Blurry night shots...

JerseyJules · Sep 3, 2012

Im getting blurry night shots for some odd reason. Im using a decent tripod and remote shutter release, but have no clue why my shots are blurring. Im trying to get the NYC skyline and some other landmarks but they keep blurring. It hapend with my 18-55 lens or my 55-300 lens..What am I doing wrong? Im trying different SS and F-stops to no avail..

CowgirlMama · Sep 3, 2012

Is your image stabilization on? When you're on a tripod, it needs to be off.

What is your aperture and how are you focusing? Both of those play into it, too.

Derrel · Sep 3, 2012

#1 and #3 look like VERY SLIGHT camera vibration...kind of hard to "see" very well with such small images. WIND GUSTS can cause that. Judging by the water's degree of blur and the flag in shot #3, my suspicion is that the camera is moving a leeeeetle teeensie bit during the longer exposures.

It does not take much wind to move a camera. Vibrations can also be introduced through the legs of the tripod OR even the "neck" of a ballhead, below the camera plate. When shooting lights against a predominantly dark field, the "point source" that is the light will reallllly telegraph camera movement, and our brain will see it very easily!

Can you zoom in to a FULL-sized image, wayyyy in, and see if there might not be a tiny bit of blurring present, like around a light source? That's usually the very easiest place to spot a very faint "ghosting" or secondary image that shows the camera was somehow moved that teenie-tiny bit...

JerseyJules · Sep 3, 2012

Derrel said:
#1 and #3 look like VERY SLIGHT camera vibration...kind of hard to "see" very well with such small images. WIND GUSTS can cause that. Judging by the water's degree of blur and the flag in shot #3, my suspicion is that the camera is moving a leeeeetle teeensie bit during the longer exposures.

It does not take much wind to move a camera. Vibrations can also be introduced through the legs of the tripod OR even the "neck" of a ballhead, below the camera plate. When shooting lights against a predominantly dark field, the "point source" that is the light will reallllly telegraph camera movement, and our brain will see it very easily!

Can you zoom in to a FULL-sized image, wayyyy in, and see if there might not be a tiny bit of blurring present, like around a light source? That's usually the very easiest place to spot a very faint "ghosting" or secondary image that shows the camera was somehow moved that teenie-tiny bit...

The more I zoom in the more you can see the blur, especially around the light source. It was a bit breezy out, and my Image Stabalization was "ON" I didnt know you had to turn it off.

JerseyJules · Sep 3, 2012

CowgirlMama said:
Is your image stabilization on? When you're on a tripod, it needs to be off. What is your aperture and how are you focusing? Both of those play into it, too.

No it was "ON", I didnt know that...Aperature was between F8 and F11, autofocusing.

Jaemie · Sep 3, 2012

Did you release the shutter with finger, self-timer, or remote?

2WheelPhoto · Sep 3, 2012

you'll have better luck at f8-f11 too than what my exif reader shows you were attempting.

JerseyJules · Sep 4, 2012

2WheelPhoto said:
you'll have better luck at f8-f11 too than what my exif reader shows you were attempting.

I tried a wide variety of F/stops..No luck..Gonna try with the Image Stabilization off. Also was using a remote shutter.

JerseyJules · Sep 4, 2012

I tried it again with image stabilization off. Ranging from F8-F11 ISO 800 and a SS of about 5-8 seconds. It seems as if it focuses on the statue and blurs everything else a bit. This was with my 55-300 lens zoomed in about 250mm. If I use my smaller lens for a full city view it really blurs. What could I be doing wrong here?

amolitor · Sep 4, 2012

Set the lens on manual focus. Turn on live view. Zoom in as far as possible on something you want sharp. Focus manually.

Autofocus has trouble at night, and it's ALSO hard for you to tell what it's decided to focus on.

Dubaiian · Sep 4, 2012

Totally agree with Amolitor. Not sure if its an option on your camera, but my 7D allows you to set a parameter showing exactly what the point of focus was when reviewing the image on the LCD with little red squares. As Amolitor said, it could be having trouble focussing at night. Whenever I take these type of shots, I use Liveview and zoom the LCD into the main focal point and manually focus to be sure. Hope it helps.

KmH · Sep 4, 2012

If you have a 'protective' filter on your lens, take it off.

At long distance and over water, moisture in the air will cause blur. As low as those clouds are I suspect the humidity was kind of high.

Small lens apertures promote diffraction effects which can be an issue.

A consumer grade lens will not give as good a result as a pro grade lens.

Derrel · Sep 4, 2012

I looked at these, and for 1600 pixels wide, they looked "okay". I think KmH's post above, #12, about sums it up....shooting LONG DISTANCES in humid or hot or dusty conditions MAY cause problems with moisture in the air, mist, fog, particulate matter, or heat mirage aka "heat shimmer". And by long distance, I mean as short as a few hundred yards! I was at the seashore about 10 days ago...using a 200 to 400mm focal length on my 80-400 VR Nikkor zoom, I got TERRIBLE softening of my images from airborne sea spray, at distances of around 100 yards and out to the limit of visibility, which was just about one half-mile, estimated. In "marine" environments, like near oceans and bays and such, there is often a LOT of small water droplets in the form of wave mist, fog, or other type of mist, suspended in the air, and that airborne water particulate really messes with sharpness! The water droplets act like millions of tiny little lenses! And then too, as KmH stated, a consumer lens is not typically as good as a "pro" lens. I dunno...at 1600 pixels long dimension, this later batch looks "okay", at least to me, on-screen. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES, of all types, can be a real CHALLENGE when shooting outdoors!!!

pgriz · Sep 4, 2012

With my T1i, the autofocus is not as precise as I would like. Therefore, when I really want to be sure I have the focus where it needs to be:
1) the camera is on a sturdy tripod, (to minimize camera shake),
2) lens IS is off, (on some lenses, the AF may "hunt" and cause bluriness),
3) lens AF is off (manual focus, because you will show it what to focus on),
4) focusing is done manually using live-view (10x), because that gives you the best focusing aid available,
5) shutter is released either with a remote or using the 2-second shutter release delay (again, to minimize camera shake).
6) No filters (unless I need the polarizer or the split ND filter).

f-stop is chosen according to the DOF requirements I have for that image, and the shutter speed is set according to the meter/experience. As Keith has mentioned, I stay away from the high f/numbers such as f/22 or f/32 (fine detail killed by diffraction), and from the low end (f/1.8 to f/4) due to lens abberations, etc.