Canon T2i: Question on Night Shots w/o flash + carrying bag.

[Coldkilla]

I'm extremely new to digital photography. I've made a ton of digital videos over the past 10 years but have never really heard of the extremely simple terms "Aperture/Exposure" before. [As elementary as they are to most photographers].

I am interested in taking evening non-flash photos and have been very disappointed so far with the results. Yesterday for example my friends car broke down and I decided to take the opportunity to take a picture of Milwaukee from where we were stuck:

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/5360/img2263x.jpg

The image was "meh" at best and most of my images (especially in bars, walking along the sidewalk at night, sitting in the backseat of the car in the evening trying to shoot the nightlife) have been pretty bad. I'd like to be able to get decent quality photos without the need for a tripod as these tend to mostly be "spur of the moment" photos, and not so much planned events.

This image: [I'm only writing what the file says, but am no expert on what they mean]:
F-stop f/5.6
Exposure Time: 1/8 sec.
ISO Speed: ISO-3200
Focal Length: 55mm [Stock & only lens].

Could someone help me out to try and figure out how I can get better/sharper quality photos with somehow keeping the images nice and bright. I've noticed many times that if I hold the "Shutter/Picture" button down half way, the image appears excellent [Nice and bright] but as soon as I take the image its dark, and sometimes blurry.

Any tips appreciated.

Oh and also: I'm a student @ UW Milwaukee and would really like to take this camera along with my netbook + 1 notebook to school and have been looking for a schoolbag that would fit these items, any suggestions?

 

[iGas]

Use tripod, manual focus, turn off IS.

Drop ISO range to 800 or even slower (I'm not familiar with digital camera), such as 200 ISO.

Bracket your shot. Or set camera to manual mode, then take a spot reading of the highlighted area that you want to have detail & take a reading of the dark area that you want to have detail, add the 2 results together and divide by 2 to get your aperture & shutter speed, may need to bracket again to get good result. Take several shots till you are satisfy. Or, bracket using rule of thumb shoot at +2 compensation.

 

[iGas]

Try the below:

Set camera to +2 EV exposure compensation and bracket at +/-1 EV

F-stop f/5.6
Exposure Time: 30 sec.
ISO Speed: ISO-800

or, set camera to +5 EV exposure compensation and bracket at +/-1 EV

F-stop f/8
Exposure Time: 30 sec.
ISO Speed: ISO-200

You can also try time setting/bulb if the camera have it (can increase shutter time indefinitely).

I didn't know that digital video making doesn't require understanding of F/stop and Aperture. Back in the 8~16mm days we have to learn everything, and handheld light meter is a must for spot metering as well as incident metering.

My bad 30 sec instead of 1/30

 

[angry hampster]

Read your camera's manual.

 

[PurdueRy]

Too slow a shutter speed IMO. It may work sometimes but it will be hit or miss relying that heavily on IS.

Also, it looks like you focused on "infinity" which in this case leaves the front 2/3rd of the picture OOF. In a landscape pick your focus point and you typically only need to aim 1/3-1/2 into the scene to get everything in focus. Don't let the camera pick your focus point for you.

Color Temp is also all messed up, but you can fix that afterwards if you shoot raw.

To get indoor shots of moving people you are going to need a much more expensive lens than the one you are currently using.

 

[Coldkilla]

IS?
EV?
Bracket +/-?
OOF?
Color Temp?

Never saw any of these settings before. Still haven't. As I said I'm still pretty new to the digital camera field.

Read your camera's manual.

Manual isn't very good at giving practical examples.

Also, I will try out some of those settings and this evening go out and take a few images of the street corner and compare them side by side in this thread.

 

[twistedlogic]

I'd like to be able to get decent quality photos without the need for a tripod as these tend to mostly be "spur of the moment" photos, and not so much planned events.

Me too, 😛.

My first suggestion if you want to shoot in low light is to ditch your "slow" kit lens and pick up a prime. At 55mm your kit lens is F5.6, a 50mm 1.4 would be 4 times faster. That means 4 times faster shutter speed, or in your example, from 1/8th of a second to 1/125th of a second, a huge difference when shooting without a tripod.

IS?
EV?
Bracket +/-?
OOF?
Color Temp?

IS - Image Stabilization
EV - Exposure Value
EVC - Exposure Value Compensation
OOF - Out of Focus
Color temp - from wiki - "The color temperature of a light source is the temperature of an ideal black-body radiator that radiates light of comparable hue to that of the light source. Color temperature is conventionally stated in the unit of absolute temperature, the kelvin, having the unit symbol K." For example - a soft white CFL is 2700K, while a daylight CFL is 6500k, one appears orange while the other appears more white/blue.

 

[NutBucket]

Simple answer is use a tripod, set a longer exposure and use a much lower ISO. 3200 adds a ton of noise. I try to use 400 max, 800 if I really need to push it.

I'll have to post some night shots I took in Honolulu a few weeks ago. They came out great. I sat the camera (T1i) on the little table on the lanai and used a ~5 second exposure. Of course I was also using a 17-55 F2.8 lens 😛

 

[Munky]

Are you using live view when taking the picture? Try using the optical viewfinder instead, that will allow you to hold the camera more steady, which is crucial to getting sharp shots at night.

Also, play around with the noise reduction settings. At high ISO like 3200 there's bound to be moderate to heavy sensor noise, visible as grain, which the camera tries to hide by blurring it away. You could lower the noise reduction, and get a sharper image in exchange for some visible grain. For best results, shoot in RAW format, and do the noise reduction on the computer.

If you're serious about night photography, invest in a fast prime lens with an aperture like f/1.8 or f/1.4. These lenses capture much more light than the kit lens, and will allow you to use a faster shutter speed and/or lower ISO.

 

[AkumaX]

TRIPOD! Haha, but handheld's going to be tricky if you want a 'nice crisp' night shot because you'll typically need a higher ISO to lower the shutter speed for a handheld shot, meaning more grainy-ness. I guess a way to get around it is to shoot in RAW and use noise reduction in Photoshop

 

[Kanalua]

First off...as everyone else has said, you are going to need a tripod to get decent night shots (or something to immobilize your camera for longer exposures). You can try higher ISO settings, but using noise reduction will cut down on the sharpness you're looking for in night shots. I would go with a cheap tripod or a travel tripod (or even a table top tripod, which are really cheap).

As for you bag suggestion. I would suggest something that doesn't scream "I have a DSLR and laptop!"

For both your problem, I would suggest browsing the Canon digital photography forums. You can start in the Accessories and storage forum here. This backpack looks nice: ThinkTank Shapeshifter.

 

[angry hampster]

IS?
EV?
Bracket +/-?
OOF?
Color Temp?

Never saw any of these settings before. Still haven't. As I said I'm still pretty new to the digital camera field.



Manual isn't very good at giving practical examples.

.

If you had read your camera's and lens's manuals, you would know what these items are. You would also have known to use a tripod at speeds lower than 1/60.

Camera manuals are more than just a dummy guide.

 

[Munky]

Too many people suggesting tripods, like it's 1990.
For exposures down to about 1/8, (at moderately wide angles) a steady hand and good image stabilization system makes tripods unnecessary. Even better, put the camera in continuous shooting mode, and fire off a burst of 3-4 shots, to maximize your chance of getting at least one sharp photo.
You'll be using higher ISO, so shoot RAW and process the images on the computer to minimize noise and noise reduction blurring.
And seriously consider investing in a fast lens. No F2.8 zoom, but a F1.8 prime or better. Here's a photo I took at night with the Nikon 35mm F1.8 off a moving ferry boat, at ISO 1600, 1/40s exposure, and no stinking tripod. Looks plenty sharp to me.

 

[angry hampster]

It looks sharp but your ISO high enough that there is a ton of noise on the walls of the opera house. Smaller apertures also allow for much prettier flaring of light sources like those globes.

 

[PUN]

It looks sharp but your ISO high enough that there is a ton of noise on the walls of the opera house. Smaller apertures also allow for much prettier flaring of light sources like those globes.

OP wants a casual photo...no digital prints or brag.
Munky makes a good point. 1.8, 1/40-60 with ISO upto 1600 is good enough. Most reputable online reviews had said there is not much visible difference from 800 and below. At 1600 under night setting, it would do for most casual shots.

 

[Munky]

And that was shot using a 2006-era Nikon D40. A modern D7000 would look about 1 stop cleaner at ISO 1600, and a full frame D700 would look 2 stops cleaner.

 

[RedWolf]

No Canon owner should be without the $100 50mm 1.8 prime. It's cheap, it's fast, and has decent build quality. If you can affored it the 1.4 suggested above is a better choice but also about 4 times the price. Either will significantly help with your indoor bar shots. Just make sure to shoot in manual or at least aperture priority and keep the f-stop at 1.8.

For outdoor night shots it is best to use a tripod and shoot at higher apertures with longer exposures. If you don't have a tripod try setting the camera on something. You can use a car, mini-tripod, or something around you. In your example photo you could have used the concrete below the metal railing (obviously being careful to keep the camera safe). Shoot in RAW and post process with the canon software that came with your camera (or buy software).

You can hand hold but you'll get better shots with at F11 for 10 seconds than F1.8 for 1/8 second. If you hand hold try bracing your elbows against something and steady the camera with your forehead. You can also hold the camera on an object (like a car or railing). You could also sit down. You'll be much sturdier that way.

 

[angry hampster]

No Canon owner should be without the $100 50mm 1.8 prime. It's cheap, it's fast, and has decent build quality. If you can affored it the 1.4 suggested above is a better choice but also about 4 times the price. Either will significantly help with your indoor bar shots. Just make sure to shoot in manual or at least aperture priority and keep the f-stop at 1.8.

For outdoor night shots it is best to use a tripod and shoot at higher apertures with longer exposures. If you don't have a tripod try setting the camera on something. You can use a car, mini-tripod, or something around you. In your example photo you could have used the concrete below the metal railing (obviously being careful to keep the camera safe). Shoot in RAW and post process with the canon software that came with your camera (or buy software).

You can hand hold but you'll get better shots with at F11 for 10 seconds than F1.8 for 1/8 second. If you hand hold try bracing your elbows against something and steady the camera with your forehead. You can also hold the camera on an object (like a car or railing). You could also sit down. You'll be much sturdier that way.

I'm sorry but I don't think you understand what good build quality is.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

I'm sorry but I don't think you understand what good build quality is.

There's a reason it's called the plastic fantastic (amongst other goofy names). The build quality might honestly be worse than the kit lens. It's definitely more than enough for most people, image quality wise though.

 

[angry hampster]

There's a reason it's called the plastic fantastic (amongst other goofy names). The build quality might honestly be worse than the kit lens. It's definitely more than enough for most people, image quality wise though.

For IQ yep it's pretty solid for $60 used. However, it's just downright flimsy. There are lots of people who've reported them simply splitting in half.