camera wouldnt take the picture!

Wiggly · Oct 23, 2009

So I went out last night around dusk to play with my new camera and get familiar with the settings. Not so much a "photography" trip as much as a "familiarization" trip. Its been a while since I played with aperature, ISO, shutter speed, exposure settings, etc etc... I've been using a point and shoot for about a year and a half and am just now picking photography back up.

Anyway, so I was out shooting landscapes with my D5000 and I set the aperature wide open, set the ISO anywhere from 400-3200 (again just playing with settings) and had my shutter speed ranging from 1/30 - a full 30". No matter what I did, my camera would NOT take the picture and kept saying I needed to use a flash b/c there wasnt enough light. Landscape = no flash right? So even after I turned the flash ON it still wouldn't take the picture. What is going on???

Edit this is all on manual mode btw (as I'm sure you could've guessed lol)

Overread · Oct 23, 2009

Odd - in full manual it should not refuse to take a shot even if the lighting its in would not give a "correct exposure" with the settings you have entered - flash at you yes, but not refuse to take the shot since much creative work relies upon not taking correct exposures.
Next thing was to consider a timer function was on or the mirror lockup mode - but both of them would eventually take a shot - the former after a pause and the latter after you hit the shutter button for the second time.

Firstly I would go into the cameras menu and make sure that the settings are restored to default, just incase you have some custom function enabled which is preventing your shot from working.
Then I would double check that the batteries are fully charged - since cameras won't take a shot with an underpowered battery.

jnm · Oct 23, 2009

when something like that happens i usually get the lens to focus and then put the lens itself into manual mode for a moment and snap the pic. should work.

DeadEye · Oct 23, 2009

Can you manual focus? Disable flash?

jnm · Oct 23, 2009

Overread said:
Odd - in full manual it should not refuse to take a shot even if the lighting its in would not give a "correct exposure" with the settings you have entered - flash at you yes, but not refuse to take the shot since much creative work relies upon not taking correct exposures.

it can happen. cameras can also refuses shots when theres nothing to focus on, like just the sky, or you are too close for the lens to focus. putting the lens in M should override this.

Wiggly · Oct 23, 2009

ill try putting the lens on manual tonight and see what happens. I didnt even think about that while I was out there. Even so though... if I have the aperature wide open, with iso relatively high... wouldn't a full 30" or even 10" exposure do the job?? thats the main thing that worries me. I'll check the defaults as well. I haven't even made a dent in the operating manual so hopefully i'll come across something in there too lol

battletone · Oct 23, 2009

I have had this happen too with my Canon, and I think I was in Manual also, but with autofocus on. Though i thought it was in focus while having the problem.

TJ K · Oct 23, 2009

Wiggly said:
ill try putting the lens on manual tonight and see what happens. I didnt even think about that while I was out there. Even so though... if I have the aperature wide open, with iso relatively high... wouldn't a full 30" or even 10" exposure do the job?? thats the main thing that worries me. I'll check the defaults as well. I haven't even made a dent in the operating manual so hopefully i'll come across something in there too lol

Yes it will do the job to take the picture but if there isn't enough light then your lens will just be hunting for focus on and on and not be able to lock onto anything. So either hold the focus lock button or switch it into manual mode and focus like that. GL
tj

Felix0890 · Oct 23, 2009

In addition to setting the camera on manual (M) mode, you must also set it the lens to manual focus. This happened to me while shooting at the sky. The lens has trouble focusing on something so you have to do the job by flipping it to MF.

KmH · Oct 23, 2009

You don't mention what focus mode you were in. some of the focus modes will not allow shutter release if focus has not been achieved.

Thre are also menu settings that can determine if the shutter will actuate, or not, when focus has not been achieved

The focus indicator is a small circle that lights up in the lower left corner of the viewfinder.

JayClark79 · Oct 23, 2009

If it was dark and you had auto focus on your camera has to be able to SEE something to focus on... try manual focus.... leave the on camera flash off

BlueJazzer · Oct 24, 2009

I had a similair problem at a friends wedding last week. The room we were in wasn't all that dark and everybody else was snapping away with their compacts and i couldnt take a pic of my mates from 7 feet away! Flash popped up but it refused to take pic! Was getting really frustrated at time. Tried it in Auto, manual and pretty much all the preset settings, ie sport, portrait yada yada.....

Gonna recreate the lighting in a room and see if putting it into manual focus does the trick, as suggested above.... Annoying as hell tho cos i just finished up with a bunch of cack photos from the evening!

P.s. Just joined, first post, hello all......