Setting for Spectro Magic

[#1 Pocahontas]

Hi Everyone!

Every trip I struggle to get my Spectro Magic and night time Castle pictures to come out nice. In the past I have just used the nighttime setting with my film camera. I like the way the lights glow but 90% are blurry.

Does anyone know a good manual setting for taking pictures of nighttime parades and fireworks? I have a Nikon D50, can't recall which lens' right now. I am in the process of learning my manual settings and I don't want to waste the entire parade trying to figure it out. A good starting idea setting would be wonderful.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[donaldduck1967]

Hi Everyone!

Every trip I struggle to get my Spectro Magic and night time Castle pictures to come out nice. In the past I have just used the nighttime setting with my film camera. I like the way the lights glow but 90% are blurry.

Does anyone know a good manual setting for taking pictures of nighttime parades and fireworks? I have a Nikon D50, can't recall which lens' right now. I am in the process of learning my manual settings and I don't want to waste the entire parade trying to figure it out. A good starting idea setting would be wonderful.

Thanks in advance!!

All the threads i've read on shots for Spectro and Castle @ night say you must use a tripod because the exposure will be so long

 

[Groucho]

SpectroMagic is very different than the fireworks... for the fireworks, you want a longer shutter speed to get the "trails", so you need a tripod.

You may also need a tripod for SpectroMagic but you want a much faster shutter speed, otherwise you get the blurring. Your choices are upping the ISO (but that can increase the noise) and/or using a faster lens (one with a lower F-stop number.) If you can get the shutter short enough, you can probably get away with hand-holding the camera.

For your camera, you'll probably want to put it in Av (aperture priority) mode, set the aperture as low as possible (different number depending on the lens), and set the ISO to 800 or 1600. Preferably 800 as you'll get less noise in the picture, but there might not be enough light to get a good photo without blurring from the movement of the floats.

 

[#1 Pocahontas]

Thanks for the tips on where to start. I am taking a small table tripod with me for the fireworks. I plan to find a trash can to use with it.

The lowest F-stop I can get with my lens is 3.5. I only have the two lens' that came with the kit, nothing to fancy. I will work from there. Thanks so much for the tips! I work manual with my lights but have only used it a few other times for regular pictures. I just sit and play with it until it looks good or the histogram looks decent....thank goodness for digital!

 

[Scottl]

Don't be afraid to use iso 1600 on the D50. It handles noise amazingly well. I have the D50 and just got back from Disney a few weeks ago. I didn't get many pictures of the spectro parade but it wasn't because of the camera, it was because I wasn't close enough. There are usually enough lights on the floats and streets so you can get a semi fast shutter speed. Another technique if you have to use a lower shutter speed is to pan with the float. They aren't going fast but maybe you won't get a streak through the picture that way. Good Luck.

 

[Groucho]

Most DSLRs do 1600 acceptably but there is still noise and 800 will always be better. The other trade-off is that most lenses tend to be slightly "soft" when wide open. So with the one Pocahontas mentions that goes to 3.5, the question is, is it noticeably softer at 3.5 than, say, 4.0, and if so, is it better to shoot at 4.0 at 1600ISO (more noise but sharper) or 3.5 and 800ISO (less noise but softer)?

That's assuming that there's enough light for that - I haven't done serious Spectro shots (just a few last time with my old PnS, more of my 9-month-old watching it than of the parade itself), you may want to see some other photos that people have taken and look at the exif data if available to see what they had to use.

The other thing you can do if you want to REALLY be prepared (and know your camera and lenses that much better) is do a series of controlled tests. Put your camera on a tripod in your house, point it at a static subject (maybe set up a few objects next to each other with a plain background), focus (either manually or let the camera do it), then put it in aperture priority mode (turn off autofocus too, so that won't move.) Take the same photo under as many different F-shots as possible at a consistent ISO (200 probably, for minimum noise.) Take the photos and put them on your PC and look at the difference between the various apertures to see where your lens performs the best and if it is unacceptably soft when at the lowest F-stop. You may need to view at 100% (not fit to screen) to get a close look. You may find color differences, too.

I'm going to try to get this done with my lenses in the next week or so - it's kind of a pain but the more you know your equipment, the more you'll know what to expect when you hit the shutter and that knowledge will help prevent disappointments later. With a DSLR, chances are that bad pictures cannot be blamed on the camera and usually cannot be blamed on the lens... that means that the quality of the picture is really up to you.

 

[Sanka]

What would you guys recomend for spectro using the Canon S3? Should I use full manual? If so, what shutter/fstop/ISO? Or should I use Night mode, or something else all together?

 

[handicap18]

The D50 is one of the best dSLR's at ISO 1600. Its definately the best of the Nikon dSLR's. For the fireworks I found a trashcan just up from Casey's Corner that gave me the best view. I think it was the one closest to the Info board. I mostly used ISO 200, f/8-f/11 (f/22 during the finale) for anywhere between 2 and 8 seconds.

As for the Castle when its all lit up you can find any trash can in the area and even get real close to the castle and use the ground to get a very different perspective.

For Spectro Magic, do yourself a favor and spend the $110 or so and get the Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF lens. This lens is very sharp and when used in Aperture Priority mode at f/1.8 and ISO 1600 you should be very happy with the results. This lens also works on the indoor rides that don't allow flash photography using the same settings for Specto. It is a bit tight with the crop factor so just be careful of where you position yourself for the parade, but for the price it is well worth it.

With the 18-55mm kit lens you have the maximum aperture you have is f/3.5 at 18mm, as you zoom closer the aperture will get smaller. The f/3.5 will be good only to about 24mm or so, then it will get progressively smaller the tighter you go. So at 50 and 55mm on your kit lens you have a max aperture of f/5.6 which is like 3 1/2 times smaller than the 50mm f/1.8 prime lens.

I also use this lens when I take portraits of the kids. It is even more sharp in the f/5.6 to f/11 range which with a flash indoors is right about where you want to be. I did a report on my pics taken since I got my D50 and a large number of the pics were taken at the 40-60mm range. So I definately get a lot of use from the 50mm prime lens.