Tips on Night shots, anyone?

[cciRRus]

I helps to bring more details, if you need to.

Just wondering, have you tried or seen comparisons between DRO and Auto-HDR? I know "in theory" Auto-HDR is supposed to do that. In fact, DRO is the same, i.e. supposed to bring more details, but without the "hassle" of taking multiple shots:

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=692116

Anyhow, through my experience as well as some of those here, it seems that DRO is generally more better than Auto-HDR. This brings me back to my initial suggestion of leaving it at DRO instead of Auto-HDR.

But if you feel Auto-HDR works better in some cases, please share.

 

[lenrek]

Just wondering, have you tried or seen comparisons between DRO and Auto-HDR? I know "in theory" Auto-HDR is supposed to do that. In fact, DRO is the same, i.e. supposed to bring more details, but without the "hassle" of taking multiple shots:

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=692116

Anyhow, through my experience as well as some of those here, it seems that DRO is generally more better than Auto-HDR. This brings me back to my initial suggestion of leaving it at DRO instead of Auto-HDR.

But if you feel Auto-HDR works better in some cases, please share.

Try shoot with high ISO, say 6400 or 12800 with both using DRO and HDR. You should notice, HDR gives out cleaner picture.

 

[cciRRus]

Here're some of my newbie attempts at night photography on my new A550 with SAL16105.

EXIF: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ccirrus/4649582693/meta/

EXIF: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ccirrus/4649611369/meta/

EXIF: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ccirrus/4650214488/meta/

I feel that a tripod is a must. Might also wanna off the image stabilizer if the cam is on a tripod or any stable surface. If your tripod is light, you might wanna use the 10-sec timer instead of 2-sec timer (or better, use a remote).

Can also follow the advice of the other posters on using small apertures, low ISOs, etc.

 

[cciRRus]

Try shoot with high ISO, say 6400 or 12800 with both using DRO and HDR. You should notice, HDR gives out cleaner picture.

Thanks. I'll try that but in most cases for night shots, I prefer using the lowest possible ISO e.g. ISO 200.

 

[lenrek]

Thanks. I'll try that but in most cases for night shots, I prefer using the lowest possible ISO e.g. ISO 200.

You went travelling, on business trip. You saw some nice scenery at night, you want to capture it back for remembrance, but no access to tripod.

If you in some situation where placing of tripod is not allowed, flash is not permitted and in low light environment.

These are situations happen to me.

Once I went out, did not bring tripod, high ISO was not a good option. Some museum has strange rules saying flash may cause problem to the artifacts on display so were banned for usage. Though, I am no expert in these, maybe there are some truth for such rules.

How I wish at the time, I have A550, with acceptable high ISO and HDR.

 

[cciRRus]

lenrek, have you tried A550? And the two modes?

Auto-HDR requires a stable platform since it takes 2 shots. Failing which will result in "shadows". So, you can bump up the ISO (but here, it has to be higher than DRO due to 2 shots) but that will result in artifacts. A550 is better in high ISO but it certainly cannot do magic. Your image will suffer. This is choice 1 - artifacts due to a higher ISO, but with apparently greater detail (marvels of Auto HDR).

Or, you can use DRO. Since it doesn't take 2 shots, it can tolerate a bit more shakes so you but get to use a lesser ISO. The result, you get less artifacts. This is choice 2 - lesser artifacts due to a lower ISO, but with apparently lesser detail (shortcomings of DRO).

Now the contention: does Auto-HDR really give that much detail over DRO such that one has to bump up that much ISO? Sacrifice detail for greater noise?

I own an A550. I did tests and checked around. I obtained results and conclused that Auto-HDR is not as good as DRO. My experience is not speculative - I did not wish I was at some museum with an A550 for I had taken indoor shots with my A550 and at the two modes. I noted the subtle difference.

I'm just sharing my actual usage experience of A550 with the two modes, though it may not be conclusive but subjective. So, it differs from user to user. You might prefer the noise-over-detail trade off while some might not.

 

[Senifer]

Some tips for basic night photography understanding.
here are some that i learnt few weeks back. and that can help you.

Night shot you will always need:

Tripod, low ISO, long shutter, smaller aperture like f11, f16, cable/remote(if you don't have it's fine, you can always make use of timer mode, like lets say 2seconds, it will shoot by itself in 2seconds, that will also reduce the handshake that you have on the camera when you shoot without the timer setting) i hope it helps.

 

[lenrek]

lenrek, have you tried A550? And the two modes?

I own both A550 and A900

Auto-HDR requires a stable platform since it takes 2 shots. Failing which will result in "shadows". So, you can bump up the ISO (but here, it has to be higher than DRO due to 2 shots) but that will result in artifacts. A550 is better in high ISO but it certainly cannot do magic. Your image will suffer. This is choice 1 - artifacts due to a higher ISO, but with apparently greater detail (marvels of Auto HDR).

All my A550's HDR were handheld. If I have tripod, I don't need to use HDR, I prefer longer exposure for night shot.

Or, you can use DRO. Since it doesn't take 2 shots, it can tolerate a bit more shakes so you but get to use a lesser ISO. The result, you get less artifacts. This is choice 2 - lesser artifacts due to a lower ISO, but with apparently lesser detail (shortcomings of DRO).

You did try high ISO 12800 + DRO lvl 5 right? You like that result? I personally don't.

Now the contention: does Auto-HDR really give that much detail over DRO such that one has to bump up that much ISO? Sacrifice detail for greater noise?

Contention? What are you talking about? Is more like personal preference.

I am simply explaining, under some situation, is easier to get satisfying picture using HDR, than DRO.

I own an A550. I did tests and checked around. I obtained results and conclused that Auto-HDR is not as good as DRO. My experience is not speculative - I did not wish I was at some museum with an A550 for I had taken indoor shots with my A550 and at the two modes. I noted the subtle difference.

I'm just sharing my actual usage experience of A550 with the two modes, though it may not be conclusive but subjective. So, it differs from user to user. You might prefer the noise-over-detail trade off while some might not.

That is fine...

 

[AlphaLuver]

Hi, i need some tips on night / dark area shooting w/o tripod.

yes i'm using an A350 but i'd say i'm not scenery shooters like what most of you probably is doing but just someone wanting a good quality image and capabilities which PNS can't / is hard to achieve. (hope you understand~~)

i mostly brings my dslr out on vacation, family outing, events such as chinese new year etc and sometimes these events happen at night ya?

of course shooting during daytime works fine for me but problem comes at these nighttime events. One thing which i'd most probably not bring is a TRIPOD. You wouldn't want to bring 3 sticks around to ppl's house or telling everyone to freeze so that i can do some shots eh?

I've tried flash with slow sync but it sometimes don't work perfectly. The blur etc created is just too much of nuisance sometimes. Fill Flash would just black out anything far. High ISO? hopeless IQ.

I'm having quite a hard time on my own and 7 out of 8 photo don't work. In need of some helping hands. Purchasing of hardware? I'll consider my budget and add it to my wishlist.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[sevensummerset]

me A350 user as well,
for in door u can un-mount your filters.
but I think it will be minimum improve.

u may want to consider getting fast lens,
like 50mm 1.8 is not expensive, deep pocket can get 50mm 1.4 - if u do a lot of indoor, this lens might be a bit tele for ur usage.
i recommend 30mm 2.8 macro - wider shot, can do macro, but slower focus(compare to other lens, it is not slow by itself.).

IMHO, A350 has its own hardware limitation - CCD sensor, unlike A550/NEX5 CMOS, lousy quality in ISO.
anything higher than ISO 400 is CMI by my standard... resize and PS/noise ninja simply too troublesoome for me...
only solution I think u got to upgrade body... try out A550 - is alot better then A350, NEX5 as well.

 

[naynoy]

Hi all! I'm currently using a Sony A330 with the given kit lens. I've been experimenting a lot and I realised if there's two things I can't grasp, its taking night-shots and this other thing.. I notice as compared to my friends who are Canon and Nikon users, the Sony processes very bright colours? Or it makes it seem as if my photos are over-exposed. Especially if my apperture setting's extremely low, like 4.

Any tips on night-shots and how to resolve this over-exposed thing?

Thank you and I appreciate your time

Hi,

i am also an A330 user like you with only the 18-55 kit lens and based on my shots taken with the cam and the lens, it is capable of producing good night photo provided you have the time to play and experiment on the full features of the cam..

here are some photos i took using the A330+kit lens for your comparison..

#1

#2

both pics were taken using manual exposure and with a tripod
iso is either normally set to 100 or 200 and you can play around with the exposure and aperture settings. i always save in RAW to enable me to capture more details and since it is digital, you can always take many shots as your like and view the processed image from the lcd. vivid and DR settings are both set to "on"
photo is post processesd via sony's image converter wherein you can modifiy the photo output prior to saving in jpeg.

so far i am satisfied with the results although i have not tried the built in HDR feature..
below is an HDR photo using the normal way of taking hdr (3 photos of varying exposures)
#3

 

[AlphaLuver]

me A350 user as well,
for in door u can un-mount your filters.
but I think it will be minimum improve.

u may want to consider getting fast lens,

IMHO, A350 has its own hardware limitation

only solution I think u got to upgrade body... try out A550 - is alot better then A350, NEX5 as well.

thx for your tip.. didn't have time to reply cause need to defend the country and the government.;(

Already unmount my CPL le... had high hopes when getting it but not after realizing it's a ND filter as well.:cry:

fast lens... hm.. can give it a try. somemore i usually shoots around that 'mm'.
is sony's 50mm a good go? i'm quite unfamilar of other brands and the shops that sells them (this case more to avoid getting chopped)

A350 does works well for me at the moment. yes it does limits my shots by it's spec but not very often. staying with me for some years to come.

p.s. is there anyway to have a flash which covers the entire scene? do i need to place those 'master and slave' kind of flash?

 

[Aimevous]

thx for your tip.. didn't have time to reply cause need to defend the country and the government.;(

Already unmount my CPL le... had high hopes when getting it but not after realizing it's a ND filter as well.:cry:

always try to minimize the amount of glass (or sometimes plastics) in front of your lens. Especially your CPL, unless you really need to filter the polarisation.

fast lens... hm.. can give it a try. somemore i usually shoots around that 'mm'.
is sony's 50mm a good go? i'm quite unfamilar of other brands and the shops that sells them (this case more to avoid getting chopped)

Sony's 50mm is pretty good. Both F1.8 and F1.4. You won't go wrong buying them. You can always try the usual shops, MS Color, Cathay Photo, J3:16, SLR Revo etc..

A350 does works well for me at the moment. yes it does limits my shots by it's spec but not very often. staying with me for some years to come.

p.s. is there anyway to have a flash which covers the entire scene? do i need to place those 'master and slave' kind of flash?

depends on what you mean by entire scene. Usually if u just use the built in wide angle diffuser, you should be able to cover a wide group shot. Alternatively you can always find a ceiling or wall to bounce, unless you mean that even at 1/1, you dont have enough flash power to light up whatever you are shooting, then maybe ya u might need additional flashes.. but personally I haven't come across such a situation. Probably just think and plan a bit and make use of available light and shadows to get a good picture..

 

[TME]

Actually huh... just bring a light and cheapo tripod along can already lar... no need to be so cheem one... One other option I like is to shoot on continuous mode... use high ISO, if you can, set the agorabasta's settings, widest possible aperture, take a whole series of pictures, you should get one sharp shot... then post-process the noise out... and then sharpen a bit more since it's landscape of buildings, it will look good if you don't print poster size...

 

[AlphaLuver]

One other option I like is to shoot on continuous mode... use high ISO, if you can, set the agorabasta's settings, widest possible aperture, take a whole series of pictures, you should get one sharp shot... then post-process the noise out... and then sharpen a bit more since it's landscape of buildings, it will look good if you don't print poster size...

0.o.. spray and pray. nice. yep.. i'm taking closer look at the 50mm f1.8 one... cheapest in the 50mm siblings. (not over my NS allowance too)

hahaha.. photoshop.. you tell me to cut and paste from there can lar... but noise removal,... i'll learn. keke.

 

[SK1968]

Actually huh... just bring a light and cheapo tripod along can already lar... no need to be so cheem one... One other option I like is to shoot on continuous mode... use high ISO, if you can, set the agorabasta's settings, widest possible aperture, take a whole series of pictures, you should get one sharp shot... then post-process the noise out... and then sharpen a bit more since it's landscape of buildings, it will look good if you don't print poster size...

Read somewhere about a method similar to what you described. It suggested stacking the photos and that will somehow 'iron' out the noise :dunno:

 

[TME]

Read somewhere about a method similar to what you described. It suggested stacking the photos and that will somehow 'iron' out the noise :dunno:

No no... I'm not stacking... what I'm doing is shooting as low ISO as is physically possible to get a sharp handheld shot and to improve my chances of getting such a shot, I will take multiple shots using the continuous drive mode... you usually get 1 out of 5 shots acceptably sharp...

 

[SK1968]

No no... I'm not stacking... what I'm doing is shooting as low ISO as is physically possible to get a sharp handheld shot and to improve my chances of getting such a shot, I will take multiple shots using the continuous drive mode... you usually get 1 out of 5 shots acceptably sharp...

Haha, sorry, I didn't make my msg clear. I meant to say that method is about taking several shots (should be with continuous drive mode I suppose), then stacked together. By doing so, Photoshop somehow 'reduces' the noise level Obviously this is only possible when nothing moves in the frame

 

[TME]

Haha, sorry, I didn't make my msg clear. I meant to say that method is about taking several shots (should be with continuous drive mode I suppose), then stacked together. By doing so, Photoshop somehow 'reduces' the noise level Obviously this is only possible when nothing moves in the frame

Stacking and handheld is not possible if your shutter speed is too slow... the camera shake will kill the image alignment between frames... but it's good for moderate shutter speeds and higher ISO...

 

[Aimevous]

Haha, sorry, I didn't make my msg clear. I meant to say that method is about taking several shots (should be with continuous drive mode I suppose), then stacked together. By doing so, Photoshop somehow 'reduces' the noise level Obviously this is only possible when nothing moves in the frame

yep this method is called image averaging.. its a basic technique in noise reduction.. that I learnt about back in school.. i think probably dont even need photoshop to do it. =D