Berto Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 So the problem I keep getting time and time again, is sometimes I have my tripod, its pitch black out but I am prepared for a 2 minute shutter opening. But I cannot get the pictures in focus. Obviously the autofocus will not work, but the manual focus makes it very difficult. When manually turning the focus there is no visible marking for the 'infinity' focus. how do you get around this? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrs.cos Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 if you are tyring to do night star trails your lens should be turned all the way to infinity mark ∞ Infinity on Nikons is the lens all the way to the right, iirc, on unmarked lenses What lens are you trying to use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berto Posted August 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 if you are tyring to do night star trails your lens should be turned all the way to infinity mark ∞ Infinity on Nikons is the lens all the way to the right, iirc, on unmarked lenses What lens are you trying to use? either my kit lenses or my 35mm 1.8 They don't have the infinity mark and cranking them all the way to the right doesn't get things in focus . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTQ B4U Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 Pm tractor. He does that stuff a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrs.cos Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 The only lens i use for these types of shots always had the infinity marked- I would imagine that youll need to find something to focus on at about a 40-50yard out mark and then aim up at the sky. 14-24MM 400 ISO 68Second Exposure These arent great examples-but this lens has an infinity mark, and thats what i used, with a remote cable timer. (i'd love to have an intervolomter, maybe next year, ill buy one) http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6086/6080325792_67061ee9e3_z.jpg Stars, Boats and Pool Glow by Lucky Lola Studios, on Flickr Same Lens/ISO 24second exposure. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6065/6079788665_0c26d43965_z.jpg Stars, Boats and Pool Glow by Lucky Lola Studios, on Flickr I have some other star shots some are good some are bad.. its usually me just practicing.. I have always just turned it all the way to the right, and picked the nearest thing to focus on and test shot till i had it in focus, as i turned the focus slightly back to the left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor Posted August 26, 2011 Report Share Posted August 26, 2011 If its dark like stars or very dark city/landscape or something turn on live view and get a star/light source in focus manually, then zoom in to 10x (on a canon live view) and fine tune the focus manually. If its people have someone light up their cell phone to get focus distance. If the distance is < infinity and you have a quality lens you can use the distance scale and also work out your depth of field with your F number and get the subject in focus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berto Posted August 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2011 I think I may have figured it out. If I have the camera on autofocus, it will cycle through the focus range and then default at the 'infinity' focus. Then you just flip it to manual focus and shoot without touching the focus adjustment. Still playing with it to verify though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berto Posted September 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2011 I figured out how to manually focus. Not necessarily in the dark. But when you turn it to manual focus mode there is a green dot in the view finder that comes on when your subject is in motion while manually focusing. Maybe not earth shattering to some of you pro's but i'm still learning some functionality Also the rangefinder wasn't on, which is an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
im faster Posted September 3, 2011 Report Share Posted September 3, 2011 What camera do you have and what are you shooting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berto Posted September 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2011 D3100, shooting whatever in the dark? Star pattern? super long exposure shots, etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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