Night time castle pictures with point and shoot

[Br'erBriere]

I was wondering how everyones pictures of the castle at night as well as sinage (think future world colors) and night parades (spectro) come out?

I have used a bunch of camera's in the past and every shot of the castle and many of the parades come out terrible and blury. With that said I am really hoping for some help with some questions below.

What type of camera do you use to get a clear, un-blurry shot of the castle and other shots?

Do you tweak your manual settings, if so to what?

Do you use a tripod?

Can you post an example?

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

I was wondering how everyones pictures of the castle at night as well as sinage (think future world colors) and night parades (spectro) come out?

I have used a bunch of camera's in the past and every shot of the castle and many of the parades come out terrible and blury. With that said I am really hoping for some help with some questions below.

What type of camera do you use to get a clear, un-blurry shot of the castle and other shots?

Do you tweak your manual settings, if so to what?

Do you use a tripod?

Can you post an example?

To get those images you need a few things or combination of things. The first thing would be a tripod. Because of the low light the camera needs to be stabilized. A remote control would help because in some cases just depressing the button can cause blur. And thirdly, a fast lens helps. You can use combinations of the above. I use a DSLR with a fast lens (2.8) and tripod.

For the parades, its primarily a fast lens and tweaking the ISO to obtain a fast shutter speed with enough light to stop the blur. I have used a tripod only once to photograph the nighttime parades. That was the last time and I was set up in front of the Walt & Mickey statue looking down Main Street towards the Train Station ( I was trying for head-on shots of the parade).

 

[brianheather]

I have a Sony Cybershot point and shoot. I too have had problems with the grainyness or bluriness but a few i get to come out clear.

 

[zackiedawg]

For nice, clear night shots of still subjects, you do NOT need a DSLR - any P&S model except for the most basic can give you very nice results. A DSLR can do more, and better, and can also shoot moving subjects with the right lenses...but if the subject isn't moving (like the castle), a P&S is just fine for most folks.

As mentioned above, the big key is a tripod - or at least a flat, level surface. The camera should not be touched while taking a night shot - stick it on a tripod, set the ISO to the lowest number available (not Auto!), and use a nice, long shutter speed. If you have Manual mode, you can set the shutter speed and aperture yourself...if you're not as confident with settings, you can use S or A modes on the camera - S mode lets you pick a long shutter speed like 3, 5, or 10 seconds, and the camera will set the aperture, or A mode lets you pick the aperture, and the camera will use whatever shutter is needed to get the shot. If you don't have these modes on your camera, even regular old P mode will work fine - just set the ISO low, set the camera on a tripod, set the self timer, point and half-press to focus, press the shutter, and let go - let the timer take the photo, and remember not to touch the camera until you see the shooting screen again (shutters can be many seconds long at night!). The only cameras that can't really shoot that well for night shots are very basic P&S models that have a minimum shutter speed of only 1 or 2 seconds, as that's not long enough for a proper exposure.

Now, I use a DSLR myself, and take a lot of night shots. The above advice is good - a DSLR, a fast lens, a tripod, a remote shutter release or self timer...all great. But I also used to shoot night shots extensively with P&S cameras - using the same tripod, low ISO, and timer techniques, a P&S can deliver crisp, clear, detailed, and lovely night shots.

Here are a few night shot samples I took with P&S cameras:

 

[mrodgers]

A tripod or surface to set the camera and remote shutter or timer is all you need. You don't need a fast lens on a dSLR. That is for shooting handheld or action where you need the faster shutter speed in low light. With a tripod and a 4 second, 30 second, 8 minute, etc shutter speed, a fast lens isn't going to do you a bit of good.

If you don't have a tripod and set the camera on a surface, it would be a good idea in my mind to keep a hold of the camera strap. I took the following from one of the light poles on the bridge at Pop Century. I wrapped the strap around my hand and held on because if it fell, it would plop into the lake...

The key to low shutter speed shots hand held is proper holding of the camera. A normal point and shoot isn't going to cut it at all because there is no view finder. With my superzoom (as with most superzooms and all dSLR cameras) I have a view finder. I stand with feet spread apart, breathe deep even breaths, hold the camera to my eye and brace it against my cheek while tucking my elbows in tightly for more bracing. Leaning your body against something also helps in bracing. I could use the timer function, but normally it is easier for me to take a 3 shot burst. The first one will be the worst with blur because of pressing the shutter button, but the next 2 are usually pretty good. I can shoot 1/20th to 1/10th of a second pretty good.

Unfortunately, my images of the castle is ruined by high ISO on my camera (200 is very noisy, the 800 I shot this at is ridiculous, but still pretty good compared to many compact p&S cameras...) I only cropped and resized the following castle picture. I did shoot at my max aperture because I wouldn't have been able to hand hold any longer of a shutter, but ideally, it would be best to use a tripod, smaller aperture for a larger depth of field, and longer shutter time which couldn't be hand held. I was just shooting waiting for the fireworks in the horrible fireworks spot that we ended up at.

 

[Br'erBriere]

Thank you for all the reply's. Looks like a tripod is a good investment.

I took my old Kodak 5 mp camera yesterday and tested it outside of my house as well as inside with the ISO at 80 and with a F2.8.

Those came out sort of dark but i was only taking a picture of the back yard with the porch light on or in the living room with just the TV on. I played around some more and made the ISO 200, F2.8, and shutter speed 3/sec and got a very clear picture.

Would it be safe to assume that the lighting in Disney would allow me to take a good picture with the ISO at 80?

I plan on getting a better P&S camera before the trip in August, does anyone have any recomendations in the $!50-$230 price range that is capable of these fantastic night shots many of you have posted?

 

[zackiedawg]

I took my old Kodak 5 mp camera yesterday and tested it outside of my house as well as inside with the ISO at 80 and with a F2.8.

Those came out sort of dark but i was only taking a picture of the back yard with the porch light on or in the living room with just the TV on. I played around some more and made the ISO 200, F2.8, and shutter speed 3/sec and got a very clear picture.

Would it be safe to assume that the lighting in Disney would allow me to take a good picture with the ISO at 80?

Basically...yes. Disney lights their buildings quite a bit, so night shots usually can come out pretty good with shorter exposures. However, remember too that the longer you make the shutter speed, the more light the camera picks up. So if you tried 3 seconds and it was still dark, going to 5 seconds or 10 seconds will bring up even more light. Did your camera stop at 3 seconds as the maximum? Many P&S cameras can go to as long as 30 seconds...if yours doesn't, then that would be one of the main specifications I would look for with a new camera. Usually, very cheap, basic models are limited to just a few seconds, so you might step up to a middle level cam - $125-200ish should be doable.

Check a site like dpreview.com to see statistics of any model camera you are considering - they always list the max and min shutter speeds in their specifications pages for each camera model.

 

[smartkim]

Awesome pics! I have never taken any at night and I'm a little nervous too. We have a good camera, it's a Canon Rebel, but I haven't "played" with it enough to know how to take night pictures. I hope mine turn out half as good as these!!!

 

[Br'erBriere]

Basically...yes. Disney lights their buildings quite a bit, so night shots usually can come out pretty good with shorter exposures. However, remember too that the longer you make the shutter speed, the more light the camera picks up. So if you tried 3 seconds and it was still dark, going to 5 seconds or 10 seconds will bring up even more light. Did your camera stop at 3 seconds as the maximum? Many P&S cameras can go to as long as 30 seconds...if yours doesn't, then that would be one of the main specifications I would look for with a new camera. Usually, very cheap, basic models are limited to just a few seconds, so you might step up to a middle level cam - $125-200ish should be doable.

Check a site like dpreview.com to see statistics of any model camera you are considering - they always list the max and min shutter speeds in their specifications pages for each camera model.

The old camera I currently have is a Kodak Z something. Has alot of neat modes but is only 5 mega pixel.

The shutter speed can stay open for 64 seconds. I took a picture at night of my back yard with the back porch light on. Ill have to play with it more maybe the iso was too high because the picture turned out looking like a supernova. The more I play with it the more i seem to understand.

Just saw the camera on dpreview.com this is the camera I have.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Kodak/kodak_z730.asp

 

[zackiedawg]

The shutter speed can stay open for 64 seconds. I took a picture at night of my back yard with the back porch light on. Ill have to play with it more maybe the iso was too high because the picture turned out looking like a supernova. The more I play with it the more i seem to understand.

Yeah, you can do fine for longer shutter speeds with that camera. And you're right...if the ISO is set too high, OR if the aperture is set too wide open, then a longer shutter speed might 'over' expose the shot, where everything looks 'white'. That's why my first recommendation is usually to start with the lowest ISO possible - it will always yield the cleanest results with the least noise or grain, and also lets you use longer shutter speeds. Then, all you have to adjust is the aperture to what you want.

The great news for you is that your camera has manual and priority modes...so there is one piece of easy advice I can give you for shooting long night exposures with minimal effort.

Turn the dial on your camera to 'S' for Shutter Priority mode. Set the ISO to the minimum ISO80. Set the self timer to take the photo after you've removed your hands from the camera. With the adjustment wheel, set the shutter speed you would like to use (you can start with some middling numbers, like 5 or 10 seconds). Half-press the shutter button gently until the camera has achieved focus and confirmed, then fully press the shutter and release your hands from the camera. The self-timer will take the pic...let the camera finish processing, and return to the shooting screen. In this mode, the camera will select whatever aperture is needed at the chosen shutter speed to avoid underexposing or overexposing the shot if possible. So in your backyard, when you got that supernove white hot look, it was likely because your aperture was 'wide open' at F2.8 - the camera would have automatically dialed that back to F6.3 to F8...and you'd have gotten a better result.

Once you get the hang of it all, you start to see what the aperture range is doing in the shot - how opening it up or closing it down lets you take shorter or longer shutter speeds in the same light. You can experiment in A mode, where you are setting the aperture and the camera chooses the shutter speed - start to get a feel for what shutter speed the camera is going to use at a particular aperture in certain light. Eventually, you get to know it so well you can go into M or 'Manual mode' and set both aperture and shutter yourself with confidence.

Or maybe you don't want to get that into photography! Either way, use that S mode with the minimum ISO and a tripod, set the shutter speed to a length that sounds fun or good, let the camera set the aperture, and give it a try. If the results are too bright, go with a slightly faster shutter...if the results are dark, try going with an even longer shutter speed.

 

[Br'erBriere]

Thanks for all the advice. I was playing around with the S mode inside and out of my house and the pictures were coming out really good! I had no idea this camera was capable of this, especially a 5mp. I still want a new camera, but its awesome to my current one is capable of taking these night shots and that I also finally know how to get the shots I want in August! thank you!

 

[Br'erBriere]

One more question. If I am looking for a new camera under shutter speeds i see "1 - 1/2000 sec." quite a bit. Does this mean 1 second to 1/2000 second? If so that doesnt give alot of open shutter time does it?

Or does the 1 stand for 1 minute?

I'd like an updated camera similar to all the features I have on my Kodak Z730. Any recomendations?

 

[RBennett]

If you go to a website like dpreview.com it will give a maximum shutter speed (say 30 seconds) and a minimum shutter speed (1/2000 of a second.) I have never seen one say 1-1/2000. I would double-check it with a different site like the one I mentioned just to make sure you know what it is capable of before buying! Congrats on the success!!

 

[zackiedawg]

Actually, there are quite a few that only do 1 second, or maybe 2. Many of the very slim ultracompacts or el-cheapo compacts are limited to just a second or so for the long shutter...and yes, you're right - that's pretty worthless for long exposures at night! I'd stick with cameras that can at least give you, say, 15 seconds. Most of the mid-line and ultrazoom type models should give 30 seconds.

 

[seashoreCM]

Before jumping to the conclusion your automatic camera can't take the picture even with a tripod, try plussing the exposure compensation and also setting the metering to something other than "spot". Sometimes, especially with spot metering, a small amount of bright content makes the overall picture too dark. Also slight changes in aiming/framing with spot metering can change the overall picture brightness and this may confuse you.

f you want to compare two shots with exposure compensation, frame them exactly the same. A slight difference in framing including more light or more dark material will shift the basic (pre-exposure compensated) exposure making it an apples to r=oranges comparison.

And there are some times when you want to minus the exposure compensation, particularly when it is small lighted items you want to emphasize but not blow out (overexpose).

If you have a surface to set the camera on but no tripod, you can prop up the camera at different angles using a few coins.