Whats a good night time lens? and advice

atmax1 · 23 Mar 2012 at 10:26

I have a 7D and most of the time I have the 50mm 1.8 on there, last night I bumped the ISO to 1600 and appature to 1.8 and shot away (my first time taking pictures at night) but wonderd if there was anything better for this? as any iso higher then 1600 seemed to be unsharp with this lens.. would the 50mm 1.4 be a better lens to do this?

Here are a few of the photos from last night, is there any advice you guys could give me for the next time I try it again?

An Exception · 23 Mar 2012 at 10:46

I would swap out the 7D for a 5d mark 1 or 2...

You should get at least a 1.5 stop advantage with a 5Dii, and about 1 stop with a 5D classic. Also the image will remain sharp at high ISO Vs getting smudged over like on a 7D.

A 50 1.4 will get you 2/3 of a stop, or ISO 1600 quality at ISO 2500, so the difference isn't as dramatic as changing bodies, also you get the other FF goodies associated with a larger sensor.

Edit
Of course, if you can, get a 5d and a 50 1.4...

atmax1 · 23 Mar 2012 at 11:03

As much as I would love a 5D I cant afford it (I will start saving but may be a few years lol) and the lenses that you need with it, do you think a 50mm 1.4 would allow me to rase shutter speed up enouth to capture movement better? but it sounds like I will need to start carrying a tripod.

K.C. Leblanc · 23 Mar 2012 at 11:06

It won't help in all situations, but for the shots of buildings the cheapest upgrade would be a tripod and remote release.

EDIT; What kind of shutter speeds were you getting?

atmax1 · 23 Mar 2012 at 11:17

I was hovering on the following 1/200 - 1/160 - 1/100

I do own a Manfrotto tripod but I do need to get a shutter release, as I upgraded from the 500D.. was I in the right bullpark with the settings used?

Devrij · 23 Mar 2012 at 11:58

I'd say so, but with a 50mm on a crop body you could drop the ISO a bit as long as you are shooting over 1/100 you shouldn't have to worry about hand shake. Of course it depends on your subject and if they're moving though.

atmax1 · 23 Mar 2012 at 13:39

Thanks devrij, I will try and drop the iso and have 1/100 on shutter next time for static moments when I next go up there.

Do you think i should stick with the 1.8 and get a 35mm or upgrade the 50mm to a 1.4? or save for a f4 L lens for the day time?

jonneymendoza · 23 Mar 2012 at 14:29

mate just use a tripod and set a shutter release timer on your camera. cheapest solution whilst saving up for a 5dmk3

D.P. · 23 Mar 2012 at 15:19

K.C. Leblanc said:
It won't help in all situations, but for the shots of buildings the cheapest upgrade would be a tripod and remote release.

EDIT; What kind of shutter speeds were you getting?

Well I would also suggest a tripod but this certain
Y is not cheaper than buying some 1.4 glass.

Nexus · 23 Mar 2012 at 18:47

I wouldn't bother swapping the Canon 50mm f/1.8 for the f/1.4 in the hope that it would be better for low light.

I've got the f/1.4 and when shooting wide open night time scenes with lights, like your one of Big Ben, you tend to get purple fringing on the light sources. If I'm shooting such things, I usually stop it down to f/1.8.

Your options are just to go with high ISO, which of course is better on a full frame sensor, otherwise use a tripod.

The other issue with shooting wide open with a big aperture is that you can end up with shots that aren't sharp and it's never easy to tell on the LCD.

An Exception · 23 Mar 2012 at 19:49

atmax1 said:
As much as I would love a 5D I cant afford it (I will start saving but may be a few years lol) and the lenses that you need with it, do you think a 50mm 1.4 would allow me to rase shutter speed up enouth to capture movement better? but it sounds like I will need to start carrying a tripod.

I assumed you would sell the 7D to raise most of the capital. Low light isn't it's forte...

An Exception · 23 Mar 2012 at 19:51

Nexus said:
The other issue with shooting wide open with a big aperture is that you can end up with shots that aren't sharp and it's never easy to tell on the LCD.

Zoom in to 100%?

I can't remember what it's like for Canon, but with my D700 I just press the centre button once and it zooms into my focus point, so only takes a second...

D.P. · 23 Mar 2012 at 20:30

There is also a lot you can do by trying to nail the exposure as accurately as possible. Noise is much less of an issue on a well exposed photo, if you have to boost the exposure in PP then you introduce a lot of noise.

But really, when it is dark a tripod is about your only realistic option. Using wider glass is sometimes OK but for a lot of your example photos you will want sufficient DoF, you just wont get that wide open.

Nexus · 24 Mar 2012 at 13:31

An Exception said:
Zoom in to 100%?

I can't remember what it's like for Canon, but with my D700 I just press the centre button once and it zooms into my focus point, so only takes a second...

Of course you can.

But are you telling me you've never come home with a shot or two where you thought it looked fine on the LCD, only to discover that it's missed focus, or the shutter speed wasn't fast enough giving a slight blur....?