How do you get those crisp clear night shots?
 

What settings are you using, and lenses to get those crisp clear night shots of the sky.

i tried last night just for kicks, only to have the pictures turn out blurry. was mounted on a tripod, pretty sturdy i think.

1) set on time delay so even my hands dont make any movements on the camera
2) set to F minimal, ok i was using a telescoping lens (should have brought another lens) but was set to F3.5
3) 8, 15, 20, 30 second exposure
4) iso 400, 800, 1600

pictures came out bright, but not very crisp.

im not looking for any pro shots, but heck, something better than a point n shoot ill be happy with


thanx for any input from u pro's.

No need to use those high ISO values.

Here's a shot with tripod. ISO100-200 4secs I don't remember exactly. I guess just be aware of where the camera is focusing on.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_zmD-A9xCUHk/Sl...00/pics-10.jpg

^^^^ That's pretty soft/blurry too.

You need to shoot at ISO 100 or 200, depending on you sensor's base ISO, shoot at f8 or f11, as anything f16 and over can cause your image to get soft due to diffraction.

Also turn OFF any image stabilization, as it can cause a feedback loop that will actually increase blur when on a tripod.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...I/DSC04971.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/PICT3027.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/PICT9465.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/PICT2078.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../yaletown3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...I/DSC01873.jpg

im fairly new as well, second time around i used manual focus and had much better results for skyline shots from stanley park. autofocus i guess didnt know what to focus on.

on side note lower aperture (fshot) means more sharp? or less sharp?

WHat happens if you put the aperture super low vs super high. not just f8-f11

f4 for example?

the lower the F number, the less infocus the pictures will turn out.

for night shots i learnt that use a higher f number since you are using a longer shutter speed and dont want too much light into camera as it will couse the picture to be way too bright

Yeah that was from my first ever attempt at night shot with dslr after I turned off IS.

What MP rating are your cameras to achieve those crisp shots?

^ MP has little to do with how 'crisp' these pictures are. I'll let the pros answer why.

you need a million dollar camera!

:p

just look at Senna4ever he's l337 !

wow those are some killer night shots, especially the one from stanley park with the moon.

Good tips and great shots man!
thanks!!

Awesome shots! I'm a newbie too I'll remember this next time I am shooting at night!

High F-Stop and always always carry a tripod...

UNLESS you have the Canon 17-55mm F2.8 IS Lens. :thumbsup: I don't remember the last time I used a tripod for night photography after I got that lens unless I wanted to be in the photo. The photos below were all taken handheld at ISO 400-800 at F2.8.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2555/...23c8319b3c.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2421/...7792a7200b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3117/...31cc37543c.jpg

Also a lot of the night photos that "pop" are because there were some post-processing done in photoshop.

e.g. increasing saturation, contrast, increasing EV (if you shoot raw), resharpening, etc...

For instance, the Stanely park photo by Senna4ever is actually two photos in one. He must have taken the moon at a lower exposure setting than the rest of the photo in order to get the detail in the moon and then combined the two photos. There is no way he could've capture the moon like that in one shot. Also, correct me if i'm wrong, the third to last photo and the last photo looks like they are HDR images?

I also won't recommend going past 800 ISO (on my 40D at least..higher if you have the 5D) to minimize noise

I basically shoot with what senna mentioned. Actually to get sharp images even in daylight i shoot between f/8-16.

I never knew having IS on at night can decrease image quality. I'll be sure to turn it off next time.

could he just have used a ND filter?

that's possible...i have not had any experience with ND filters before so I don't know if it can lead to that kind of exposure. If it indeed can do that, I'm getting myself some ND filters!

I guess that depends on what effect you are going for, meaning if you want a large DOF and everything in focus. For most lenses though, the sharpest point is usually around F/5.6.

The IS is only detrimental if you have it on while using a tripod. If you are hand-holding it, that's what the IS is for.

Well, yes and no. Using a smaller aperture will give your pointillistic highlights a star-shaped characteristic, and your image will be sharper with a wider depth of field.

You're correct with the moon shot. It's a composite. The other two are most certainly not HDR...why would you think they're HDR?

For night photography, as a general rule, set your ISO to your camera's base ISO, shoot around f5.6-f11 for best results....unless you have the 24mm f1.4. :p

I don't know...they looked kind of HDR-like to me...

A graduated neutral density filter *may* do the trick, but generally, those types of shots are done with two or more images.

speaking of graduated ND filters....i think i want to buy one...where is a good place to get it? (i.e. cheap :)