Need Help With This Night Shot

[AprilEye]

Please take a look at these two photos. #1 was shot with the same tripod on Program AE at 100 ISO as was #2. However, #2 looks so much blurrier and just not sharp! The only difference is that #2 was taken at 187mm where as #1 taken at 18mm. Now keep in mind, since these were shot on Program AE, the only thing I manually adjusted on both was the ISO, the rest adjusted itself. I figured it worked perfectly in shot #1 so I thought i would work in shot #2 as well. Hmmmm...

#1 18mm

#2 187mm

 

[RainbowMilk]

you were probably out of focus on the second one

 

[RainbowMilk]

try stoppin your lens down to about f16 or so, and making your exposure longer

 

[RainbowMilk]

stopping down to f16 or so, you will create a bigger depth of field and more of the picture will be in focus

 

[RainbowMilk]

also, shoot in manual mode when you are doing night exposures

 

[RainbowMilk]

and this is my 5th post so i can leave you alone and now post links, hope i helped!

 

[scotch59]

does your lens have an optic stabilizer?

 

[scotch59]

does your lens have an optic stabilizer?

if so... during long exposures you need to turn it off or else it will create its own blur to the image, and it will appear as camera shake.

or, maybe you were just out of focus?

 

[Derrel]

Maybe a teeny, tiny bit out of focus on #2....or perhaps a slight bit of mirror slap or tripod vibration on #2...perhaps even a combination of the two...at longer focal lengths like 187mm using longer shutter speeds, even a slight bit of tripod vibration/instability can cause a shot to be a little bit softer than it ought to be. The EXIF states that the telephoto shot was exposed for 5.2 seconds; that is a brief enough exposure time that mirror slap could be a factor for the first 20% of the exposure...

Anyway, it looks like the focus is off a tiny bit, and the green ghosts...are those from a UV filter on the lens?

 

[Jeatley]

Yeah I was wondering about the green dots myself. They have popped up in some of my night photos too! But not all of them 1 in 10 maybe. Like they come and they go as they please! LOL

 

[Drake]

My guess is, that #2 is simply out of focus. In such hard lighting conditions your AF system will struggle to focus accurately, which may result in a blurred photo. The airport terminal looks pretty bright though, next time you might try to use the central AF point and try to focus pointing it on the bright building. If you are not sure about your focus when shooting at night, you can always turn your live view on for a moment and press the magnification button to check the sharpness.

Of course a wobbly tripod might also be the reason at such focal lengths. Try using a 2s, or even a 10s self timer and see if it helps.

Of course, like Derrel said, it might be a result of a mirror slap, but I think the blur is much too strong for a 5 second shot, so it can't be caused just by a slapping mirror, must be a combination of 2 or 3 of early mentioned factors. Just to be sure, try shooting night photos with the mirror lockup function enabled.

 

[bluetibby1]

I have gotten blurry night photos from having "VR" on and unsturdy tripod. This could be your issue. I like the first one! Was that taken on your roof??
Blue

 

[Robin Usagani]

#2 is overexposed. You should have metered the bright airplane or building.

 

[AprilEye]

Maybe a teeny, tiny bit out of focus on #2....or perhaps a slight bit of mirror slap or tripod vibration on #2...perhaps even a combination of the two...at longer focal lengths like 187mm using longer shutter speeds, even a slight bit of tripod vibration/instability can cause a shot to be a little bit softer than it ought to be. The EXIF states that the telephoto shot was exposed for 5.2 seconds; that is a brief enough exposure time that mirror slap could be a factor for the first 20% of the exposure...

Anyway, it looks like the focus is off a tiny bit, and the green ghosts...are those from a UV filter on the lens?

You know I "felt" the tripod move when I pressed the button. I must have tried this shot 10 times and this was the one that was the clearest. I may need to invest in a better tripod. This one was about $50.00. Yes I have a UV filter on lens.

 

[AprilEye]

#2 is overexposed. You should have metered the bright airplane or building.

"metered the bright airplane" - ooh what exactly is metering and how do I do that with my camera?