# 5D Mark III Extreme Live View Noise



## tpott (Jan 30, 2015)

Hi Guys,

I use a Canon 5D Mark III for Landscape & Night Photography. In order to get pin point sharp stars at night, I've been trying the live view method to zoom in on a bright star and manually focus until it becomes tack sharp. The problem I'm having is that when I zoom in 5x or 10x, I cannot see anything but noise. I've attached a photo to show you what I see. I apologize for the quality as it was snapped in the dark with my iPhone. I've tried with exposure simulation both on and off with no luck. Does anyone else have this same issue and if so, how can I get around it?


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## verysimplejason (Jan 30, 2015)

tpott said:


> Hi Guys,
> 
> I use a Canon 5D Mark III for Landscape & Night Photography. In order to get pin point sharp stars at night, I've been trying the live view method to zoom in on a bright star and manually focus until it becomes tack sharp. The problem I'm having is that when I zoom in 5x or 10x, I cannot see anything but noise. I've attached a photo to show you what I see. I apologize for the quality as it was snapped in the dark with my iPhone. I've tried with exposure simulation both on and off with no luck. Does anyone else have this same issue and if so, how can I get around it?



Just focus to infinity. You might be focusing on a very dark object.


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## tpott (Jan 30, 2015)

I tried the focus to infinity trick, but it's not precise like it was with the older style manual lenses. The lenses nowadays actually focus past infinity and you have to adjust them slightly from there. It's always a bit of a guessing game. I did try to lower the ISO from 3200 to 400, but the same amount of extreme noise occurs when using Live View and zooming in 5x or 10x. I'd like to know if any other 5D Mark III users have this same issue when using live view in low light conditions? If it's just my camera, I will send it in to be looked at.


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## East Wind Photography (Jan 30, 2015)

verysimplejason said:


> tpott said:
> 
> 
> > Hi Guys,
> ...



Use software to focus the camera for stars. BackyardEOS is relatively inexpensive. Also gives you a number of other features useful for astrophotographers. You need a computer and your camera usb cable. Once you get focus just switch the lens to manual mode.

I've also found that it's good to let the camera and lens temperature stabilize for about an hour. Focus can change during the cool down or warm up period.


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## verysimplejason (Jan 31, 2015)

East Wind Photography said:


> verysimplejason said:
> 
> 
> > tpott said:
> ...



You can also ask one of our better astro-photographers here in canonrumors, JRISTA.


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