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I can't seem to take a picture with a Canon T3i Rebel in the dark. I want to take a picture at night with very little light around the subject, but the camera won't allow it in automatic mode. What can I do to make it work?

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If you search on google, you can find lot of tutorials on how to use flash/external lights to improve the lighting in low-light situations. If you have a specific question, all you have to do is ask - we'll be more than happy to help. – Chaithanya M Dec 25 '12 at 6:35
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Hi, welcome to photography stackexchange, you will get better answers if you ask a more specific question, taking a picture of people in a dark room is very different than photographing landscape at night for example - your question is just to broad to answer. – Nir Dec 25 '12 at 7:25
"Cannot" is such a strong word :-). You may need more light if exposure times do not suit. If you MUST use automatic mode then the camera MUST be able to take photos without having achieved focus OR you MUST focus it in some manner. You need to define the problem better as "cannot" is too broad a term.Why do you want to use "automatic mode"? – Russell McMahon Dec 25 '12 at 11:01
This has gotten a lot of close votes very quickly, so I'm going to attempt to edit it to make sense. Shabbir, if my edit doesn't match your intent, feel free to re-edit and add more detail and clarity. Others, if it still doesn't seem like a valuable question, continue on with that close button. :) – mattdm Dec 25 '12 at 17:05

2 Answers

up vote 3 down vote

There are several reasons your camera might not take a photo in low light.

First, it may be too dark for the autofocus system to work. Most cameras have AF systems which work down to about EV -1, which is dim ambient light. (Your eyes will adjust and be able to see relatively well, but the camera won't work.) And, in turn, many cameras will refuse to take a picture without a focus lock. There are three solutions here:

  1. Buy one of the relatively-few recent higher-end cameras with support for focus down to EV -3 (moonlight). This probably isn't a practical answer, as your current options are the Canon 6D at $2000 or the Pentax K-5ii at $1100. It may be that in the future this will trickle-down to entry level cameras like the Rebel, but I expect it'll be kept as a higher-level feature for a while.
  2. Use a focus-assist lamp. This feature is found on most add-on flashes (and can usually be used independently of the flash firing). Some cameras have a light built-in for this purpose, and others can strobe the built-in flash, which is very annoying but functional. Or, you could use a flashlight or laser pointer as an ad hoc solution.
  3. Put the camera in manual focus mode and do it yourself.

Second, it may be too dark for the longest shutter speed allowed by your camera's auto mode. Options here are:

  1. If you haven't already increased the ISO, do that. (On some cameras, auto-ISO will not go as high as setting it manually will.)
  2. Use manual mode to set a very long exposure, ideally with a tripod.
  3. Use the EV compensation to tell the camera you want an underexposed, dark image.
  4. Add light, with a flash, by flipping a light switch, or waiting until dawn.
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Might be a good idea to add Bulb mode to the post, perhaps? – Chinmay Kanchi Dec 26 '12 at 12:58
Sure. :) Bulb mode is a special form of manual mode where you hold the shutter open for an arbitrarily-long time rather than a preset. On many cameras, this is the only way to set your exposure longer than a minute or so. – mattdm Dec 26 '12 at 13:42
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You haven't mentioned which lens you are using, but the standard kit lens, a 18-55 zoom, is very slow (small maximum aperture). It doesn't let a lot of light into the sensor system.

Both the auto-focus system and the main sensor require light to work. They dont' work in the dark. Unlike your eyes. You may simply need more light.

When I am doing low light work on a tripod, I use a small LED flashlight to help the camera focus. Press the shutter half way, use the flashlight, turn off the flashlight and press the shutter the rest of the way.

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