Why won't my T6s take photos at night when the humidity is 90% or higher? The shutter just quits.

[eodma]

There are nights when the humidity is low, that the camera will work & the shutter button doesn't freeze up. However, tonight the humidity is at 91% and the shutter button won't work. Within seconds of being in my home it works. I go back outside & it quits. I don't have the air conditioner on in the house. This has happened at least 8 times when the humidity is high at night. It works in foggy conditions early morning, but in the middle of the night it quits. Has anyone else had this problem? I purchased this camera a couple months ago & I'm extremely dissapointed because of the full moon & its absolutely beautiful out.....except for the humidity. 😞 

[diverhank]

How do you know it's the humidity and not some things else that cause it?  Most often the reason for the camera not to take a picture is that it can't focus, and the reason for this is that there is not enough light.  You can check the view finder to see if the focus indicator is flashing. 

[RobertTheFat]

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@diverhank wrote:

How do you know it's the humidity and not some things else that cause it?  Most often the reason for the camera not to take a picture is that it can't focus, and the reason for this is that there is not enough light.  You can check the view finder to see if the focus indicator is flashing. 

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If one accepts the premise that it really is the humidity, I can think of only one mechanism that might conceivably cause it. If you're using the infra-red transmitter of a Canon speedlite to provide an autofocus assist beam, water molecules in the air might be absorbing enough of the IR light to leave the camera unable to focus.

[eodma]

I previously had a point & shoot which would shut down in high humidity, I just had to pop the battery out & back in which solved the problem. lol That's the first thing I thought of when the T6s did this. lol I tried switching to MF and it worked like a charm! It was not enough light, thank you for the heads up!

[Waddizzle]

Put the camers lens into MF mode.  Use Live View to focus.  It is easy to over expose moon photos.  I usually try to underexpose by1-2 stops [depending upon the phase of the moon] to get good Moon photos.  Google " Looney 11 Rule ".

[ScottyP]

Diverhank is right. It is not the humidity but rather the darkness preventing the autofocus from working properly.  What is dark to a camera is different than what your eyes can see. Your eyes are much better at working in low light than your camera is. 

[ebiggs1]

"...except for the humidity."

It hasn't got anything to do with the humidity/  It is how dark it is.  This can be proven by setting the camera and lens to manual.

There is a AF/MF switch on the lens and a Manual setting in the camera's menu. Choose both.  Set the ISO to 100.  The SS to 1/100 and the aperture to f11.  Go out side and try again.  I bet it will work.  However you may need to tweak these guesstimates a bit.

BTW, what lens are you using on your T6s?  For a up close Moon shot you need a long focal length lens, i.e. 300mm or 400mm.  Even longer is better.

[eodma]

Thank you so much for the heads up on not enough light! I'm new at the DSLR's but appreciate any lessons I learn in the process!!  ebiggs1 Thank you for your suggestion, I did what you said to do & BAM....I got my moon landscape shots! Yay!! I was using two lenses for some landscape shots, a 55- 250mm & 18-135mm. 

[Waddizzle]

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@eodma wrote:

Thank you so much for the heads up on not enough light! I'm new at the DSLR's but appreciate any lessons I learn in the process!!  @ebiggs1 Thank you for your suggestion, I did what you said to do & BAM....I got my moon landscape shots! Yay!! I was using two lenses for some landscape shots, a 55- 250mm & 18-135mm. 

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You will get the best results using a robust, heavy duty tripod [professional grade with interchangeable head for best results] and the built-in shutter delay timer.  The smallest camera shake or vibration will add blur, reducing the sharpness of the final photo. 

Ernie suggested using lenses long focal lengths, he cited super telephoto focal lengths.  The longer your focal lengths, the more acute the vibration and shake problem will become.  At 250mm, you're just beginning to reveal details. 

The best looking moon shots can be captured when the moon isn't full, because the sun shines directly down into craters and casts no shadows.  Crater shadows create a sense of depth and greater detail.

[ebiggs1]

" The longer your focal lengths, the more acute the vibration and shake problem will become."

This can not be stressed enough.  As focal length increases so do all the bad things, too.  Hand in hand!