580EX II and MKIII shooting in the dark?

I am a very inexperienced flash photog . Last night I tried to get a pic of a Church with my 580EX II and MKIII, it was not lit up at all. Could not get any AF at all although on closer subjects I had no problems. Am I asking to much of the AF Assist to enable me to get AF on objects they are very dark and a fair distance away or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks

if it's a fair distance away, then i wouldn't be surprised if the IR from the flash can't reach to the actual subject.

It's IR LED's not laser, so you should expect to see the light pattern dissipate over distance... and since the pattern dissipates, it loses contrast, and since it loses contrast, the AF sensors don't have anything to lock onto. Therefore, yes you are asking too much.

when can we espect lazer ?

actualy why not buy a lazer and try it ?

SilverOnemi wrote in post #4191531
when can we espect lazer ?

actualy why not buy a lazer and try it ?

I've seen a few photog's doing something like this in dimly lit venues. Even though you may want focus to be on a persons eyes, i wouldn't suggest pointing a laser there.

http://www.outdooreyes​.com/photo76.php3

Mark_48 wrote in post #4191667
I've seen a few photog's doing something like this in dimly lit venues. Even though you may want focus to be on a persons eyes, i wouldn't suggest pointing a laser there.

http://www.outdooreyes​.com/photo76.php3

whow that is so nice... yeah i better not .

gonna get 1 for me