Taking pictures in low light. AF not working

[manuel_garcia5]

I just got back a roll of film that I shot at an extremely low light

event (Knott�s Scary Farm) and even though I used my flash the center

of some of the pictures came out blurry while everything (and

everyone) behind came out fine. Other pictures came out grainy.

They were taken in full auto mode. How can I avoid this from

happening when I plan on taking night photos of my little one trick

or treating? What techniques or settings would your recommend? I�m

using a Minolta Maxxum 5 along with a Minolta 50mm f1.7 prime lens.

Thank you!

[drjedsmith]

Just a quick suggestion, but did you see what apeture the auto-mode was setting your lens at? Try A (for apeture priority) mode, and set to wide open (f/1.7 or one stop higher), and see if that helps your AF, because it will let more light in.<BR>

I had a Maxxum 5, and it does have to fire the flash to help it AF if there's not enough light...One of the features of the Maxxum 7 that I like is the AF illumination lamp.<BR>

Jed

[manuel_garcia5]

Jed,

 

I did notice one of the photos was set to 1.7. I think I probably should have focused manually but I didn�t want to screw up (ha ha). In any case what�s the minimum distance that I need to be from my subject? I was at least 4-5 feet. Also on a side note I took an outside picture (with plenty of natural light about 4:00 pm) in auto mode and the flash fired. Took the same photo f22 with no flash and the one at f22 came out dark & grainy. Go figure. Thanks for the reply. Yes I would now love to have a Maxxum 7 but I�m kind of sitting on the fence waiting for the Digital SLR�s to catch up with film.

[spencer_hahn]

If the subject is blurry but everyone else (behind) is in focus then you have a depth of field/focusing problem. You said something about being 4-5 feet away when shooting. The closer you are, the more in-focus the subject has to be to look acceptable. It all comes down to depth-of-field, which is a function of three things: distance to subject, aperture, and focal length.

 

If you back up before taking a photo, the DoF will be greater, so more things will be in focus. This will increase your chances of having the subject in focus (or in acceptable focus). You can also use a smaller aperture (like f/8 or f/11), but that comes at the expense of shutter speed, of course. You can also use a wider (shorter focal length) lens, but that will change composition entirely. Basically, the trick is to find the happiest medium between these three factors.

 

Also, having the subject in focus in the first place can help. BUT, maybe you were closer than the minimum focusing distance, in which case there's really no way to get the subject in the best focus possible.

[bj_bignell]

Manuel,

 

For low-light conditions (such as the upcoming Hallowe'en night), you might want to try a separate flash, such as the 3600HS(D), which has a built-in autofocus illuminator to help your camera focus is very low light. It will extend your usable flash range, and should give nice results with the distance integration feature.

 

The grainy pictures on your roll are likely from heavy underexposure. Print films generally have lots of exposure latitude (+/- 2 stops), but in my experience, negs that are badly underexposed tend to print with more grain.

 

Cheers!

[bj_bignell]

I just saw your other post indicating that you do not have the (D) series lenses, so you cannot take advantage of the distance integration feature of the flash.

 

Nonethelss, having an accessory flash will still be an improvement over the on-camera flash.

[manuel_garcia5]

Spencer & BJ,

Thank you both for your great advice. I think I may have figured out what happened. My Maxxum 5 as something called AF illumination (as as AF assist). And I've noticed that during some flash pictures the flash would give three short burst which according to my manual it for Red Eye Reduction. However upon further re-reading of my manual I come to find out that the AF illumination uses the same three short burst of flash to help the AF lock focus. The reason it didn't work in my case was because I didn't pratically press the shutter to engage it. So I'm going to really watch out for it this halloween. However I'm looking for another flash but from E-bay. Thanks again!

[bacsa]

Manuel,

 

What I found is, that the dynax 5's af illuminator flash function sucks. Purely, simply sucks. It's a useless feature that never ever outperformed my manual focussing and I'm glad it can be switched off via the custom settings. In addition, people also don't like that for one picture you flash 3-4 times. Not to talk about battery lifetime.

 

As to a previous comment, to set a wide aperture in "A" mode won't help since the focussing/viewing/metering works with full aperture anyway; the stopping down is only for taking the picture. So actually, if you use max aperture, you are much easier going out of focus, due to the mentioned thin depth of field at f/1.7 .

 

The biggest miss on the dynax5 is the red af illuminator. If you don't need the "d" function, try to get a much cheaper but still excellent 3500xi flash (used) that has the af illuminator function, is quite strong and can be used in wireless mode. If you want more power, 5400xi is there. If you want high speed sync, 5400hs is there, still cheaper (used) than the hs(d) flashes and much stronger than the 3600hs(d). However, don't get the 2000xi which is just a second built-in flash... neither the before-xi versions which don't support wireless flash and you can never sell them if you want more:o)

 

All this if you want to really use flash and if you really want autofocus. But first, i would try some 800-1600-speed film with the 50mm, in "a" mode, setting the aperture as small as possible for a reasonable shutter speed(1/60 at least). Good luck.

[rome_fowler]

If at all possible, try posting one your photos to the forum, it would be a big help in diagnosing your problem.

[dan_olson2]

I have the same problem with my Maxxum 7000. When I try to use the AF in low light, the fucus selected will be either the min or the max (see if your 5 is doing the same). However, when I switch it to manual, the focus indicators still work perfectly. I believe this is part of the photo gods' way of telling me not to be so dependent on the little brain inside the camera, and to use the big one inside my head.