 Donna L. Jones |
Flash Photography at Night Last Spring I photographed a group of high school students at their Junior/Senior banquet held on a boat in the bay. It was very dark as the captain had to turn off all lights on the boat when we passed other vessels. I photographed the couples standing outside on the deck. I use an Elan 7 (Canon) with a Promaster 5950 flash on a handle. It has always worked well except under these conditions. The camera cannot focus in the dark. I have been told by the people at my lab that if I buy a Canon 480 DX flash it will send out an infrared beam of it's own, override the camera, and I will be able to focus. I called Canon and got someone in Tech support who couldn't figure out what the problem was and didn't know if a new flash would solve the problem or whether the camera just cannot focus automatically in the dark. Can anyone help me? The photos came out well and they've hired me to do it again this May. It was very frustrating though having to make the couples wait while I tried in vain to get the camera to focus in the low light. Thanks in advance!! Donna Jones
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Kerry L. Walker |
Go back to what we did before autofocus cameras came into being. Zone focus. Estimate the distance to the subject, use as small an aperature as possible to get the light you need, and fire away.
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Jon Close |
The Canon 420EX (and other models) has an AF assist light that projects a patterned near-infrared beam. This is effective enough for the camera to focus on a blank wall in total darkness (within the AF assist light range of about 15 feet or so). It is much more effective than the flickering flash AF assist of the Elan 7's built-in flash. Looking at the information on the Promaster 5950, it has an adapter module that has a similar near-infrared AF assist light. It should be just as effective as the Canon speedlights, at least at the center focus sensor. Are you not using this module? If you have the AF assist on your 5950, the other thing to check is the AF mode. The AF assist light will work in One Shot and AI Focus, but is not activated if you have set AI Servo (continuous AF).
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Kerry L. Walker |
Donna, there are two guys that post on here regularly and whose advise is really great. They are Jon Close and Michael Cothran. (There are others but these two come to mind.) Jon is correct in that Promaster does have a dedicated module with an AF assist light. It should help a lot.
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Donna L. Jones |
Kerry and Jon, Thanks so much for responding. I do have the module with the Promaster 5950 and I am setting the camera on one shot so I guess I'm out of luck if that is the same as the Canon Flash. I guess I can measure the distance, set the canon lense to that distance and shoot on manual focus. I do have another question. The kids want a lighted bridge in the background to show in the picture. Since the boat is moving I'm afraid if I set the camera to flash the couple and stay open to expose the bridge it will be out of focus....Any suggestions...? Thank you very much!
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Kerry L. Walker |
I began shooting when there was no autofocus, no autoexposure, no auto flash, etc. so I know zone focus will work. You just need to use as small an aperature as you can to give you a little depth of field. (Or you can spend about $4,000.00 and get a Leica M7. Rangefinders are fairly easy to fucus in minimal light. I would LOVE to have an M7). The problem you will have with the bridge will be more of a depth of field problem than a movement problem. If you focus on the students, who will be close to you, the bridge will be out of focus, regardless of the movement. Your best bet will be to set your aperature at its minimum (f/16 or f/22, depending on your lens)and shoot at hyperfocal distance. The problem there will be whether you can get enough light out of your flash to properly light your subject. Your shutter speed won't be too much of a problem - maybe shoot at 1/30. The bridge will be a long way from you so its movement (actually the movement of the boat relative to the bridge) will actually be minimal. Since your flash will be on only about 1/1000 of a second at full blast, it will stop the movement of anything close. Practice shooting a subject at about the same distance you will be from the students (probably about 12-15 feet) and see what the minimum aperature you can use to properly expose the main subject. If you can shoot at f/22, you will be able to shoot at hyperfocal distance and get both the subject and the bridge in good focus. At f/16 it will become a little iffy. At f/11 or less, forget it unless you are using a wide angle. Regarding hyperfocal shooting - can't do it on autofocus. By the way, probably all you will get from the bridge are its lights and you should get those with no problem. Hopefully I haven't rambled on too much.
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Donna L. Jones |
Kerry, thank so much for the detailed explanation. What a good teacher!! I appreciate your help! I will practice doing it as you said!! Donna
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Kerry L. Walker |
You are welcome. Hope I was helpful.
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BetterPhoto Member |
simple, use a flashlight, lock in the focus or use the depth of field light. Works for me
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Donna L. Jones |
Hi Steven, Thanks for the idea. My husband mentioned that but I didn't know if it would work and kind of forgot about it! We'll give it a try!! Thanks for responding! Donna
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