AF warning on the 602

Rat,

I assume you meant , "I didn't find any harmful effects . . ."

To what kind of distance do you find workable AF with your 2x3 LED light rig?

I am very interested in such an approach. At the Sharper Image store here in Dallas I recall they had a wide selection of LED flashlights. I plan to drop by and see what they have that would seem to work out.

I'll certainly concentrate on the white ones.

Thanks.

Doug Kerr

I thought, that the camera taking exposure measure during autofocus...

Thank you for explanation

Doug Kerr said:

I think when a flashlight is used to asssit focusing, most people
turn it off before taking the shot. You can put the camera in
manual focus, turn on the flashlight, press the Quick Focus button
(in the center of AF/MF switch) to grab focus, turn off the
flahlight, and shoot.

A pain, I know!

Doug Kerr

Matt Dovner said:

Thanks

Doug Kerr said:

Peter,

It's not the warning that should annoy you but rather the fact that
the autofocus has in fact failed!

The S602 is notorious for is limited ability to autofocus in low
light.

Among the workarounds often cited here:

1. Use manual focus (if you can see anything in the EVF).

2. Have a flashlight with you to light up the scene for the
focusing procedure.

Doug Kerr

Click to expand...

--
FinePix-602Z
http://www.fujimugs.com
http://conquer.fotki.com

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
FinePix-602Z
http://www.fujimugs.com
http://conquer.fotki.com

Doug Kerr said:

I think when a flashlight is used to asssit focusing, most people
turn it off before taking the shot. You can put the camera in
manual focus, turn on the flashlight, press the Quick Focus button
(in the center of AF/MF switch) to grab focus, turn off the
flahlight, and shoot.

Click to expand...

That's certainly how I've used it. For these shots of a wild (and very patient and tolerant) badger, my husband held a flashlight on it's head, so I could focus on the stripes, I hissed 'now' when I was set for the shot, he turned the flashlight off, I took the shot - with the camera through glass, but with a remote flash outside the open window above on a long cable (lights all off inside, we were also in darkness). It needed two of us, as I was holding the flash at arms length and angling it at the badger as he snuffled about. It was a bit hit and miss and about half the shots were keepers, some didn't work for various reasons. But well worth the effort and about two years and three different cameras before I finally got the shots I wanted.

If the badger hadn't been injured and desperate for food and therefore more tolerant of irritations like the flash (that he actually seemed oblivious to - as with our voices and movement) I doubt I would have got these at all.

The shots were taken in total darkness apart from the flash, the full set can be seen in my general portfolio:



--
Fuji S602Z and 2800Z
http://www.peekaboo.me.uk - general portfolio
http://www.boo-photos.co.uk - live music photos
http://www.boo-photos.co.uk/lowlight.html - available light live music tutorial

What kind of flash light are you using? I just bought one and it's not doing the job...

Thanx

Peter

Peter Vit said:

What kind of flash light are you using? I just bought one and it's
not doing the job...

Click to expand...

I'm not sure what this one was - it's a very old one I cadged off my father by raiding his darkroom about 15 years ago - a little square box that attaches to the hotshoe using a curly lead rather than sitting on the camera. It's useful for filling in when you don't want the flash coming from the same direction as the lens - I use it often, but I couldn't tell you anything about it I'm afraid.

--
Fuji S602Z and 2800Z
http://www.peekaboo.me.uk - general portfolio
http://www.boo-photos.co.uk - live music photos
http://www.boo-photos.co.uk/lowlight.html - available light live music tutorial

Thanx Boo,

I went through your Live Music Photos tutorial. I am obsessed with live music Photography, usualy with very poor results.

I hope your advices will help me in the nex concert.

Thanx again

http://www.pbase.com/image/19443229

Don't tell my wife I am here, she thinks I am playing the piano in a bordello!

Peter Vit said:

http://www.pbase.com/image/19443229

Don't tell my wife I am here, she thinks I am playing the piano in
a bordello!

Click to expand...

That's a great photo, I like it very much. If it were mine, I'd perhaps retouch out the distracting light patch by his right arm and perhaps some of the lighter areas his left of the sax, they only serve to distract. You also don't need so much black area at the top - it only adds bytes (albeit not so many for a blank area like that) for your viewers to download when they view the photo.

Sometimes with views like this where the action is cropped abruptly, as in this case at the bottom of the frame around his hips, I feather the edge, or use a graduated mask so that it looks as though the light runs out, rather than the image just stops there - it just gives a softer edge. But now I'm being really picky and you might not have been wanting a critique ;-)

--
Fuji S602Z and 2800Z
http://www.peekaboo.me.uk - general portfolio
http://www.boo-photos.co.uk - live music photos
http://www.boo-photos.co.uk/lowlight.html - available light live music tutorial

Thanks Boo,

I really appreciate it.

Peter
--
Don't tell my wife I am here, she thinks I am playing the piano in a bordello!

Boo,

Thanx I followed your comments....

Really looks better.

Thanx a lot

http://public.fotki.com/Peter48/jazz-1/courtny_pine_eilat_2003.html

Peter
--
Don't tell my wife I am here, she thinks I am playing the piano in a bordello!

Peter Vit said:

Thanx I followed your comments....

Really looks better.

Click to expand...

It does indeed. It's just a shame that you didn't drop the camera (not literally ;-o ) a tiny bit and lose some of the blank space above his head and be able to include both his hands and the sax and still have room to fade the bottom out - then it would have been really incredible! But perhaps next time you'll remember this and frame accordingly. It's easier said than done in that sort of environment - I'm well aware of that. But the more you do, the more you'll think of these things instinctively.

I always try and include all the instrument in the shot, frame from both ends of a guitar and just above the head etc. - although sometimes you just have to take pot luck and hope a shot is a keeper. I keep the camera on preview in gig shoots, saves me taking home memory full of trash shots, which psychologically feels better - and you know in the one second of preview before you hit theOK button, if you've got that killer shot and I mentally note those frames and they're the ones I look at first! You'll get a tingle up your spine when you know you've hot paydirt through the viewfinder!

--
Fuji S602Z and 2800Z
http://www.peekaboo.me.uk - general portfolio
http://www.boo-photos.co.uk - live music photos
http://www.boo-photos.co.uk/lowlight.html - available light live music tutorial