how to set lens to infinity?-& white balance question

[kgreen]

How do I set my lens to infinity? -(Lens-nikkor 18-105mm) Nikon D-7000.
Also do most people change the white balance manually, or will the camera do okay with auto-white balance?

 

[kgreen]

Sorry, I deleted my post. It really was a mess of an interpretation, & to save myself from embarrassment, I went ahead & got rid if it. My original question was how to set my lens to infinity. While my second post I was trying to understand the concept. I just started my photography class last week, so I apoligize for the confusion I'm new to all this.

 

[Luv2Scrap]

After re-reading my post I realize I was just rambling, & the answer to the first question would take a bit of explaining. Little did I know after posting this question, my next lesson in my photography class would be "depth of field"...hyperfocal distance setting. So it makes morse sense now.
If I were to take a landscape photo wanting to show a feeling of extensive distance, I would need the greatest possible depth of field. So I would use a smaller aperture, & focus some where near the center of the scene. Then a little bit before the focus point & beyond to infinity would be in sharp focus. If I understood correctly, there is no one correct hyperfocal distance. That would be up to the photographer to decide. I now understand why it would be recommended for firework photo's.

Well shoot, I was looking forward to the answer to your question about how to set it to infinity, but now I'm super confused!

 

[MICKEY88]

additional info..

when shooting Buzz Lightyear at WDW,, make sure you set your lens to "Infinity and Beyond".

 

[disneyboy2003]

additional info..

when shooting Buzz Lightyear at WDW,, make sure you set your lens to "Infinity and Beyond".

This cracked me up!

 

[Daisy14'sDH]

additional info..

when shooting Buzz Lightyear at WDW,, make sure you set your lens to "Infinity and Beyond".

Thanks I needed that!

 

[MICKEY88]

Thanks I needed that!

you are quite welcome

 

[boBQuincy]

In the spirit of Buzz Lightyear a lens can actually be set beyond infinity! Due to manufacturing tolerances many lenses can be focused past the true infinity focus so manually setting the lens to it's farthest focusing distance may be too far. Probably the best way to set the lens to infinity is to autofocus on something far away, in most cases a few hundred feet is sufficient. Then set the lens to manual focus without moving anything.

 

[manning]

http://www.slrphotographyguide.com/camera/settings/focus-infinity.shtml

 

[kgreen]

http://www.slrphotographyguide.com/c...infinity.shtml

Thank you! That was a great explanation, & easy enough to understand! They also had numerous articles for beginners. Thank you!

 

[MICKEY88]

http://www.slrphotographyguide.com/camera/settings/focus-infinity.shtml

interesting piece, but it is inaccurate, you can indeed focus a lens on inifinity if it only has one focus ring.. the important thing is that it has the infinity symbol on it..

 

[kgreen]

MICKEY88- I was wondering about when it said you had to have 2 focusing rings. My lens only has 1 focusing ring, but imprinted on the underside of the lens close to to body of the camera it has the infinity symbol.

 

[MICKEY88]

MICKEY88- I was wondering about when it said you had to have 2 focusing rings. My lens only has 1 focusing ring, but imprinted on the underside of the lens close to to body of the camera it has the infinity symbol.

I've been playing with cameras for over 30 years, worked for Ritz camera for a few years , have a dozen lenses in my collection, and have never seen a lens with 2 focus rings..LOl

when I read that last night, first thing I did was got up, walked across my studio, picked a lens off of the shelf, and thought hmm one focus ring, and the infinity symbol in the little glass window...LOL

the internet is a wonderful source of information, the only problem is, not all of it is accurate information..

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I usually always use auto white balance. I shoot RAW, so I can adjust the white balance later to suit my needs. I often prefer a slightly warmer than accurate white balance.

One big exception is when I'm shooting video. Like shooting jpg, your ability to fix white balance with video is limited. When I can, I set a custom white balance using an Expodisc or a grey card. When I can't, I either use one of the presets or guess. I really don't like AWB for video because it can shift over time.

I've read that you should try to get an accurate white balance even when shooting RAW. The reason is that the white balance affects your histogram and could lead you to mis-expose some shots. Honestly, I think the effect is small enough that I typically don't worry about it. I tried being that fussy for a while, but I didn't see a real world benefit.

One other time I'll manually adjust white balance is when I'm going for an "effect." I sometimes like to take shots with a gel on my flash, set the white balance to match the gel, and let the other colors go. For example, if you shoot a subject at night with a yellow gel and then set the white balance to neutralize the yellow, the background will turn very, very blue. You can still make all of your adjustments in post processing and shoot it RAW, but by using your white balance in real time, you'll be able to preveiw the effect.

In the spirit of Buzz Lightyear a lens can actually be set beyond infinity! Due to manufacturing tolerances many lenses can be focused past the true infinity focus so manually setting the lens to it's farthest focusing distance may be too far. Probably the best way to set the lens to infinity is to autofocus on something far away, in most cases a few hundred feet is sufficient. Then set the lens to manual focus without moving anything.

It's not just manufacturing tolerances that cause a problem. Inifinity focus for any given lens can shift a bit at different zoom levels and at different temperatures. The infinity marking is a reasonable approximation, but your suggesting on focusing on something far away is a good idea. I sometimes use the moon.

http://www.slrphotographyguide.com/camera/settings/focus-infinity.shtml

That link is a bit loopy. Don't take photography advice from people that can't distinguish between a focus ring and a zoom ring.

 

[Golf4food]

Like Mark I normally let the camera handle white balance. My old camera wasn't very good at it so I frequently did manual adjustment when changing lighting - a nightmare at Disney when going indoors/outdoors/mixture every few minutes. But my current camera does such a good job with it I just let it. I will sometimes do a manual adjustment but in RAW I find the camera gets so close 99% of the time it isn't worth my time to mess with it (and then forget I messed with it and screw up a lot of shots after I leave that lighting!).

 

[BillyBuff]

Maybe it's a new lens design...two focus rings: one for front focus and the other for back focus LOL

 

[MICKEY88]

Maybe it's a new lens design...two focus rings: one for front focus and the other for back focus LOL