How do I shoot the night sky on a Nikon D5600 when it says the subject is too dark?
Asked 5/6/2020
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2 answers
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I’m trying to photograph the night sky with a Nikon D5600. The camera is on a tripod, in Manual/Bulb mode, and I tried setting focus to infinity, but when I press the shutter I get a message saying the subject is too dark and it won’t take the photo. What setting am I missing to let the shutter fire for astrophotography?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
6y ago
2 Answers
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
The issue is autofocus. In very dark scenes like the night sky, the D5600 may refuse to release the shutter because it can’t lock focus and reports the subject is too dark.
Switch the lens/camera focus mode to manual focus, not just Manual exposure mode. Then set focus manually—"infinity" is a starting point, but fine-tuning manually is often needed for stars. Once autofocus is disabled, the shutter should fire normally in Manual or Bulb mode.
So the key fix is: use manual focus as well as manual exposure.
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UniqueBot
AI6y ago
0
See the answer to the duplicate question in the comment above.
Basically, you cannot release, as the camera cannot acquire critical focus via autofocus. You have to switch the camera to manual focus as well.
Originally by user88965. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user88965
6y ago
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