D300 af-assist light help

OzzwaldOzzwald Registered Users Posts: 110 Major grins
edited August 19, 2010 in Cameras
So i have a d300 and for longest time i have left the af assist light off, cause in full auto focus the light always turns on even in bright situations. i was recently shooting at night so i turned the af light back on, however when i was in single point focus the light only helped assist twice then when i recomposed the light never came back on. so i was forced to put it back into full auto focus and somethings i wanted in focus weren't.

is there any way to have the af assist light, constantly assist you single point focus?

Comments

  • cab.in.bostoncab.in.boston Registered Users Posts: 634 Major grins
    edited August 14, 2010
    Are you using continuous focus mode? The light does not come on in that mode, it must be in single focus mode. And I think it only works for certain selected focal points, too. Not sure which ones they are, I know the middle point uses the light, but not sure on which other ones are okay.
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  • OzzwaldOzzwald Registered Users Posts: 110 Major grins
    edited August 16, 2010
    Ya, i figured out i had to be in single AF, but still couldn't get the single af light to go off...but it gets even weirder...

    i fiddled around with it for awhile and i eventually got it to constantly focus in single with the light, just by fussing with the the af light option. So i was like maybe that was a one time thing so i tried to replicate the scenario again. I set up 2 custom banks A and B in the D300. A had AF light on B had AF light off. i shot a couple pictures and would shut the camera on and off. Every time i went from af-light off to af-light on, the single point af-light would not always go on.

    I'm still trying to get it to go between af light on/off more smoothly, but it doesn't really bother since i don't always shoot in situations where the camera can't focus without the light. But would like it to be more reliable, if i really need it...
  • Matthew SavilleMatthew Saville Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 3,352 Major grins
    edited August 17, 2010
    Are you using continuous focus mode? The light does not come on in that mode, it must be in single focus mode. And I think it only works for certain selected focal points, too. Not sure which ones they are, I know the middle point uses the light, but not sure on which other ones are okay.
    Yes, you can only use AF assist when using the CENTER focus point. Lame, but that's the way things are with both Nikon and Canon as far as I know.

    =Matt=
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  • cab.in.bostoncab.in.boston Registered Users Posts: 634 Major grins
    edited August 17, 2010
    According to Thom Hogan's D300 Guide:

    - settings must be correct (as we discussed), so it must be in Single Servo, using the center AF point (although if using AF assist on an external flash other focal points work as well... butnot all of them, he says at the very least that the 3 in the center of the center column are always safe to use), or using Auto area AF

    - some lenses disable the feature! (this was interesting to me) he says at least the 80-200 f/2.8 AF-S and many of the VR lenses disable the function, although there are some exceptions.

    - the light will turn itself off if it gets too hot from overuse, until it cools.

    He has a few other negative things to say about it, basically he thinks it's more trouble than it's worth because in most situations where you can handhold, the camera AF sensors work just fine.

    Anyway, it doesn't seem like any of these situations are what you're experiencing. Since you're getting it to work and then just changing custom banks, I'd think it should still work. You're not changing lenses or over-cooking it so it needs a cool down... Definitely weird.
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  • OzzwaldOzzwald Registered Users Posts: 110 Major grins
    edited August 19, 2010
    Yes, you can only use AF assist when using the CENTER focus point. Lame, but that's the way things are with both Nikon and Canon as far as I know.

    =Matt=

    ahhhhhh i feel so dumb it was as simple as that...but yeah why is it only the center...the light could easily benefit all the other point. so lame
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