Interesting thread, I'll add my $0.02. I bought autofocus equipment when I upgraded my equipment a couple of years ago, and have thought about going back to the old manual focus equipment for night shooting ever since. It can be hard to get good focus when there is no infinity stop and you can't see what the camera is looking at very well. I've tried to figure out how to manual focus in the dark by testing each lens ahead of time to see where the focus index needs to be on the scale - each lens seems to be different in this respect. I've also tried walking out into the scene to be photographed and placing a flashlight where I want the center of focus to be - the flashlight faces back toward the camera and gives the autofocus something to focus on. Another thing I've used when infinity focus is desired is to take the camera off the tripod long enough to focus on the moon or some other distant "bright" light such as a lit road sign or billboard. After that I take the camera out of auto focus mode and carefully put it back on the tripod without touching the focus ring. That also works with the 4x5, where I focus each corner of the ground glass on the moon before framing up the desired scene. I've used a 2-million candle power hand-held lamp to light up the center of focus too, and that works pretty well providing there is a object at the center of focus that is light toned enough to get the auto focus' attention. Interesting how I keep going back to thinking the best equipment for night shooting is the simple manual-controlled equipment of yesterday. You don't have to fight it to get the results you are after - except for the reciprocity failure, which I don't miss at all.
- Kit