info needed on lens

[Holedigger]

In night shooting it is always a balancing act of your ISO, exposure time and aperture(F) settings. If your target is not moving, and the camera is rock solid, use the longer times with lower ISO to get best results. Your F-stop will dictate your depth of field. Just remember, the higher the F the more depth you get but the longer it takes to shoot, but it does tend to give you sharper images. (this information is subject to my sometimes faulty recollection of "Manual Shooting Class" and as such, may be totally wrong!)

[k5083]

Well I plan on taking most of my night shots around 2 minute exposures. So can I still use a low ISO then?

Yeah, that's a long time. You probably can.

Also thanks to all your help I am also learning up on aparture. I guess its a good rule of thumb that when doing night photography its good to use aparture settings between f/4 and f/11. Is this correct?

There are too many factors to say that that rule of thumb is correct. If nothing is moving, it won't make much difference if you adjust shutter speed to compensate. Except that out-of-focus light sources in the picture may appear as circles if the lens is at its widest aperture (lowest-numbered f/stop), but they will look like the shape of your aperture blades at other settings. That might be hexagonal, 12-sided, or almost perfectly circular depending on how your lens is built. If the subject is moving, aperture and shutter speed become independent to some extent. Aperture will govern how wide/bright the tracks of moving lights are, and shutter speed will govern how long they are. Thus if you are shooting a fireworks display, for example, the rule of thumb is to set the aperture where you want it (generally f/8 with ISO 100 is my practice), and leave the shutter open until you get a few nice bursts, no matter how long that is.

The good thing is that with digi you can always check the pictures right away. Trial and error is often required with night shooting.

August

[Nathan]

Well the night shots I took had movement in it i.e cars. This was before I realized to set your ISO and aparture. So all I did was shoot a 2 minute exposure. Next time I will know. Ultimately I want to do flashlight painting. I practised some. But still alittle nervous about it. I'll try and find the shots and I'll post them.

[Nathan]

my crappy try:

[Holedigger]

There are plenty of on line "How to" tutorials
Here is one fellows method for painting with light

http://www.rigshots.com.au/howto3.htm#P ... with_Light

I know there is a aircraft photographer that paints aircraft with light. I will try to find his work and post it...some very cool shots, late at night after the air show crowds went home!

[Nathan]

There are plenty of on line "How to" tutorials
Here is one fellows method for painting with light

http://www.rigshots.com.au/howto3.htm#P ... with_Light

I know there is a aircraft photographer that paints aircraft with light. I will try to find his work and post it...some very cool shots, late at night after the air show crowds went home!

yep lost america. He even has a youtube vid. Great work he is my inspiration actually for learning this night shot work. I been reading up everything I can. Thanks!

[Nathan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMQPY0Ll4ko

[k5083]

We had to do an assignment on that in my college photography course over 20 years ago. It was fun, the novelty wore off after a while, but I recommend trying it. It makes a difference if you have access to interesting subjects at night, I guess. I never really did.

August

[Nathan]

currently bidding for a sigma 18-50mm f/3.5 DC wide angle lens. Its going pretty cheap so what the heck.

I havent gotten into filters yet. But been looking them over though. Wow why are they so expensive? They are just as much for entire lenses! I read something that perhaps a Natural Density filter would be good to have for night shots.?

[k5083]

It's "neutral" density filter, and it is just a grey filter. A regular neutral density filter is not something you would want for night shots, because what it does is make the image darker, and you'll have plenty of darkness already. However, there is a type called a graduated neutral density filter which shades from grey to clear. This is a filter that a lot of photographers use, especially around dawn and dusk, to even out the light values of the sky and the landscape. I'm not sure what the application would be in true night photography. Maybe if the sky got too light during long exposures, it could darken it to look more night-like.

Filters are like lenses, mediocre ones are cheap, good ones are costly. A bad filter that is not well coated and truly optically flat can introduce flare and distortion that wastes the investment in a good lens.

August

[Tim Adams]

If your using a tripod leave it on ISO 100, the camera is not going to move, so get the cleanest file possible.

[muddyboots]

they make adaptors, mike, for that very reason.

Nikon lens to Canon body - agreed, you can buy an adapter.

However........

Canon lens to Nikon body is not possible, apparently, due to the relative sizes and positions of the lens mounts on the Canon and Nikon systems.

I remember there was an issue, but I can never remember which was it goes. Since I no longer shoot, not an issue

[RareBear]

Nathan,

Also be aware that all tripods are not equal. To hold a camera rock steady for good night shots, you need a good tripod. You're not going to find a good one (new) for much under $150, and that's without the ball head (another $50-75 and up). Most of the ones found in places like Ritz Camera and the big stores (WalMart, Best Buy, Circuit City, H H Gregg, etc.) are not, in my opinion, in that category.

Walt

[JDK]

Mod Post: Moved due to no notable aviation content, and the off topic forum is available and needs some decent traffic!

[Bluedharma]

Nathan,

You should join... or check out Flickr groups. I have learned much there.

http://flickr.com/groups/d80/discuss/72157612234489993/?search=night

http://flickr.com/groups/d80/discuss/72157605299080277/?search=night

http://flickr.com/groups/d80/discuss/