Help nighshots d5000 all of them have blur

[Provo]

I have a question this evening being halloween I decided it would be the best time to try out some night shots that are a little distant across my courtyard to be more precise, The camera I have is a nikon d5000 I don't know if it has anything to do with the lens 55-200mm oposed to the stock but every picture has a ghost blur effect to it no flash was enabled.

I tried in scene mode,portrait, night same results whare are the best suggestions for taking night shots withought the blur?

* Here are two samples*

 

[WimFoto]

a tripod is always a lot of help with night shots. can you show us the picture?

 

[Provo]

I uploaded the pictures in the 1st post, I know you mentioned a tripod but let's say I just wanted to walk outside and take a picture of the moon or people just walking around in the dark you mean to tell me I have to carry a tripod all the time?

I am more concerned about what if I wanted to take a picture of my fiance in times square would the pictures come out blurry, I had a cheap point and shoot sony and it was horrible for taking portraits at night I do mean horrible no matter what the slightest hair moving by the wind would make the picture blur

I just want to know if I am doing something wrong or wrong settings because I have seen pictures taken from other folks using the same camera at night and they don't have any blur at all withought flash

 

[musicaleCA]

I uploaded the pictures in the 1st post, I know you mentioned a tripod but let's say I just wanted to walk outside and take a picture of the moon or people just walking around in the dark you mean to tell me I have to carry a tripod all the time?

If you want to do night photography all the time, yes. No one said being a photographer was easy.

I am more concerned about what if I wanted to take a picture of my fiance in times square would the pictures come out blurry, I had a cheap point and shoot sony and it was horrible for taking portraits at night I do mean horrible no matter what the slightest hair moving by the wind would make the picture blur

First off dump the scene modes. They're always dead wrong at night. Second, open your aperture up. f/2.8 lenses or faster are a real help. Third, don't shoot at such long focal lengths, so that you can get safer hand-held speeds. Fourth, use off-camera, diffused flash for portraits at night, so that you can ensure the subject will be sharp and without blur, even if you venture into really slow shutter speeds. And then fifth, learn how to balance flash with ambient light. And lastly, use high ISOs and noise reduction later if you insist on handholding or can't get your subject to stay still, and flash isn't an option.

 

[PatrickHMS]

Don't know what shutter speed you are using, what kind of results do you get when you shoot in full "auto" mode? (JUST for the sake of taking shutter speed and other settings that might be incorrect out of the equation.)

Let's get the shot clear and in focus, then worry about the exposure settings.

I take tons of photos at night without using either a tripod or monopod.

To me, your photos look blurred, and out of focus, which might be two different issues... Your focus might not be correct, and / or you might be moving the camera slightly while the shutter is open. Please make sure that both your camera and your lens are set to the autofocus mode.

A tripod would probably help, but this might not be your problem either, or all of it.

You would be surprised how many people I see taking photographs who do not even know how to properly hold a camera when shooting...

Many people hold a camera with their elbows outward, flapping like wings on a wounded duck - WRONG!!!!

Try supporting the camera with your left hand under the camera in the palm of your hand, your left arm and elbow tucked into your body. You can hold the camera, or both camera and lens that way, and your arm is tucked into your body for support.

Your right hand (trigger finger) is positioned with your finger on the shutter, then you also tuck that arm and elbow into your body.

Spread your legs slightly until you feel stable, breathe deeply, then settle down, depress the shutter button halfway down until the AF does it's thing (a Nikon will tell you with a little green light inside the viewfinder), then take the shot.

If you need more support like a tripod or monopod and don't have one, you can also lean against a wall or something for a little extra stability.

Try this and see how it works for you...

 

[dmatsui]

It is incredibly likely that the blur is being caused by you moving the camera whilst taking the picture. The reason the blur is so evident is because at night there is much less light and thus to properly expose the scene the camera uses slow shutter speeds. Hand holding your camera at slower shutter speeds becomes more difficult. At that time of night you are most likely going to have problems handholding the camera. You'll eiter need to use flash to expose the scene (as at that time of night even iso or aperture changes are probably not going to be enough) or you can use a tripod. Due to the fact that a tripod is still your not going to get any blur from camera movement. This works well if your subject isnt moving, but once your subject moves then you'll have a problem with slow shutter speeds.

night shots = low light = slow shutter speeds
which means if handheld = (probable) blur from camera movement
so you can either
A.) use tripod - no camera movement so no blur (still using slower shutter speeds)
B.) use flash to illuminate the scene giving you more light which means higher shutter speeds which means you might be able to handhold the shot without blur

 

[DennyCrane]

Use the highest ISO you can... but be ready for more digital noise.

 

[Provo]

Here is the camera data for the pictures if it helps

The 1st pictures

File Info 1
File: DSC_0018.NEF, DSC_0018.JPG
Date Created: 11/1/2009 5:10:16 AM
Date Modified: 10/31/2009 7:25:30 PM
File Size: 9.67 MB, 1.68 MB
Image Size: L (4288 x 2848), M (3216 x 2136)
File Info 2
Date Shot: 10/31/2009 20:25:29.00
World Time: UTC-5, DST:OFF
Image Quality: Compressed RAW (12-bit), Jpeg Normal (8-bit)
Artist:
Copyright:
Image Comment:
Camera Info
Device: Nikon D5000
Lens: 55-200mm F/4-5.6G
Focal Length: 55mm
Focus Mode: AF-A
AF-Area Mode: Single
VR:
AF Fine Tune:
Exposure
Aperture: F/4.5
Shutter Speed: 1/2.5s
Scene Mode: Night Landscape
Exposure Comp.: 0EV
Exposure Tuning:
Metering: Matrix
ISO Sensitivity: Auto (ISO 800)
Flash
Flash Sync Mode:
Flash Mode:
Flash Exposure Comp.:
Colored Gel Filter:
Image Settings
White Balance: Auto, 0, 0
Color Space: sRGB
High ISO NR: ON (Normal)
Long Exposure NR: OFF
Active D-Lighting: Auto
Image Authentication:
Vignette Control:
Auto Distortion Control: OFF
Picture Control
Picture Control: [SD] STANDARD
Base:
Quick Adjust: -
Sharpening: Auto
Contrast: Active D-Lighting
Brightness: Active D-Lighting
Saturation: 0
Hue: 0
Filter Effects:
Toning:
GPS
Latitude:
Longitude:
Altitude:
Altitude Reference:
Heading:
UTC:
Map Datum:


and 2nd picture

File Info 1
File: DSC_0006.JPG
Date Created: 11/1/2009 5:10:13 AM
Date Modified: 10/31/2009 7:16:02 PM
File Size: 1.50 MB
Image Size: M (3216 x 2136)
File Info 2
Date Shot: 10/31/2009 20:16:01.50
World Time: UTC-5, DST:OFF
Image Quality: Jpeg Normal (8-bit)
Artist:
Copyright:
Image Comment:
Camera Info
Device: Nikon D5000
Lens: 55-200mm F/4-5.6G
Focal Length: 55mm
Focus Mode: AF-A
AF-Area Mode: Single
VR:
AF Fine Tune:
Exposure
Aperture: F/4.5
Shutter Speed: 1/2.5s
Scene Mode: Night Landscape
Exposure Comp.: 0EV
Exposure Tuning:
Metering: Matrix
ISO Sensitivity: Auto (ISO 800)
Flash
Flash Sync Mode:
Flash Mode:
Flash Exposure Comp.:
Colored Gel Filter:
Image Settings
White Balance: Auto, 0, 0
Color Space: sRGB
High ISO NR: ON (Normal)
Long Exposure NR: OFF
Active D-Lighting: Auto
Image Authentication:
Vignette Control:
Auto Distortion Control: OFF
Picture Control
Picture Control: [SD] STANDARD
Base:
Quick Adjust: -
Sharpening: Auto
Contrast: Active D-Lighting
Brightness: Active D-Lighting
Saturation: 0
Hue: 0
Filter Effects:
Toning:
GPS
Latitude:
Longitude:
Altitude:
Altitude Reference:
Heading:
UTC:
Map Datum:

 

[DennyCrane]

Shutter Speed: 1/2.5

Slow shutter + camera shake = blur. Try a higher ISO and a faster shutter.

...or like it's been mentioned, use a tripod.

 

[rocdoc]

there is no way you will get sharp pictures hand held at f/2.5s. Read up on some basics of photography, there are some rough guidelines out there about minimum speed for sharp pics. Even observing the old 1/focal length rule, sharpness is not guaranteed and you still get some motion. The pics seem fine otherwise, just expected blur at the speed you use. Higher ISO, wider aperture would both help, but there is not substitute for a tripod. Alternatively, you can place the camera on a solid surface if available, not the same but can save you in a pinch.
For the picture below I used about 1sec exposure, but the camera was sitting on the railing of a bridge, and I was pressing with my hand right on top of the camera on lens axis:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2156/2243751954_125d58d5e3_b.jpg
If taking good pictures was easy, good photographers would not be so hard to find, would they?

 

[gsgary]

Your lens is not fast enough for shooting in those conditions, you need a faster lens

 

[Provo]

Your lens is not fast enough for shooting in those conditions, you need a faster lens

So let's say I am looking at these two lens the 50mm f1.8 would be better because it is a faster lens? and offers a greater depth of field opposed to the 35mm at f1.8 the part that confuses me is the F # if it's lower more the bigger the aperture




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[PatrickHMS]

Granted, the lens can affect the exposure, but there is more than that wrong with these photographs in the OP, imho.

Maybe I am wrong, maybe I am looking at the original photos incorrectly, but what I see in original photos is definitely improperly exposed, but is also not focused correctly (nothing to do with a fast or slow lens), and appears to me that the camera was moving when the shutter was open, having nothing to do with camera or the lens.

Until the OP learns to shoot properly, using any lens will not give him the results he wants.

Correct the shooting technique, THEN worry about what lens to use.

Am I wrong?

 

[redtippmann]

just remember with low f/stops comes great DOF. So yeah you need a faster shutter speed, and a diffused flash would work great. But if you just wanted some snapshots like the ones above, the on camera flash could work. But It might not reach that far.

And i really like my 50mm, the only lens that is decent for around $100

 

[Dominantly]

I shot downtown city scenes with my D90 handheld, at night with little trouble and no motion blur or OOF issues. Your D5000 has the same sensor as the D90 so it should have similiar results with the higher ISO and noise.
Look into your settings for ISO sensitivity and set the max to 3200 and set it to auto.
Then shoot in A with your lowest fstop. I recently picked up the 50mm f/1.4 and it's performance at night wide open was incredible. Actually it's performance anytime is incredible. Makes shooting random things so incredibly fun.