I have an Olympus Stylus 400 digital camera. Basically it's a point and shoot type, but it does have a few extra features like a macro mode, white balance adjustment option and shooting modes (nightime, landscape, portrait, etc). I'm having a really hard time getting it to focus without using the flash. I've tried adjusting the white balance which helps a bit in some instances, but in other instances it just gives the image a weird glow. Does anyone have any suggestions that I might try to remedy this? Or do you think it's just the limitations of my camera? Thanks for any help!

Is your autofocus assist beam turned on and working? You will see a light emitted from your camera when you depress the shutter button half way. What are your shooting conditions and subjects when this happens?

I'm guessing it's not so much a focus issue as a camera-shake issue. Probably you're moving the camera (very slightly) while it's taking the picture, enough to blur the details. When you use the flash, the shutter is open for much less time since there's much more light. At night, the camera might want to take a 1/8 or 1/4 second (or more) exposure, and unless you're holding it very still, or supporting it with something like furniture or a tripod, it will blur from twitches in your hands and arms.
My friend currently has that model, and I had an older model like it. It's a good camera, and should be capable of good shots at night.

It's not so much night-time photos, but daytime mid or ambient-light photos, especially when close-up. I have expirmented a bit after posting this and acutally using the "self-portrait mode" helps a bit, but you can't zoom in this mode.
I think Mike, you may be partially right when you say it is a shake issue. And Darryl, I have no idea about the suotfocus assist beam...I'm going to have to dig up my manual again because I don't remember anything about that.

You may also be using digital zoom, which will exagerate the pixels and look blury. You have a 3x optical zoom, don't go beyond that for taking pictures. Also check which resolution your camera is set to.

Are you trying to zoom while close-up? Because that will cause focus trouble. With my Canon, I can focus to 2 inches at wide angle, but when I use full zoom (10x), the closest I can get is 2 feet. So if you're trying to get very close *and* zoom, then yes, that's an optical limitation.
And I'm not sure how I read something about nighttime photos in your post, I must have been seeing things again... :-D

You know, Mike, if you stay off the hallucinogens, seeing things might not be such a problem ;) hehe I have been trying to zoom and get close....I guess that's just wishful thinking :)
I do have digital zoom, but rarely use it because as you said, Darryl, it's really pixellated. I'm definately going to check out about the autofocus assist thing, maybe that will help. Thanks so much for all your suggestions, guys!

Check to make sure that no type of exposure compensation is active, if the compensation was set to say, - 1 or so stops, the camera would compensate by slowing down the shutter speed the appropriate number of stops. This could potentially allow a shakier hand to cause soft images and would cause a glowing/overexposed look.

Also, are you focusing on things that are relatively contrasty or are they flat? The autofocus system uses what’s called TTL (through the lens) phase detection to focus. It needs to recognize contrast differences to be able to focus properly. So if you shoot a white piece of paper, it would have a harder time focusing than if you took a picture of a lined piece of paper.

...Too many of Mayne's Magnificent Mushrooms... ;-)

HA! Yeah, he does seem to like those mushrooms a lot....at least he shares them with us here on Caedes ;)

(nice alliteration!)

M&M's ;-)

*snicker*

I'll try not to add words to your recent posts, but you said you're close and zooming. I looked up some specs on that camera on dpreview.com. Their stats page says you should be able to focus at 20cm in macro mode and 50cm in normal mode. If you're close to these ranges and using a zoom, you'll have trouble.

When I try to take Macro Pictures in darker light then my "autofocus assist beam" is to close to the target and is to much on the right of the target then my Autofocus has also problems the easiest way to solve this in this scenario is to turn autofocus of and do it by hand, its even easier taken macro photos with a by hand focused target then letting the autofocus do it. I don't know if your camera can do this if it can you should try it.

Unfortunately I don't have the option to focus by hand :( Thaks so much for the suggestion though!

The camera I use, don't laugh :-), is an Olympus Camedia C-4040. I don't know how similar or different it is from yours, but this sounds slightly simpler, and it "boasts" a 4.1 megapixel capacity. Its control menu is rather complicated, yet its fuctions seem so limited. I feel your pain, mroe so in the past week than before, about not being able to manually focus, and I have been experimenting more-so on the lighting (and if the flash is accidentally left on, the effects are devastating). My latest image Dulcet is about as much as I can get from it. Focusing usually isn't a problem, but it was never too clear to begin with, and I find myself sharpening most images quite a bit. What bothers me most is the shutter rate and aperature abilities. I can manually turn it to 1/800th of a second, its fastest shutter speed, yet I can't set any other besides choosing its fastest. When I want less shutter time than the evil auto's choice, I can only change it to 1/800th, and the aperature is so poor that even in direct bright lighting (indoors) it can barely make out objects. It is a great camera for family photos and similar goals, but it is becoming tiresome to work with. Does my complaining help at all? :-) Let me know if you are having similar trouble.

Your problem with the shutter speed and underexposure doesn’t stem from the camera, it stems from what you are trying to do. On any camera, If you set the shutter speed to 1/800th of a second, and shoot indoors (even in bright light) you will have severe underexposure problems. The lens's maximum aperture is just not wide enough to properly expose the shot, at 1/800.

You might have it in Shutter Priority mode as well. Even on my Canon 1D’s, if they are in Shutter Priority AE, I can only select the shutter speed, not the aperture, so that may be another cause of your problems.

I am aware that my problems are coming from choosing much to high a shutter speed, but I kinda like the effect the lighting has (some of the time), and I much prefer it over the red glare from its natural full second shutter. I was expressing frustrations, not looking for an answer. :-) Did this help at all, Rebecca?

Yes, thanks :) It helped me realize the futility of my attempts...lol No, thanks to all of you for your suggestions and input. I really appreciate it!

I have a Fujifilm A310 with 3x optical zoom (never use the digital zoom). I too often find it is difficult with macro shots.

When I have tried taking night shots they always come out terribly, even when supporting the camera on something immobile. I find they come out either blurry, and/or noisy - little red spots all over the place. It may be the limitations of the camera, or my ineptitude.

Also in low-light situations of any kind it tends to not do very well without the flash. I find that the same shot taken (a)in anything less than perfect light and (b)with flash come out very different - the 2nd being much much better.

It maybe due to what brphoto was saying above, I don't know.

It most likely is indeed a shake issue. If you could get us a sample shot, I could probably tell you. Basically, what's happening is the camera is trying to take in as much light as possible. It does this by keeping the shutter open for as long as it needs to to get a decently developed shot. But when you're not using the flash, it needs to keep the shutter open for much longer, giving more opportunity for the camera to shake.