PHX787 From Japan, joined Mar 2012, 4981 posts, RR: 14 Reply 2, posted (10 months 1 week 7 hours ago) and read 4954 times:
Quoting zkokq (Reply 1): The 5D MKIII is a camera that would fit the bill with a lens attached thats fast. Even the 5D II is a great performer in low light
Do you guys have special cameras for low/night light and day light?
ckw From UK - England, joined Aug 2010, 530 posts, RR: 18 Reply 5, posted (10 months 6 days 16 hours ago) and read 4839 times:
You show 2 different examples - with the aircraft stationary and with the aircraft in flight.
The key issue here is the shutter speed. In at least one of the shots, a very long shutter speed is used (as evidenced by light trails.) For this kind of picture any camera will work, what you need is a solid tripod. As soon as you bring a tripod into the equation, a camera capable of good high ISO performance becomes irrelevant - you may as well use the lowest (best quality) ISO available, and just extend the shutter. When shooting a stationary target using 1/8th or 1 sec really makes no odds PROVIDED the camera is stable.
While this may seem contrary to what you may read elsewhere, for most static night shots you do not need fast lenses or expensive cameras. Its all about planning, a solid support for the camera and good technique. Also, you will need to work out the best exposure by trial and error. Camera metering can be very unreliable in these situations.
Shooting moving targets is a different matter as you need a shutter speed sufficient to avoid motion blur. In this case, a camera with good high ISO capabilties will help (basically a current medium to high spec DSLR) and/or fast lenses.
However, there are ways around this. In the moon shot the aircraft is in silhouette - and you can use surprisingly high shutter speeds to expose for the full moon. The key to this sort of picture is positioning! You also need a longish telephoto lens for best effect.
PHX787 From Japan, joined Mar 2012, 4981 posts, RR: 14 Reply 6, posted (10 months 6 days 13 hours ago) and read 4814 times:
Quoting ckw (Reply 5): While this may seem contrary to what you may read elsewhere, for most static night shots you do not need fast lenses or expensive cameras. Its all about planning, a solid support for the camera and good technique. Also, you will need to work out the best exposure by trial and error. Camera metering can be very unreliable in these situations.
I have a Nikon L120, how do I extend the shutter speed?
ckw From UK - England, joined Aug 2010, 530 posts, RR: 18 Reply 7, posted (10 months 6 days 3 hours ago) and read 4739 times:
Quoting PHX787 (Reply 6): I have a Nikon L120, how do I extend the shutter speed?
Sorry, no idea having never seen the camera. What you want is to be able to select a slow shutter speed to allow a longer exposure. I'm sure the manual will tell you how to do this.
But perhaps I should also add that to acheive quality results like those used in your examples will require a pretty good understanding of photography basics - aperture, exposure, ISO, shutter speed and how these inter-relate. Basically, you will not be working in program mode for best results.
ckw From UK - England, joined Aug 2010, 530 posts, RR: 18 Reply 9, posted (10 months 4 days 1 hour ago) and read 4601 times:
For night shots (static one anyway) the camera really doesn't matter much - its all about technqiue, not equipment. Go to a camera store and see what they have second hand. ANY DSLR, provided it has the option for manual control will work fine. A decent lens helps though. Exactly which lens will depend where you will be taking the shots from, and what sort of result you want.
But please understand this - there is no camera made which will allow you to point n' shoot and get quality night shots. You will need to go through a fair bit of trial and error before getting shots like the examples you posted. You must also be prepared to learn and understand the fundamentals of photography.
Oh, and if you haven't already got one, you are going to need a decent tripod!
alevik From Canada, joined Mar 2009, 806 posts, RR: 8 Reply 10, posted (10 months 3 days 23 hours ago) and read 4595 times:
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Quoting zkokq (Reply 1): Best Idea is a camera with low noise and a lens thats f2.8 or lower.
The 5D MKIII is a camera that would fit the bill with a lens attached thats fast. Even the 5D II is a great performer in low light
No need at all for this type of equipment shooting static aircraft with long exposures from a tripod. The camera can/should be at its lowest ISO setting, f/8 and then you will have a long shutter opening. Therefore f/2.8 and high ISO capability don't matter.
For low light panning, that's a different story and you will need some of the better gear for the really low light high ISO action shots.
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