iopleo.blogg.se

The bad news is that this setting is only available on high-end speedlights – lower-end speedlights like Nikon SB-600 and SB-700 do not have this particular capability. All you need to do is set up your flash to only use the AF Assist lamp and you can turn off flash completely. What if you do not want to use flash and still want to focus accurately using the active red beam? The good news is that you don’t have to. Please note that using your speedlight’s red beam to focus will limit the number of autofocus points you will be able to use. Note that once you make this change, your camera will always fire in AF-S mode, even when the subject is not in focus. On Nikon DSLRs, go to “Custom Setting Menu” -> “Autofocus” and set “AF-S priority selection” to “Release”. If you have your camera set up to only shoot when the subject is in focus in AF-S mode, I would recommend to change this behavior, especially if you need to focus and recompose. Unfortunately, there is no way to continuously track subjects with the red beam, so you will be limited to AF-S only. Since the camera will not continuously track subjects in AF-S mode, releasing the shutter as soon as focus is acquired usually works pretty well. With the Nikon SB-900 speedlight mounted on the camera, I changed the focus mode to AF-S (Single Servo), then told Lola to release the shutter as soon as the camera acquires focus (since people were dancing and constantly moving). So, this is what I basically did at the wedding.

All this is explained in detail in my “autofocus modes explained” article. It is a much more accurate method compared to the white “AF Assist” lamp on your DSLR, which is not only limited to even shorter distances, but it also has accuracy problems and is often blocked by lens hoods. Since the red beam quickly falls off with distance, it only works on relatively close subjects within 15-20 feet (which is plenty for most situations). This method of focus acquisition is called “Active Autofocus” and it works by measuring the distance between the camera and the subject. A red beam will be projected onto your subject, which will allow your lens to immediately acquire focus.Half-press the shutter release or the AF-ON button and you should see the red lights on the speedlight activate.Change your focus mode to AF-S (Single Servo / Single Area AF).Mount a speedlight or a commander on your DSLR camera’s hot shoe.So how would you make autofocus work in very dim situations? Here is a step by step process: The Nikon SU-800 flash commander will also work (as long as you don’t need flash on your camera). Many Nikon speedlights like SB-600, SB-700, SB-800, SB-900 and SB-910 come with AF assist capability, so any of those should work. To make this work, you will need a modern speedlight or a commander that has a built-in “AF assist” red beam. Lola came up to me and asked if there was anything she could do to make autofocus work again and I thought of an old trick that really does work when dealing with such situations. That’s exactly what happened to me and Lola last weekend when we were shooting a wedding. Or perhaps, you are dealing with a DJ that decides to turn off all lights on the wedding dance floor, killing your chances of getting any shots in focus, even when you are fully prepared with flashes to light up your subjects. Sometimes you want to photograph your loved one in candle light, or snap a shot of your child blowing out candles on a birthday cake.

Have you ever been in a situation where light conditions were so poor that your camera would completely refuse to autofocus, with the lens constantly going back and forth “hunting” for focus? I am sure you have, since it is a very common problem.