Handheld nighttime street photography?

[jdong217]

So the two lenses I primarily shoot with are the Nikon 17-55mm/2.8G (mostly daytime) and the Nikon 35mm/1.8G. The 35mm can get decently nice bokeh but I find it's kind of harsh. I really love the "natural feel" of the bokeh at the 55 end of the 17-55, but I don't get much use out of it at night. Many times, even at ISO 1600, I simply can't hold the camera steady enough to use it at the 40-55 range.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the 17-55 and the 35 is GREAT for handheld shots at night (and just about every situation) but I'm just not getting the results I'm looking for. Any tips? My biggest problem so far seems to be the blurry pictures (less so with the 35).

Also, does anyone use 85mm on DX (1.4g) for nighttime street photography? Can you let me know how it performs? I spent pretty much all night tonight on the streets practicing and realized that 85 would actually be great. Maybe not for walking the sidewalk and shooting pictures of people in front of you, but whatever

 

[tirediron]

Sounds like you're getting motion blur from insufficient shutter-speed. If you can, boost your ISO up a few more stops and try and get your shutter speed up to at least 1/30, and preferably 1/60. That will let you shoot just fine with the 35, and probably the 17-55 as well. I find that the 50mm 1.4 is my go-to night time lens. The 85 would be nice, but having to get that extra stop of shutter speed needed for the longer focal length can be tough.