Hi I recently bought a Canon E300D, and am relatively new to photography. I'm particularly interested in low light and night photography - some of the magazine articles I have read on the subject talk of long exposures with the lens set to infinity. I can't find whether the 300D's bundled lens has an infinity switch though - can anyone help?
I recently took some firework photos and had the same problem with the infinity setting. My 100-300 usm has it, but the packaged lens does show it.
Set the lense to manual focus, and set accordingly. If you dont have a remote, and don't require immediate capture, try using the timer to limit the camera shake on pressing the shutter release.
If you have a laptop, you could use the package software, for remote control of the camera, although this is probably overkill.
There are two things you need to worry about: exposure and focus. The articles you read spoke of [em]long exposure[/em] and [em]lens set to infinity[/em]. To achieve these two things, you need to set your camera to manual (captial M) on the dial that is on the top lefthand side of the camera (to the left of the flash). Then use the roller under your right index finger to roll towards the flash until the exposure time reads "bulb". The bulb setting on any camera allows you to control manually how long the shutter remains open (see my note about long exposures at the end of this post). To set the lens to infinity, you should twist the focus ring on your lens counterclockwise until rather than displaying a number on the top of the lens (just down from the flash unit) it displays a sideways 8). That sideways 8 is the symbol for infinity and it means that the lens is set to focus out to infinity or at least as close as it can achieve. Now you're ready to attempt what you've read about in those magazines.
CAVEAT - all directions are based on my 10D and my one or two experiences with a friend's 300D.
Note on long exposures:
Long exposures work because they expose the media (in this case the CMOS chip) to very low levels of light. Because the shutter is open for an extended period, the camera must be held still to obtain sharp, crisp definition. Trying to handhold an extended exposure (for the sake of argument anything that causes the shutter to be open longer than 1/30th of a second) is almost impossible for most people. A breath, your heartbeat or any motion causes the camera to move a little and the photo you get will end up being blurry and odd. This can be used to good effect if that's what you're trying for. If what you want is a sharp, well defined image then you should definitely consider purchasing a tripod and a shutter release. A tripod for nighttime photos or low-light shots shouldn't cost an arm & leg and I just saw today where B&H Photo offers a shutter release for the 300D at a reasonable price (I think it was around $30 USD). Before you get buy either of these, though, I'd suggest you go out and just see what kind of results you get with handholding or resting the camera. It may not be what you wanted but the photos you produce might be very artistic nonetheless.
My experince of taking photos of the moon the other morning -
I used manual focus which was just off infinity, just pointing the lens at the distant object and setting it to infinity will not always result in a clear, focused shot, particulary at low light/night time.
two things -
one - the stock lense on the 300d doesnt lable the focal range on the focus ring. so there is no sideways 8 ( infinity sign ) to look for.
two
mariomel - the infinity setting for focus means that everything from a certain distance away and to infinity will be in focus - but you lose on the closer items in the view - there is some talk of acheiving it in the forums - run a search for infinity focus - or hyperfocal distance
To set your focus to infinity just set it to manual focus, point it at something far away, focus, done. If you just turn your dial to the infinity symbol its not going to be sharp. Normally just off the symbol is where you will end up.
I think that both bulb comments from robsmith and soup can be correct. Because the Canon EOS 10D and 300D/Digital Rebel use electronically controlled shutters the exposure lasts as long as you hold down the shutter release and as long as the battery lasts. Since the camera doesn't have a mechanical shutter release, if the battery goes, so does the shutter (of course your image wouldn't be saved but the point was about the shutter). If you're going to try this, I would still suggest the TC-80N which is the Timer Control for about $129 on B&H or Adorama or you could get the much cheaper $30 or $40 infrared remote for the Digital Rebel (I think but I've not used that piece).
I think that both bulb comments from robsmith and soup can be correct. Because the Canon EOS 10D and 300D/Digital Rebel use electronically controlled shutters the exposure lasts as long as you hold down the shutter release and as long as the battery lasts. Since the camera doesn't have a mechanical shutter release, if the battery goes, so does the shutter (of course your image wouldn't be saved but the point was about the shutter). If you're going to try this, I would still suggest the TC-80N which is the Timer Control for about $129 on B&H or Adorama or you could get the much cheaper $30 or $40 infrared remote for the Digital Rebel (I think but I've not used that piece).
One thing to check is that the digital rebel can't use the same remotes and timers as the 10D and D60. It has a more restricted remote interface so I think you have to buy the rebel only remote.
on a full battery charge the 300d can take up to a 4 hour exposure using the remote - or a patient finger i suppose - or a piece of duct tape ;}
the remotes i saw for the 300d - were around $25-30
although i didnt look into it too deeply - there is a wireless and a wired control for it that i saw - planning on getting one after the holidays.
I bought the remote cable release a few weeks back (300D) - it is pretty good but the reception at the camera end can be a little hit and miss. If you are stood in front of the camera it is great, but if you are behind it you'll end up leaning over the camera and pointing the remote back at the front of the camera to get it to work. I should have bought the more expensive 'cable' cable release.
I bought the cable release from B&H.
The remote is nice but I was afraid there would be times I couldn't get around to the front of the camera without disturbing the subject.
The new cataloge is nice from B&H. Reminds me of the old Sears Christmas Wish Book. All of Santa's toys!!
