night

[joe5-0swoman]

Hi there. I have a REBEL XTI and was wondering how to take night photos... What settings it should be on... I find my flash always flickers, and I get a busy message on the display... Does anyone know what or how to change the settings.

[kvbarkley]

The busy message is probably because you have Long Exposure Noise Reduction on. If you take a long exposure (> 1 sec) the camera will take *another* exposure so it can subtract the hot pixels. So, the camera will take twice as long to produce the image.

[RobertTheFat]

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@kvbarkley wrote:

The busy message is probably because you have Long Exposure Noise Reduction on. If you take a long exposure (> 1 sec) the camera will take *another* exposure so it can subtract the hot pixels. So, the camera will take twice as long to produce the image.

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LENR is a statistical technique aimed (I believe) at low-light noise, not hot pixels. On modern sensors hot pixels are pretty rare. Not like the old days, when manufacturers warned you to expect them.

[kvbarkley]

The XSi came out in 2008. It did have DIGIC III, though.

LENR  "is technology to combat the so-called fixed pattern noise that can develop as shutter speeds become progressively longer — a common issue in long night exposures and so on"

http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/resources/articles/2011/high_iso_noise_reduction_article.shtml

So maybe not "hot pixels", but pixels that are brighter than they should be.

[Waddizzle]

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@kvbarkley wrote:

The XSi came out in 2008. It did have DIGIC III, though.

LENR  "is technology to combat the so-called fixed pattern noise that can develop as shutter speeds become progressively longer — a common issue in long night exposures and so on"

http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/resources/articles/2011/high_iso_noise_reduction_article.shtml

So maybe not "hot pixels", but pixels that are brighter than they should be.

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That's true. 

Something else that appears to be true is that the OP is not able to take a picture because the cameras says "buSY".  And, that's why I'm ruling out LENR. 

[Waddizzle]

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@kvbarkley wrote:

The busy message is probably because you have Long Exposure Noise Reduction on. If you take a long exposure (> 1 sec) the camera will take *another* exposure so it can subtract the hot pixels. So, the camera will take twice as long to produce the image.

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Either that, or the built-in flash is recycling due to producing so many AF-Assist flash beams.  If this were the case, you should see a lightning bolt displayed next to the word "buSY" in the viewfinder.

[Waddizzle]

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@joe5-0swoman wrote:

Hi there. I have a REBEL XTI and was wondering how to take night photos... What settings it should be on... I find my flash always flickers, and I get a busy message on the display... Does anyone know what or how to change the settings.

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The display may flash "buSY" in the viewfinder for a couple of reasons, depending which camera mode that you are using and what optional noise reduction, NR, settings are enabled.. The camera may display "buSY" on the LCD if the camera is still writing a file to the memory card, even when the power is switched <OFF>.

Some causes for a "buSY" display:

• Continuous shooting may cause delay in completely saving all of the images in the buffer memory
• The Long Exposure Noise Reduction setting requires a period of itme equal to the length of the original exposure.
• The built-in flash is recycling, which will be accompanied by a lightning bolt symbol in the viewfinder.

There could be other reasons I may have missed, but the last reason, the flash recycling itself, could be why you're seeing "buSY".  The camera has been firing the flash as an AF Assist Beam, and it needs a little time to recharge itself.

[StanNH]

I always use the manual settings, then adjust my shutter speed and aperture as needed.  I also always use manual focus in low light.  Very slow shutter speeds will require a tripod or resting the camera on something solid to avoid camera shake.

[joe5-0swoman]

the camera was ON 🙂

[Waddizzle]

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@joe5-0swoman wrote:

Hi there. I have a REBEL XTI and was wondering how to take night photos... What settings it should be on... I find my flash always flickers, and I get a busy message on the display... Does anyone know what or how to change the settings.

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You should find a setting in the menus for "AF-Assist Beam", where you can disable it.  Without it, your camera may not be able to lock focus in many low light situations, and you may be forced to manually focus to get the shot.

Generally, though, i prefer indoor shots with ambient light, and so I leave the AF Assist disabled in my T5.  When my T5 has trouble focusing in low light, it usually means the ISO will go high enough to introduce noticeable noise.  That's my cue to get more light. 

The built-in flash doesn't reach much more than 5-10 feet, and neither will the AF-Assist Beam.  The built-in flash will cast a shadow with most lenses.