DSLR Night Shot settings?

phoenix_rising · Apr 21, 2008

brileyphotog said:
I second that motion.

You do not need another lens...Don't get me wrong, the 50mm/f1.8 is a great lens, but the tripod is what you need for night time shooting (even if you've got a fast lens). Using the manual zoom, i.e. walking, with a fixed lens is a real pain when you have your camera attached to the tripod you'll still need even at f1.8.

Good to hear Mav, Myst, and Briley. I will be picking up a new tripod and a remote in the next coming weeks and I will be putting your suggestions to work. Thank you!

Have a great week folks!

Mav · Apr 21, 2008

"My ML-L3 was the best $15 I ever spent reason #2342938723"

D40 sitting on its side with my 17-55DX lens although the $100 18-55 would have done as well here. 2 second exposure at iso200 and f/11 using a can of baby formula powder and another one of my lenses to prop the camera up on since I didn't have my tripod with me. :lol:

With the delay mode it would have been too difficult to time shots right, and I would have gotten blur without it. I timed this exposure to start at the point where the maximum amount of traffic was going by to make the street look the most interesting. This is straight off the camera, no PP. ML-L3 FTW.

phoenix_rising · Apr 21, 2008

Mav said:
"My ML-L3 was the best $15 I ever spent reason #2342938723"

D40 sitting on its side with my 17-55DX lens although the $100 18-55 would have done as well here. 2 second exposure at iso200 and f/11 using a can of baby formula powder and another one of my lenses to prop the camera up on since I didn't have my tripod with me. With the delay mode it would have been too difficult to time shots right, and I would have gotten blur without it. I timed this exposure to start at the point where the maximum amount of traffic was going by to make the street look the most interesting. This is straight off the camera, no PP. ML-L3 FTW.

Hey not bad!!! Thats what I am talking about. I will give that a try as well. Thanks!

RyanLilly · Apr 21, 2008

You don't need a faster lens, the second picture was shot at f/5.6. ans 2 second shutter speed. You just need a tripod, low ISO and a long shutter speed. If you don't have a remote shutter release you can use the timer setting to avoid camera shake.

Try this, shoot at ISO 100, stop down quite a bit and go for a shutter speed of a few seconds. See how things look and go from there.

someguy5 · Apr 22, 2008

Mav said:
"My ML-L3 was the best $15 I ever spent reason #2342938723"

Beautiful pic man :thumbup:

DWS · Apr 22, 2008

Mav said:
"My ML-L3 was the best $15 I ever spent reason #2342938723"

2 second exposure at iso200 and f/11 using a can of baby formula powder and another one of my lenses to prop the camera up on since I didn't have my tripod with me.

:hail: one of the best I've heard.....nice pic!

Socrates · Apr 22, 2008

Mav said:
"My ML-L3 was the best $15 I ever spent reason #2342938723"

...using a can of baby formula powder and another one of my lenses to prop the camera up...

My favorite accessory is a custom-made bean bag that my wife's grandmother made for me over thirty years ago. It's much more portable than a real tripod (which I also have), especially when I have no reason to expect that I'll use either.

And, yes, the ML-13 is a high-tech combination cable and long-distance air release.

crazyjackphoto · Apr 25, 2008

I also have a question, I took this just tonight around 9:30, is there anyway to get everything to be sharp without over exposing the lights? besides shooting in raw and/ or during dusk hour. thanks

aperture: F11
shutter: 20 sec
focual Lenght: 55mm

crazyjackphoto · Apr 25, 2008

your advise is greatly appreciated, thanks

JerryPH · Apr 25, 2008

Doesn't the D50 have a timer? Set it to 5 seconds and give it time to stabilize.

Also your WB was a little off and your exposure could be a little lighter.

Also, the internal camera sharpness is set to low, that makes all your pics soft. You could stand to do some work post process with your pics.

A 30 second makeover with CS3 gave me this:

BTW, the other picture of that Firebird was taken with a Nikon D80 at a deeper DOF of F/5.7 vs your F/4.2 and his exposure took a full 2 seconds versus your slightly quicker 1.6 seconds.

JerryPH · Apr 25, 2008

crazyjackphoto said:
I also have a question, I took this just tonight around 9:30, is there anyway to get everything to be sharp without over exposing the lights? besides shooting in raw and/ or during dusk hour. thanks

aperture: F11
shutter: 20 sec
focual Lenght: 55mm

All we see is a red X. It is also more polite to start your own thread instead of intruding on this one since your issue has nothing to do with the OPs.

usayit · Apr 25, 2008

Use a Tripod whenever possible.... You can pretty much figure out how long someone has been shooting by the amount of importance they place on a good support. Many will even end up with a closet full of tripods for various reasons... lol

Once you have a tripod, there is a bit more freedom. You can shoot at lower ISOs, you can shoot at slower shutterspeeds, and you can also shoot with smaller apertures (thus no need for a fast lens). All will result in a better final print... If your camera has the feature, lock up the mirror to avoid vibrations from mirror slap. If you don't have a remove, use the camera's timer.

On my trip to Canada, I got caught off guard without my tripod at night. I wanted to shoot so I ended up taking off my shirt and rolling it up to support the camera. I was practically naked shooting... the Canadians must have thought I was one strange American. ;-P