Night Photography Advice

[ricoche]

Hello,

I am very interested in doing a lot of walk around night photography and would like to know what lense qualities most people would recommend for this. I am in Japan and live around a lot of neon, bright lit buildings, but also have the darker shopping streets as well. I plan to hand hold as much as possible. I should also note that the 28mm f1.4 is out of my price point at this time, but any other available lense is an option.

Thus I am curious what most avid night shooters use ( lense and/or settings ) as their general walk around lense for night photography.

Much appreciated,

Jim

 

[goofball]

my 35 f/2D is my night walkaround, or 50mm f/1.8. You could look into the Sigma 30 f/1.4.

 

[ricoche]

Thanks!!

 

[Chris101]

Yep - I'll second the 35mm f/2 for night time street shooting! I've got some night shots posted on this page.

 

[Phil K]

I like the 35/1.4, but it's MF and can be tricky in low light.

 

[BigPixel]

Yep - I'll second the 35mm f/2 for night time street shooting! I've got some night shots posted on this page.

some great shots on that page. What the hell's in the jar?

 

[Chris101]

some great shots on that page. What the hell's in the jar?

Thanks Mike! I like to pull it out, hand it to someone, and when they ask, tell them it's fingers. It's really sticks of potassium metal in mineral oil.

 

[greyflash]

I used to do a lot of night photography during my film days. I did not have expensive lenses so I just carried a tripod around with me or looked for places I could set my camera for a time exposure. I would say make do with what you have until you can afford an expensive f1.4 lens.

 

[Zee71]

Pump up the ISO.......maybe 800, 1000, or higher, but you'll be sacrificing resolution. I recommend using a tripod for those long exposures.

 

[tomtodeath]

I used to do a lot of night photography during my film days. I did not have expensive lenses so I just carried a tripod around with me or looked for places I could set my camera for a time exposure. I would say make do with what you have until you can afford an expensive f1.4 lens.

Great advice, I used to hate carrying a tripod, but always loved the results that I got with long exposures. I have to force myself to bring one, but when I im always glad i did. Its not always easy to find a place to rest the camera for a long exposure, but you can use a bean bag or something to hold up the lens to get the angle that you need.

Also, if unless you must have a wide lens, the 50mm 1.4D is a great affordable lens.

 

[greyflash]

Actually I like to use a zoom lens so that I can place the fireworks where I want them in the frame. Also, you do not need a fast lens as you will have your aperature set at f16. You don't want to let too much light in too quickly. This gives time for the burst to reach its full bloom.

 

[ricoche]

I used to do a lot of night photography during my film days. I did not have expensive lenses so I just carried a tripod around with me or looked for places I could set my camera for a time exposure. I would say make do with what you have until you can afford an expensive f1.4 lens.

Well I just broke the bank and bought a Nikon 28mm F1.4 off of Ebay. Just today I received the lense and it's practically in mint condition so I'm pretty excited. I don't buy much from Ebay so I was a bit nervous, but I think I did pretty good. Thanks for all the tips everyone.

Jim