Eos 4000d not focusing on the night sky

[Travelthis]

Hi I’m new to eos as I recently bought an eos 4000d. I have attempted star photography multiple times but the camera on autofocus refuses to take a photo and on autofocus it stays blurred. It’s really frustrating to me but I’m sure I’m just making a stupid mistake somewhere so I was wondering if anyone could give me some help with this? Thank you 

[jrhoffman75]

Welcome to the forum.

You have several problems here: 1. the sky isn't an object, it's a concept, there isn't anything to focus on. If you point the camera at a star it is going to be too small and not bright enough for the AF to work.

You have two options: 1. more reliable - in the daytime focus your camera (you can use AF) on a distant object. Something many hundreds of feet away - it will be essentially infinity. Switch the lens to manual focus and use a piece of tape to tape the focus ring so focus won't shift. 2. less easy - at night on your tripod switch the camera to manual focus and Live View. Use the focus ring to bring the stars on the Live View screen to their sharpest appearance. Tape the lens.

Once you get that taken care of have fun.

[ebiggs1]

First I would set the lens to M. The switch on the lens, AF/MF. If there is a Moon out you can focus manually on it and leave the lens alone. Or, sometimes, you can focus manually on a bright star or planet like Jupiter or Venus. Once focus is achieved everything is in focus. You did not specify which lens you are using but I would suggest you get a good astro lens if you are really interested in astrophotography. Some are not expensive and do a very good job. They are manual focus only lenses. One example is the Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC Lens For Canon EF. Remember these lenses are totally manual. No auto features!