SL3 AF in dark?

[Jonathan Levin]

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I thought I asked this before but couldn't find the thread.

The camera has real difficulty focusing on subject in near dark conditions. Looking through viewfinder and it's totally dark. At an outdoor event last night and focus was having trouble picking up something to focus on. I think Nikon had a mode that had a focus assist "light" that helped with focus. Does the SL3 have that?  Maybe I need to bring a flashlight😁.

I was using a hand held flash. A bunch of my shots were pretty soft. Maybe manual focus and small aperture  is my friend in this case.

Sorry if this has been asked before.

[LocalHero1953]

The SL3-S has. I have never used it, but it's always the first thing I switch off!

[Jonathan Levin]

I know there was that pption on the Nikon D800/850. I never used itt. Maybe an old miners helmet with a headlight would help.

[LocalHero1953]

12 minutes ago, Jonathan Levin said:

I know there was that pption on the Nikon D800/850. I never used itt. Maybe an old miners helmet with a headlight would help.

Have you checked the manual?

[frame-it]

3 hours ago, Jonathan Levin said:

 I think Nikon had a mode that had a focus assist "light" that helped with focus. Does the SL3 have that?  Maybe I need to bring a flashlight😁.

I was using a hand held flash. 

i though most AF assist beams from cameras were infrared?

[Jonathan Levin]

Page 122. I’ll have to try that.

[Jonathan Levin]

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Well this was disappointing.

I had a chance to try out the AF lamp assist and it is pretty useless or I’m doing something completely wrong.

First the lamp location on the camera. With a 24-90 lens on camera, the “beam” is obstructed by the lens. So in the viewfinder you only see illumination in the upper left portion of frame. In order for it to work, you have to move the focus square to that area. This is made worse if the lens shade is on.

This is not really workable but I was hoping. Maybe with a smaller lens like an M lens or a short in lenghth prime this could work. There probably isn’t anywhere on the SL3 that this assist could be placed for it to work properly. Maybe above the Leica name on housing?

Struck out on this one Leica🙁