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Location: Marlton, NJ | Ok all you digital photography experts... I'm in Paris and I want to get the quintisessential photo of the Eiffel Tower (and others) at night. I have a Nikon D80 and I left the manual at home. I tried two settings... fully automatic - turned out too dark because the flash would come on, and the night setting on the dial - which resulted in this:
This picture is nice, but it means holding the camera REALLY steady because the lens is open for what seems like an eternity (1 second?).
Any advice on settings would be greatly appreciated! |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Settings look about right for a decent shot... you could even set the expose a bit longer.. you just need a tripod, or a convenient stationary object upon which to set the camera..... |
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Location: NJ | find a short French chick with a flat head . . . then, when you're done with the picture . . . . |
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Location: SoCal | then, when you're done with the picture
...you can have a glass of wine.... |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | . . . . while she is busy... |
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Location: South of most, North of few | Where's PW? |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | night without light = tripod (or something else to rest the camera on). A paperback and duct-tape works wonders. Put a section of the tape face-to-face where the Camera is so you don't get tape sludge on the camera.
Much easier than all that (sorry if an answer involves duct-tape, that's what I for first...
But an empty Styrofoam ir even cardboard coffee cup works well if you have a flat surface. Fashion the cup to get the right angle. |
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Location: Simpsonville, SC | TRIPOD MIKE, TRIPOD.
Or place tha camera on a fixed surface.
R U havin fun?! |
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Location: Rego Park, NY, | The exposure looks fine Mike. Anything longer than a second will cause blur. If there is a cafe close by ask if you could borrow a chair and some seat cushions to put the camera on. Set up the shot and then use the timer to take the picture. I'm not sure if your model has a mirror lock function. I have not used that function on my D200. I will look it up and let you know. Also try using an f stop of f8 or f11. This will increase the the exposure time by about 1/15th or 1/30th but will increase the sharpness too.
Phil
Posted by Trader Jim "Where's PW?" (Who me?)
I had to work today. Im in the middle of a 13 day strech of work. My next day off will be on 12/23/07. On that day I will be shooting a wedding. |
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Location: Copenhagen Denmark | Or...take it in twilight, with daylight fading early, try to be around from 5 o`clock on, set filmspeed to 200 - 400 iso under-expose say 1/2 stop ( experiment a little, 1 stop..1 1/2 stop etc.), that way, ya might have a decent shutterspeed ( 1/60 or higher )....reasonable small lens-opening ( try reach for f 8 ) ensuring highest possible sharpness, getting the Tower AND the Lights (minimising Halo ) AND a Dark Sky right, .. :)
Vic
..allways was a fan and an avid student of Andreas Feininger..and KODAK publications.. |
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Location: Rego Park, NY, | Vic I forgot about ASA setting. I leave my camera set at 400. Very good suggestion about the time of day.
Mike if you want to try the mirror lock up to reduce camera shake I found out how. Check your shooting mode dial( shows S,Cl,Ch,self timer symbol and Mup) on the top left of the camera where the Qual,WB and ISO is. Turn the dial to Mup. Then shoot a photo to raise the mirror. Then set up the camera using the timer if not hand held. That should cut down on camera shake.
YOu could also use this function for hand held shoots too. |
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Location: Copenhagen Denmark | Ah Phil, taken from the ( journalists ) bag o` tricks....that way even the Rollei can cope.. :)
Vic |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | I travel with only a backpack that fits under the seat and this is in it.
The Gorillapod |
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Location: Stow, Ohio | First thing is first....Great Shot!
any low light photography requires a tripod
forget those cheap portable things, the shutter release will cause vibrations. you need something to absorb the vibrations.
Also, the Eiffel tower at night is a protected copyright image. sadly you can not use that image for other than personal use.....
this is a great website for Nikon shooters
http://www.nikonians.org
I shoot a Nikon D50 and love it! |
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Location: Stow, Ohio | oh yeah........always shoot in manual!
It's digital, so it's instant gratification. :) |
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Location: Marlton, NJ | Wow! Thanks! I tried Cliff's suggestion first, but never actually got to take a picture... JUST KIDDING DEAR!
Hopefully I'll have a chance to try out some of the suggestions. I'm here for work and the time is not my own. We're heading west to Lannion today. I'll have one more evening in Paris on thursday before heading back.
That picture by the way, was taken after dinner and much red wine/irish coffees. The fact that I could hold the camera that steady (oh yeah - the temp was in the 20s Farenheit) was a miracle. I like that little gorilla tripod.
Miles - there's always duct tape around, isn't there? |
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Location: South of most, North of few | Originally posted by Elliot Meldoy:
It's digital, so it's instant gratification. :) ...or instant delete... |
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Location: CA | Not sure about the D80, but on the D50 and 70, you can cancel the 'auto-flash' feature so that the flash won't open automatically in low-light situations. The button for this is located (on the 50 and 70) on the left side of the camera (as you would hold it when taking a pic) right under the flash. It has a little lightning bolt looking symbol on it. With the camera set on 'auto' (green setting on the left dial), press the flash button and hold it down. Then dial the righthand thumbwheel until you get the 'slash' symbol going through the lightning bolt on the little screen. Now your flash is disabled. If you're in a hurry, you can just physically hold the door closed with a finger, but for what you're trying to do, you will need it as steady as possible. |
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OT - Digital Photography Help!
