from that, it has a hard time focusing. So did you try just backing the camera up a tiny bit or moving it forward? I just know that my camera does that but maybe yours is different

[tkromer]

You are ahead to use manual focus on macro shots anyway, especially with a dSLR, but I know exactly what you're talking about, some gray-area in the autofocus that just doesn't work right.