Set Infinite Focus

[blade_922]

Hi,

Have a canon 550d using kit lens 18-55mm want to set infinite focusing. Good clear night tonight over glasgow, bar a little fog in the distance. Would like to snap up some shots of the stars.

How do you set it to infinite focus?

What i do at the moment is, set up on the tri-pod, then use the 10xdigital zoom to zoom into 1 star and i manually focus it so its clear. Im sure there is a better way with infinite focus right?

 

[TCR4x4]

Set it to the infinite focus mark on the lens which is a sideways 8.

 

[blade_922]

It has nothing like that. I know what symbol you mean but i dont see it anywhere on the lens at all.

 

[Splog]

Just find a street light or something bright that's in the distance and focus on that

 

[boliston]

I think some kit lenses don't have a distance scale, on the basis that most people will just use AF with these lenses.

 

[hollis_f]

How do you set it to infinite focus?

What i do at the moment is, set up on the tri-pod, then use the 10xdigital zoom to zoom into 1 star and i manually focus it so its clear. Im sure there is a better way with infinite focus right?

Nope, the way your doing it is the best way to ensure that you're accuratley focussed at infinity.

Setting the focus all the way until it stops probably won't work, nor will using the infinity symbol. The problem is that the best position will vary with the wavelength of the light, the focal length (if you're using a zoom lens) and with temperature. That's why the infinity symbol on most lenses has a horizontal line under it; infinity focus can be anywhere along that line.