night shots

[Uselessdreamer1]

i cant get clear night shots they always turn out like this...

how can i get clear shots? i have a canon rebel 2000

 

[Rogue Monk]

At first glance, it looks like you have a light leak, but I'm assuming daylight shots come out alright so that can't be it.

This looks like it was underexposed. What setting was it shot at (aperture, speed, film)? I checked some of my [film based] images and I get similar results from underexposure (even during daylight).

Your film might be suffering from reciprocity failure. Maybe try overexposing slightly more than the meter says and see what happens.

 

[Hertz van Rental]

No. That isn't reciprocity failure. It looks like a serious lens flare problem. Make sure your lens is clean and you use a lens hood - and check the lens for condensation. In the same way that the bathroom mirror steams up, your lens will 'steam up' from moving it from the warmth to the cold and vice versa. It doesn't take much to get your lens behaving like that. Make sure the camera is allowed to aclimatise to the ambient temperature before you use it.
Try these solutions and see if things improve. If not then we will have to re-think. But I suspect that your problem is flare.

 

[Rogue Monk]

No. That isn't reciprocity failure. It looks like a serious lens flare problem.

I don't know. A lens flare on every image he takes at night?

I'm just guessing at the moment, but when I shoot film, I don't usually burn a few pics, then jump inside, and then repeat the process (wash, rinse, repeat). Unless this building is across the street from where he lives, I'm guessing he would take more time than that too, meaning at least a few images would turn out.

Other than the hot spot generated by the lights (which could be light hitting fog), the noise (film grain) is consistant over the entire image. The most common place I've seen this is under-exposed film.

I'm interested to see what UD1 replies with. After all, I have been wrong before...

 

[Hertz van Rental]

At night lens flare is much more of a problem. You are working at much lower light levels so even the smallest thing - something that wouldn't pose much of a problem in daylight - can be catastrophic at night.
I was merely suggesting the most obvious cause with some remedies, being short of information - I wasn't there when he took the pictures. If he still has a problem then we shall have to think again.
If your hi-fi stops working you always check the mains lead and fuse before taking it to a repair shop. Photography is the same deal. You should always go through the obvious before looking for something expensive.
The flare seems to be concentrated around the bottom left - are there any lights on the front of a Rebel on that side that come on when you take a picture? If there are it could be a reflection from his hand. But let us eliminate the obvious first.

 

[malachite]

I'm guessing print film? That's what a printer set on auto does to night shots automatically while trying acheive that happy grey balance. T'is why it's easiest (and cheaper) to shoot slide film for night stuff.

 

[Uselessdreamer1]

haha not the lens flare, but the noise in the dark, im not getting any clear black shots. My lens is fine.

 

[Hertz van Rental]

If you turn the brightness way down on your monitor you will see a light patch bottom left quarter and it has a straight edge down the left side. That sure looks like lens flare to me but I bow to your greater knowledge in this area.

 

[Rogue Monk]

That sure looks like lens flare to me but I bow to your greater knowledge in this area.

Cheeky monkey! I wasn't implying greater knowledge--I'm always trying to learn as well and I know from another thread (http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16111) that you have the goods. I'm sure there is lens flare (lights at night almost always overexpose...but you knew that). I was eyeballing the noise more.

I was speaking from personal experience and I do like a good challenge. Hopefully, no harm done?

And onto the challenge itself. UD1: Your lens might be fine, but the weather might be a problem. That's what Hertz was talking about. Like when you take a cold can of cola out on a hot sunny day--the outside gets a layer of condensation. Same thing can happen with your lens.

I also see the "line" in the bottom left corner. Are you using flash? I know that flash can bounce against even the smallest particle and create stuff that you can't see in real life.

Barring that, try overexposing your film by a stop or two and see what happens. Also, if you have a lens hood, use it.

And if those don't work, get your developing done by a different company.

Like Hertz said, this is mainly about running down and eliminating the variables. If I haven't completely P'd him off, I'm sure he'll have more ideas too. Sooner or later, something has to work.

Let us know how things are coming along.

 

[raider]

take a shot, bump the iso down, repeat. wide aperture, relative shutter speed, tripod. Just to summarize all photography classes.