How to shoot a wall?

[a-z0-9]

Wanted to shoot a plain white wall, tried program, auto,
and semi-auto modes, all do not seem to work. The camera
seems not able to focus on the wall. How to do it?
My camera is Canon EOS400d. Thanks!

 

[jmmtn4aj]

Put a flat object against the wall, an object that you can focus with, like a painting or drawing. Focus on that, then remove it. Use a grey card to measure exposure

 

[paradigm]

Wanted to shoot a plain white wall, tried program, auto,
and semi-auto modes, all do not seem to work. The camera
seems not able to focus on the wall. How to do it?
My camera is Canon EOS400d. Thanks!

A plain white wall does not have contrast, tt's why cannot auto-focus ... got nothing to do w the modes or the camera ...

usually I will focus at the edge of the walls and then shift-focus ...

 

[elmzarcega]

you just have to use manual focus... simple as that....

 

[cantaresg]

Usually I'd just manual focus or look for a spot that has sufficient contrast to focus and recompose. Anyone tried using focus assist with flash? Can it focus that way?

 

[lizzy]

i think it is quite difficult to manual focus on a plain white wall...

 

[catchlights]

tape a piece of new paper on the wall to help you focus, once focus lock, remove the paper.
for A mode, or P mode, dial +2EV and make your exposure

 

[Pablo]

Lean a broom or mop (household item) against the wall, focus on that, then remove the broom (or mop).

 

[Red Rush]

use a laser pointer - point at the wall and focus on the spot/point.

works for just about any low-contrast scene - except for perhaps a wall of red, laser-pointer sort of intense light (for which you probably will go blind from the effort...!)

 

[MDZ2]

Usually I'd just manual focus or look for a spot that has sufficient contrast to focus and recompose. Anyone tried using focus assist with flash? Can it focus that way?

Yup, with my old F90 + SB26 setup, taking a plain wall with focus assist beam worked like a charm.

 

[xunjas]

i would use manual focus for this scenario.