lens for creative night shots on aps-c camera?
- Thread starter 413x
- Start date
What camera do you have and what lenses do you already own?
Depending on what you have you may not need another lens. Just reduce the aperture to f10 - f22 and put the iso as low as possible to increase your shutter speed then go nuts with the light trails.
EDIT
That shot was taken at 28 mm (28 - 105 mm old lens!) at ISO 100, f22 I did put an ND filter in front to extend the exposure and from memory it was about 1 min 30s although the canon info says only 30s
Depending on what you have you may not need another lens. Just reduce the aperture to f10 - f22 and put the iso as low as possible to increase your shutter speed then go nuts with the light trails.
EDIT
That shot was taken at 28 mm (28 - 105 mm old lens!) at ISO 100, f22 I did put an ND filter in front to extend the exposure and from memory it was about 1 min 30s although the canon info says only 30s
Last edited:
The only remotely applicable lens is the nifty 50 lol
My only other lens is the 100mm L macro
I've recently ordered a 60d and awaiting is arrival
Btw that is an amazing picture. I love it
Btw I don't understand why you reduce the iso to increase the shutter speed?
My only other lens is the 100mm L macro
I've recently ordered a 60d and awaiting is arrival
Btw that is an amazing picture. I love it
Btw I don't understand why you reduce the iso to increase the shutter speed?
Last edited:
The iso rating goes back to film cameras and its sensitity to light. The higher the iso rating the more sensitive it is to light meaning less time is required for the image to be produced on film. Increasing the iso however adds noise / grain which isnt desirable in some photos. The lower the iso rating the cleaner the image in terms of noise.
Thanks. I get that bit
What I was getting at was why would you lower the iso.. Make the camera less light sensitive
To increase the shutter speed... Allow less light in?
Lowering the shutter speed allows MORE light in, as the shutter is effectively open for longer.
Decreasing the ISO will make the sensor less sensitive to light, so you can afford to have the shutter open for longer without over exposing. You'll also get a 'cleaner' image as less digital 'noise' will be visible.
Ah, I wish you took two steps to your right. The street light is blocking the tower! I like that you can't see any of the scaffolding that they've had up for ages though
Sorry, off-topic.
Last edited:
Personally is buy a strong ND screw in filter, like the B&W 10 stop. Shutting the aperture down to that extreme will mean you have very soft images. When I forget my ND filter I occasionally do that and end up with really sort results.
Ah, I wish you took two steps to your right. The street light is blocking the tower! I like that you can't see any of the scaffolding that they've had up for ages though
Sorry, off-topic.
The shot was taken 3 years ago when there was an OC london meet and if i remember there wasn't any scaffolding up at that point. I take your point about the lighting though. Might be a bit trickier to get a retake though
ah yes i have just read about these. looks good. im guessing there are many different grades. ill have to research what to get
thats the bit that confused me
Basically you're trying to reduce as much light that comes into your camera by making the aperture really small (f/stop) and keeping the ISO low to be less sensitive to light. To compensate for restricting the light that comes into the camera, you would then increase the length of time that the shutter has to be open to allow light to come in.
As the shutter is open longer, the light will create trails if it moves. You need a longer shutter speed if you want light trails.
As the shutter is open longer, the light will create trails if it moves. You need a longer shutter speed if you want light trails.
when said increase the shutter speed I meant increase in time terms e.g 1/500th of a second to 1 second. Does that make more sense?
yeah thanks. sorry, i thought that was what you meant but was just making sure i hadnt got confused in my head as im pretty new to any of this and there are a lot of concepts to get my head around
would one of the wide angle lenses being discussed in this thread be suitable?
i can imagine a wide angle lens being useful for more than just night as well
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18545006
also, thanks for the tips guys
Last edited:
The best way to expose for light trails is (IMO of course):
Compose the shot
Set the camera to a HIGH ISO (ISO3200 or higher) and wide open and take the shot - you basically want a quick shutter speed so you can see if the composition and focus is correct, ignore trying to get trails at the moment, that comes later.
Once you get a shot which exposes the foreground to what you want (this is the most important bit, expose for the foreground) work backwards from your correct exposure to a much lower ISO and longer shutter speed (that is what you want to play with, length of exposure, could be anything from a second to hours depending what you're shooting and the effect you want). To do this you'll want to play with the aperture and possibly stick an ND filter in front. Personally I'd aim for a fairly fast aperture, say f/4-f/8, the sweet spot for most lenses.
Take the actual shot and see if everything is correct and to your liking.
With this technique its very useful to remember the connection between shutter speed, ISO and aperture.
EDIT: and I meant soft rather than sort earlier... As in low apertures like f/16 and f/22 usually result in diffraction with lenses and lots of softness.
Compose the shot
Set the camera to a HIGH ISO (ISO3200 or higher) and wide open and take the shot - you basically want a quick shutter speed so you can see if the composition and focus is correct, ignore trying to get trails at the moment, that comes later.
Once you get a shot which exposes the foreground to what you want (this is the most important bit, expose for the foreground) work backwards from your correct exposure to a much lower ISO and longer shutter speed (that is what you want to play with, length of exposure, could be anything from a second to hours depending what you're shooting and the effect you want). To do this you'll want to play with the aperture and possibly stick an ND filter in front. Personally I'd aim for a fairly fast aperture, say f/4-f/8, the sweet spot for most lenses.
Take the actual shot and see if everything is correct and to your liking.
With this technique its very useful to remember the connection between shutter speed, ISO and aperture.
EDIT: and I meant soft rather than sort earlier... As in low apertures like f/16 and f/22 usually result in diffraction with lenses and lots of softness.
Wider lenses are ideal for landscape photography, so yes would be good for capturing light trails and such. If you want to capture people with glow sticks then a really wide angle could create some drama if you are up close to them. Not that you can't also achieve interesting shots with a tighter focal length.
A 50mm is a bit long on a Canon crop if that is your widest lens, but it seems like this is another thread asking for advice or equipment yet you still haven't actually got a camera yet? On that basis, I'd just wait until you have a camera and have discovered how to use it before going too overboard.
A 50mm is a bit long on a Canon crop if that is your widest lens, but it seems like this is another thread asking for advice or equipment yet you still haven't actually got a camera yet? On that basis, I'd just wait until you have a camera and have discovered how to use it before going too overboard.
Looking at the 10-22 canon or tokina 11 -
I want planning to use the 50mm for this
I have some extra for a lens as I decided against the 70d
And yes I definitely need an nd filter.. Recommendations? Reviews seem varied
And yes the high iso to start is a good method. I understand aperture, iso, shutter speed individually but not the relationship in detail As in one stop rreduction in X is equal to iso change of y.. Something to learn
Thanks for all the tips guys
Is the softness as high F due to the blades being so tight or something to do with the light diffraction through such a small hole in ratio to the lens?
I want planning to use the 50mm for this
I have some extra for a lens as I decided against the 70d
And yes I definitely need an nd filter.. Recommendations? Reviews seem varied
And yes the high iso to start is a good method. I understand aperture, iso, shutter speed individually but not the relationship in detail As in one stop rreduction in X is equal to iso change of y.. Something to learn
Thanks for all the tips guys
Is the softness as high F due to the blades being so tight or something to do with the light diffraction through such a small hole in ratio to the lens?
Last edited: