Just the other day I was trying out some night shots and I couldn't get the focus right. I was trying to take some shots of the sky and I had a difficult time getting the focus right. I tried infinity focus and that didn't work either.
I have that trouble as well. I usually aim one of the focus points directly at the moon -- it will usually register on the moon. I then flip the switch over to manual so that it will not change. Good luck!
Randal Hoss wrote:
Just the other day I was trying out some night shots and I couldn't get the focus right. I was trying to take some shots of the sky and I had a difficult time getting the focus right. I tried infinity focus and that didn't work either.
Any suggestions or techniques appreciated!!!
What works for me is to focus right before it gets to dark or with the full moon. I keep a little masking tape with me so when I do get focus I put a small piece of masking tape over the lens barrel so the focus will not move. Then put the lens on manual focus so it doesn't move once the camera is shooting. Its easy to touch the barrel in the dark and move the focus out of whack.
Also focus with the lens / camera at the ambient outside temp. If your lens / camera is 70 degrees in the camera bag and you take it out to shoot when its 30 degrees outside the focus will change as the lens / camera cools.
Hope this helps.
I have one more follow up item from my last comment. If you are shooting a wide angle zoom, zoom in all the way when you are aiming at the moon to get a focus point because it will work easier that way. You can then zoom back out.
Sometimes the Infinity point can be confusing. It's not clear to one end of the zoom range. Usually there is a sideways L on the barrel. the infinity mar is the short end of the L, not the long end. Learned that the hard way.
FWIW I have never trusted the infinity mark on a lens. It seems from my past experience infinity is never right at infinity. Visual focusing has always worked best for me. Also if you have fg object in the shot that you want in focusyou will need to adjust your focus a bit closer than infinity and increase your f-stop so these objects will be in focus as well.
Hope this helps
