How to focus at night??

Bayer-Z28

THis topic has had me stumped for a while now...

Let's say I'm taking a night LONG exposure pic, how do I focus on blackness??

I see if I have soemthing to look at like a reflection, or a light in the distance, but other than that I'm stumped....:scratch

Shay Stephens

Bayer-Z28 wrote:

THis topic has had me stumped for a while now...

Let's say I'm taking a night LONG exposure pic, how do I focus on blackness??

I see if I have soemthing to look at like a reflection, or a light in the distance, but other than that I'm stumped....

I have setup prior to sunset and prefocused, then just wait...

If your camera or lens has an infinity focus setting, that is another option.

Bayer-Z28

Are focus settings kep in memory after the camera has been turned off? I don't think my batt would last an hour or so w/ the camera constantly on.

Shay Stephens

Bayer-Z28 wrote:

Are focus settings kep in memory after the camera has been turned off? I don't think my batt would last an hour or so w/ the camera constantly on.

I don't know about the memory of the camera. But you could always try it

It looks like the camera has a scenery mode, that might set the focus to infinity, or at least make it easy to get to. Try that too.

gus

Bayer-Z28 wrote:

THis topic has had me stumped for a while now...

Let's say I'm taking a night LONG exposure pic, how do I focus on blackness??

I see if I have soemthing to look at like a reflection, or a light in the distance, but other than that I'm stumped....

What exactly are you trying to shoot? It cant be just total blackness or else you will get nothing 'eh ...is there some object or scene of any description you can explain to us to help you further ?

Bayer-Z28

gus wrote:

What exactly are you trying to shoot? It cant be just total blackness or else you will get nothing 'eh ...is there some object or scene of any description you can explain to us to help you further ?

I was out earlier trying to get a good reflections shot. THe sun was almost completeley set, so I got to line up my shot, my monitor was completley black, so I used the auto focus or MF assist.

I was trying to shoot lightening month ago, and I was trying to get the right focus. I also think my shutter speed was too slow, but that's besides the point. I found a street light to focus on and went slightly beyond that.

I am speeking in general for night shots in very low light.


Here's what I got from the lightening photoshoot. I was on my poarch..

gus

Bayer-Z28 wrote:

I was out earlier trying to get a good reflections shot. THe sun was almost completeley set, so I got to line up my shot, my monitor was completley black, so I used the auto focus or MF assist.

I was trying to shoot lightening month ago, and I was trying to get the right focus. I also think my shutter speed was too slow, but that's besides the point. I found a street light to focus on and went slightly beyond that.

I am speeking in general for night shots in very low light.

Ok...i assumed you were using a DSLR. What make & model camera is it ?

Actually..dont answer that ..lumix fz20. Wait & i will go & look at its specs & get back to you.

Shay Stephens

When shooting lightning, shutter speed has little to no effect on the outcome. Instead, change the aperture. Too wide an aperture will just blob out the lightining. The smaller the aperture (e.g. f/8) the more defined the bolts will be.

Bayer-Z28 wrote:

Here's what I got from the lightening photoshoot. I was on my poarch..

gus

ok...i just had a look at it.

I dont know how well you know your camera so excuse me if this starts to sound a little patronising. Get your manual out & use these settings. This is the best way i have found to get lightning.

1/ You MUST use a tripod or sit the camera on a solid object away from breeze

2/ Set the camera to its lowest ISO (thats ISO80 from my reading with that camera)

3/ Set the camera to AV mode

4/ close the aperture down to f8 or there-abouts (your lcd should be now giving you a reading as you close it down telling you the exposure time that the camera will now use ie 20 or 30 odd seconds)

5/ let the camera focus on a very very distant light & then switch it to manual...im not sure this can be done so if not then put it on 'manual focus' & pre-focus it at a very distant light & then dont touch/bump the focus ring after that.

6/ Set the camera to timer

7/ press the button.

8/ Also if you are able to open RAW files then def use RAW...colour balance is always way out & its great to be able to tone down the exposure. (ok read some more...you dont have RAW)

Bayer-Z28

kewl.... I will heed the previous... THanx a lot...

I'd really like a DSLR, b/c of the shutter speeds can be almost infinate and the f values go a LOT larger, # wise, then mine.

I have learned a LOT more about my camera since joining this site. I thank enveryone for their input. I really wanted to get the most out of this camera before I go out and spend $700-800 on a Cannon DSLR. Out MIL BX has good pricing.

In addition to lightening shots, I was also speaking in gernaral of dark shots. but I can relate to previous advice given here.

I'll enclose another pic of trouble focusing...

gus

Bayer-Z28 wrote:

kewl.... I will heed the previous... THanx a lot...

I'd really like a DSLR, b/c of the shutter speeds can be almost infinate and the f values go a LOT larger, # wise, then mine.

I have learned a LOT more about my camera since joining this site. I thank enveryone for their input. I really wanted to get the most out of this camera before I go out and spend $700-800 on a Cannon DSLR. Out MIL BX has good pricing.

In addition to lightening shots, I was also speaking in gernaral of dark shots. but I can relate to previous advice given here.

I'll enclose another pic of trouble focusing...

Can you give me the EXIF data for that shot so i can see whats going on ?

Shay Stephens

It can be hard for a camera to focus in the dark at point sources of light. I can never focus on stars for example because the unfocused image of a star has more contrast than when it is finely focused. And since cameras use contrast for focus detection, you run into trouble more often than not.

Bayer-Z28

gus wrote:

Can you give me the EXIF data for that shot so i can see whats going on ?

I have firefox but My EXIF does not want to work. If I go into properties all I get is a general description. no Pic data.

mr peas

Can you manually set the camera to infinity focus especially for wide-angle landscapes?

And hey.. I started with a good ol p&s too, fixed-lens digital, Sony F828. They're great to start with! Actually I still use mine a lot!

Scott_Quier

Bayer-Z28 wrote:

Are focus settings kep in memory after the camera has been turned off? I don't think my batt would last an hour or so w/ the camera constantly on.

Battery life is not an issue if you can set the camera to manual focus. Think about this:

• With light, focus camera
• Set to manual focus
• Turn off camera
• Wait for darkness
• Turn on camera
• Make exposure
• Reset to AF

Just my $.02 - hope it helps.

padu

Maybe a bit off-topic, because it's not valid for scenery shots, but one thing that helped me in the past was to lit the subject I wanted to shoot with a flashlight. Worked very well.

SloYerRoll

Glad to hear your learning
Nothing else to comment on it since gus dragon-slayed this one!
Scott had good advise as well.