How do you focus at night???

Try an amber flashlight beam. Doesn't wreck your dark adaptation to details as much as bright white but should give you enough contrast for AF.

XPHALCON wrote in post #4103532
If you have the luxury of having a speedlite (480EX, 580EX), the speedlite will emit an infrared light to assist in auto-focus. Also, as mentioned earlier with manual focus, you can judge the distance visually (say subject is about 10 feet) and then rotate the focus ring until 10 feet is lined up with the focus line. Hope this helps.

Would the ST-E2 have the same ability, whether or not it's commanding flashes?

Use a spy plane... I usually do manual focus on the lens (using the scale) with a short lenses (28mm) set it to infinity and F-stop to at least 8....don't forget the tripod.

This is for landscape with objects at LEAST 20 feet away.

Pixel9ine wrote in post #4105751
Laser Pointer.

I use a pointer for focus assistance in dark equipment a lot here at work.

Tried a flashlight the other night, trying to shoot up a tree at a trio of young raccoons, while balancing the 70-200 in one hand, focus with the back button, and still point the flashlight with the other hand. What a disaster that was. Really needed a third hand, and the coons were climbing too fast to allow me to turn of the back focus button. Built in flash couldn't help with the pre focus flash

You need one of those 1000 watt headlamps!

Manually.

rowdyred94 wrote in post #4104805
Say what, now? What will that do besides blind him?

sorry I should of worded that better.
well i shoot alot of long exposures at night and it is often very difficult to setup the shot. especially if I did not setup during dusk.
So often I will get my chickadee to shine a torch or flashlight. Not down the lense but towards me while standing by the object i want to be sharp and in focus.

Ive tried to manual focus without the aid of a light and its shocking. especially if it is pitch black where you are shooting exposures lasting 2-3 hours.

Aside from star trails or other sorts of astrophotography, what could require a 2-3 hour exposure???? You must be in one VERY dark place. Have you ever considered a night vision scope?

Hi, alot of neat tips here... I do alot of northern light photos, well i do alot of blury northern light photos. Anyone here got experience from this type of photo and maby have some focus tips?

do batteries last THAT long? 2-3 hours? WOW!

Laser pointer. I’ve got a Chinese gadget with exchangeable heads, that is projecting different shapes, not just a spot, excellent for autofocus. When focus is achieved by pressing the shutter half way down, I’m switching the lens to manual focus, than release the shutter, measuring again and taking the shot. It works fine for me.

cinder3d wrote in post #4132557
Hi, alot of neat tips here... I do alot of northern light photos, well i do alot of blury northern light photos. Anyone here got experience from this type of photo and maby have some focus tips?

Northern Lights just require infinity focus. You can focus on a star or something very distant. You can also do this in daylight and tape down the focus for later (make sure to leave the lens in manual focus). I use a magnifying right angle finder to help with night focus for star shots.

I understand Northern Lights are difificult because they're actually moving and so tend to come out blurry due to the long exposure times. Have you tried a higher ISO and wider aperture?

P.S. - Mirror-lock might also help.

i took a 1" shot using a remote from the canon 30d with kit lens
see results
http://bp0.blogger.com …ZQKU/s1600-h/IMG_8788.JPG

crosswire80 wrote in post #4170657
i took a 1" shot using a remote from the canon 30d with kit lens
see results
http://bp0.blogger.com …ZQKU/s1600-h/IMG_8788.JPG

Cool. What is it again?