Focusing after dark

[Rick50]

I was in Las Vegas this week and did a lot of street photography. With all the lights I used a hand held Canon 5D Mk III with a Sigma 35mm, 1.4 lens. Under low lighting I use shutter priority (1/200 here), Auto ISO (5000 here), and camera as expected set the aperture at 1.4.
I have also set up my camera for rear button focus or I use a rear button to focus and not half way on the shutter. I did focus on this but the camera used the contrast on the escalator in the background and focused on infinity and I got this picture. Too bad as it would have been a good photo if it was in focus.
Now most of my pics turned out as they were at infinity.

My question is this. Do others do hand held after dark and how do you check focus? The live view screen is just too dark for me and I don't have time to use a hoodman like I do when I'm on a tripod. After looking this over I probably could have focused on their feet.

 

[Patriot]

I myself wouldn't use shutter priority at night, instead I use manual so I can set what I want. If you can try manual focusing on the subject. I have a split prism focusing screen that helps a lot when manual focusing, it doesn't do much for auto focusing because that programmed into the camera.

 

[480sparky43 42]

I'm not familiar with Canon, so I don't know if this will apply. But with Nikons, you can actually see the focus points used by the camera to focus.

I've learned to watch where those points are when I half-press the shutter button. If they cover up the subject, I know the camera has used that area of the image to focus on.

If they don't, I know there's a chance my focus will not be correct.

Yes, those squares are visible in the viewfinder. They are also visible in post when using ViewNX 2.

 

[cgipson1]

Use single point focus.. or spot focus! That way YOU decide where the focus point is... not the camera.

 

[KmH]

Looking at the 5D MK III user's manual, to have a AF Assist capability requires a hot shoe mounted flash - Page 97

 

[Rick50]

Patriot: I use Manual and a Hoodman viewing device when I'm on a tripod, but when doing street photography I don't have the time. It's pretty much point and shoot with a small window to focus in as things are happening fast.
Sparky: Thanks for the tip. Yes, since I have the Mk III it has all sorts of focusing capabilities. Now that you have gotten me to look I will be studying that part of the Manual next. I think once I learn it well and can focus quickly I'll be in good shape. I think for my current method of photography there will be a hand held setting and a tripod setting to get down.

 

[Rick50]

Use the AF Assist feature built into the camera.

Looking at the 5D MK III user's manual on page 97, it looks like you need to have a speedlite mounted on the hot shoe.

Yes, using a flash for street use will be the next step. I have 2 600EX-RT and the radio transmitter. With the radio transmitter I can hold the flash anywhere and shoot but thats a separate learning step.

 

[MiFleur]

I myself wouldn't use shutter priority at night, instead I use manual so I can set what I want. If you can try manual focusing on the subject. I have a split prism focusing screen that helps a lot when manual focusing, it doesn't do much for auto focusing because that programmed into the camera.

Can you tell me what a split prism focusing screen is, never heard of that before, and I had problems with focusing in low light conditions too.

 

[480sparky43 42]

..........Can you tell me what a split prism focusing screen is, never heard of that before, and I had problems with focusing in low light conditions too.

Split prisms have generally fallen out of favor by manufacturers, who now push high-tech auto-focus systems instead. Fortunately, some cameras have 3rd-party focus screens available. I know KatzEye is one, Focus Screen another.

I have a split-prism/microprism in my D7000 and love it. I wish I could get one for the D600.

 

[Patriot]

I myself wouldn't use shutter priority at night, instead I use manual so I can set what I want. If you can try manual focusing on the subject. I have a split prism focusing screen that helps a lot when manual focusing, it doesn't do much for auto focusing because that programmed into the camera.

Can you tell me what a split prism focusing screen is, never heard of that before, and I had problems with focusing in low light conditions too.

Most if not all film cameras use them. If you ever used a older film camera then most likely you seen a split prism before. I like them because they tend to be brighter and aids at manual focusing.

..........Can you tell me what a split prism focusing screen is, never heard of that before, and I had problems with focusing in low light conditions too.

Split prisms have generally fallen out of favor by manufacturers, who now push high-tech auto-focus systems instead. Fortunately, some cameras have 3rd-party focus screens available. I know KatzEye is one, Focus Screen another.

I have a split-prism/microprism in my D7000 and love it. I wish I could get one for the D600.

Do you think it would be possible to make a hybrid between the split prism and what they use today? That would be awesome! Getting the split prism for my D7000 was the best thing I purchased for it. Don't worry I'm sure one will be out for the D600 soon.

 

[harristomyra]

When I use my Canon camera on focusing after dark, I use the shutter priority button this allows available light quality and amount of light to reflected off your subject. The sensitivity of the camera sensor is indicated by the ISO. The higher the number of the ISO, the more sensitive the camera sensor becomes. That means a high ISO helps the camera see with less light available. The amount of light that you let in through the lens is controlled by the aperture when capturing the photo.

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[TCampbell]

The 5D3 does record the focus points and there's both an option to let you see it on your back screen LCD (when you review images you took -- and I always turn this ON) and if your software supports it (e.g. Aperture supports it) you can see which focus points were used when you review it on the computer.

BUT... buy an external flash. The external speedlights put out a focus-assist beam. The camera can lock onto that beam to get accurate focus.

Also... force the 5D3 to use the focus points you want. Press the focus button (upper right corner of the back), then press the M-Fn button (front - just above the shutter button) and you can toggle focus modes. There's a menu option to enable the 5-way joystick so you can drive the focus points around to pick exactly what you want. I use this all the time.

 

[amolitor]

For street photography you traditionally use "zone focus" anyways. You stop down enough to give you ample DoF and preset the focus to a good working distance. Then shoot things that are that far away.

Stopping down is obviously problematic at night.

In low light situations, focus by hand using live view zoomed in a long way. The viewfinder isn't going to give you enough to look at to focus well, but live view might.

 

[Rick50]

The 5D3 does record the focus points and there's both an option to let you see it on your back screen LCD (when you review images you took -- and I always turn this ON) and if your software supports it (e.g. Aperture supports it) you can see which focus points were used when you review it on the computer.

This is good to know. I did find a way to indicate the focus points during focusing but I'm going to dig into this. Looks really helpful.

BUT... buy an external flash. The external speedlights put out a focus-assist beam. The camera can lock onto that beam to get accurate focus.

I have two 600EX-RT speedlites plus the radio remote for them. I'll try this soon but a speedlite will only help for closer subjects. It would have helped however in the photo I posted. The other advantage to flash is it freezes action too. Coming soon.

Also... force the 5D3 to use the focus points you want. Press the focus button (upper right corner of the back), then press the M-Fn button (front - just above the shutter button) and you can toggle focus modes. There's a menu option to enable the 5-way joystick so you can drive the focus points around to pick exactly what you want. I use this all the time.

I think the way I have it set will work. I do use the back button focus so once it does focus it won't refocus again when the shutter is pressed. When hand holding it's pretty easy to point the camera around to catch what you want to focus on.

Thanks for the input...

 

[Rick50]

For street photography you traditionally use "zone focus" anyways. You stop down enough to give you ample DoF and preset the focus to a good working distance. Then shoot things that are that far away.

Stopping down is obviously problematic at night.

In low light situations, focus by hand using live view zoomed in a long way. The viewfinder isn't going to give you enough to look at to focus well, but live view might.

I use shutter priority so depth of field is always minimal in the dark thus focusing is important. I find live view and focusing by hand only helpful on a tripod. Handheld I use the viewfinder and depend on the camera to focus but it is harder to focus that way. When using shutter priority I use AUTO ISO which gives a wide range (14 stops) of exposure capability. The 5D3 does an amazing job dealing with high ISO.

When I add flash that will open other possibilities.