Bulb Help Please... Confused!!

[captures.in.time]

Hi all

I've done a bit of night photography in my time but not much... My images always seem to be a little fuzzy... although i have a feeling I have solved this now though... I used to keep my IS turned on while the camera was on the tripod which I cant do with my lens... Thanks to TP for that jem!

Anyway... I've always been a bit confused by apature when it comes to night photography and bulb exposures...

My first question is at night is depth of field still efected by what apature you use... It's just I've tried shots before at f16 and exen though I gave them long exposures they came out very very dark?

Secondly... Is it better to shoot at a open or colsed apature at night... what I guess i mean by that is is it better to shoot af say f 4 as apposed to f8 etc...

I know to many of you this will be an obvios question... but I just cant find anadvice on nightime apature settings in any of the books I have... they all just go on about the need for a tripod etc which of course is a bit obvious!

Any help or peoples own ideas and thoughts would be welcome...

Thankyou as always

M

 

[joxby]

Hi all
My first question is at night is depth of field still efected by what apature you use... It's just I've tried shots before at f16 and exen though I gave them long exposures they came out very very dark?

If they're dark, the exposure wasn't long enough, however long it was, it wasn't long enough.

Secondly... Is it better to shoot at a open or colsed apature at night... what I guess i mean by that is is it better to shoot af say f 4 as apposed to f8 etc...

Small apertures are better for scapes.
If you use a larger aperture (f/4), okay the exposure will be shorter but you won't get the depth of focus, less of the scene will be in focus than say at f/8.

I know to many of you this will be an obvios question... but I just cant find anadvice on nightime apature settings in any of the books I have... they all just go on about the need for a tripod etc which of course is a bit obvious!

Nightime is no different than daytime as far as aperture and depth of focus are concerned, it depends on the subject.
The exposure time will be longer because there isn't as much light...that's it

 

[captures.in.time]

so for general night city scapes would around f8 or f 11 be a good bet as in general for most scapes this offers sufficient dof rather than the extreems of f22.

M

 

[joxby]

Yes, depends on the lens but f22 is usually less sharp generally, even though the depth of focus is greater, because of diffraction.
You need a tripod, and a shutter release cable, f/8 - f/11 would be my choice for a scape but it depends how close the forground is and how much of it I want in focus.
Using the hyper focal distance method of focussing can also help too.

 

[StewartR]

You need a tripod, and a shutter release cable, f/8 - f/11 would be my choice for a scape but it depends how close the forground is and how much of it I want in focus.

Absolutely. Most lenses are at their best around f/8 so you might as well use that if you can. One advantage of night photoghraphy is that, since you're using a tripod and slow shutter speed anyway, you don't have to worry about the usual aperture/shutter trade-off!

(Also, for the same reason, you might as well use the lowest ISO setting to get the best quality.)

For city night scapes, I'd recommend starting with ISO 100, 5-10 seconds at f/8. Review on the LCD and adjust from there.

ISO 100 ... f/8 ... 5 secs (click for larger version)


ISO 100 ... f/8 ... 5 secs (click for larger version)


ISO 100 ... f/8 ... 15 secs (click for larger version)

 

[captures.in.time]

Hey thanks for that... I should make it clear I would always use a tripod and shutter cable... I think the fuzzyness is possibly to do with the fact I was leaving my IS on...

I have a veblon sherpa tripod too which is ok... but I prob need a heavier one... I also have an ultra light veblon travel tripod which is impressive... but i think on windy evenings it will prob sbake a bit on longer exposures.

Will try and get out soon but just spent a while going through my diary and its kinda full with the usual stuff that gets in the way.

M