Taking Night Time Pictures

Storm 10

Hi Guys

Can anyone tell me what settings I should use when taking pictures of the Moon/Stars and City lights. I have a Fuji Finepix S8000FD Digital camera but have not a clue about settings as I leave it in Auto mode all the time and I really want to get more from it. I am looking for ISO and Aperature settings etc

Any help greatly appreciated.

Regards
Storm 10

sunny2004

Storm 10 wrote: »

Hi Guys

Can anyone tell me what settings I should use when taking pictures of the Moon/Stars and City lights. I have a Fuji Finepix S8000FD Digital camera but have not a clue about settings as I leave it in Auto mode all the time and I really want to get more from it. I am looking for ISO and Aperature settings etc

Any help greatly appreciated.

Regards
Storm 10

The moon is 1/125 of a second at f8 (period) at 100 asa

its sunlight reflected and does not chance ! (clear view)

CabanSail

It all depends on what effect you are trying to acheive.

First thing, do you have a Tripod? For most night photography this will be essential.

If you want to get the light trails then you will want to have a low ISO, small aperture & long shutter speed. Set the camera in Manual on the tripod & try a few different settings. Try 4 or 5 seconds then keep increasing the time until you get what you want.

PonderStibbons

As mentioned, a tripod is pretty much essential. Even if you don't want to go fully manual you'll need to disable your flash at least. A good tip for night time city photos or even the moon is to shoot while there's still a bit of light in the sky. You'll get a nice blue colour and a better balance between the lights and non lit up areas.

Storm 10

Hi Guys

Yes I have a tripod I got a nice picture of the Moon last night which I will post when I get home to see what you think.

Its just that I really dont know much about ISO.Aperature and f settings as I use it all the time in auto mode but as you know that will not give you a good night shot and I would like to know more as its a great camera.

Thanks for the replies.

Nisio

There's a rake of stuff on the internet but roughly speaking:

ISO is how sensitive the sensor is

High ISO: very light sensitive but very noisy (good for taking handheld pics in dark conditions)
Low ISO:Less light sensitive but with less noise (for bright daylight, maybe tripod use)

Usually you try use the lowest ISO setting you can to try reduce the noise.

Aperature:

There's a set of blades in the lens that open and close to ocntrol the light getting to the sensor. The size of the hole is described by F numbers. the smaller the number the more light getting in so F2.8 lets in a load more light than F22.

The amount of light getting in has an impact on what shutter speed you can use so the shutter speed you use for F22 will be way longer than that for F2.8 cause there's less light getting through.

Aperature also controls the depth of field (the amount of the picture that's in focus) the smaller the F number the less of the picture that's in focus. So the depth of field using F2.8 will have only the part of the picture you've focused on in focus where as if you were using F8 and upwards the depth of field will cover the whole picture regardless of where you focused.

I found I use apereture priority mode mostly, I'll decide what I want in focus in the picture; pick a big or small F number to give that. The camera picks the shutter speed; if that speed is fast enough to hand hold the camera with out causing it to shake great if not then increase the ISO in steps until I can.

af_thefragile

Hey, i'm very interested in night photography too.
Does anyone know how to take those star trail kind of pictures?
Kinda like these:

nilhg

af_thefragile wrote: »

Hey, i'm very interested in night photography too.
Does anyone know how to take those star trail kind of pictures?
Kinda like these:
[IMG*]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3250/2482407911_625f09d0ca.jpg[/IMG]

http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/TRIPOD/TRIPOD2.HTM

Storm 10

Hi Guys

As promised the pic I took of the Moon on Monday night, I set the camera to manual and took the photo on a tripod dont ask me the settings I will try the settings posted and see how I get on, I also took one of the star near the Moon dont know what its name is.

City-Exile

You took all that with a FinePix?
I'm surprised and impressed!

Storm 10

City-Exile wrote: »

You took all that with a FinePix?
I'm surprised and impressed!

Thanks for the comment I have to say its a great camera for the price.

CabanSail

I think they are really good cameras. Great to really learn about photography.

pixbyjohn

[Image]
Make = FUJIFILM
Model = FinePix S8000fd
Orientation = top/left
X Resolution = 72
Y Resolution = 72
Resolution Unit = inch
Software = FinePixViewer Ver.5.1
Date Time = 2009-01-07 19:11:39
YCbCr Positioning = co-sited
Copyright =
Exif IFD Pointer = Offset: 276
PrintIM Data = 28 Byte

[Camera]
Exposure Time = 1/60"
F Number = F4.5
Exposure Program = Manual
ISO Speed Ratings = 100
Exif Version = Version 2.21
Date Time Original = 2009-01-02 18:40:46
Date Time Digitized = 2009-01-02 18:40:46
Components Configuration = YCbcr
Shutter Speed Value = 6 TV
Aperture Value = 4.3 AV
Brightness Value = 3.6 BV
Exposure Bias Value = ±0EV
Max Aperture Value = F2.83
Metering Mode = Pattern
Light Source = unknown
Flash = Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
Focal Length = 84.2mm
Maker Note = 330 Byte
Flashpix Version = Version 1.0
Color Space = sRGB
Exif Image Width = 1280
Exif Image Height = 960
Interoperability IFD Pointer = Offset: 1152
Focal Plane X Resolution = 5714
Focal Plane Y Resolution = 5714
Focal Plane Resolution Unit = cm
Sensing Method = One-chip color area sensor
File Source = DSC
Scene Type = A directly photographed image
Custom Rendered = Normal process
Exposure Mode = Manual exposure
White Balance = Auto white balance
Scene Capture Type = Normal
Sharpness = Normal
Subject Distance Range = unknown

[Interoperability]
Interoperability Index = ExifR98
Interoperability Version = Version 1.0

[Thumbnail Info]
Compression = JPEG Compressed (Thumbnail)
Orientation = top/left
X Resolution = 0.007
Y Resolution = 0.007
Resolution Unit = inch
JPEG Interchange Format = Offset: 1288
JPEG Interchange Format Length = Length: 3774

[Thumbnail]
Thumbnail = 160 x 120

[MakerNote (Fujifilm)]
Version = 0130
0010 = 4C3330302020080108A0358SQ02526
Quality = FINE
Sharpness = Normal
White Balance = Auto
Colour Saturation = Normal
Flash Mode = Off
Flash Strength = 0/100
Macro = Off
Focus Mode = Auto Focus
1022 = 1
1023 = 640, 480
Slow Sync = Off
Picture Mode = Manual Exposure
1032 = 1
Continuous taking or auto bracketing mode = Off
1101 = 0
1200 = 0
1210 = 0
Blur Warning = Blur Warning
Focus warning = Auto Focus Good
Auto Exposure Warning = Over exposure (>1/1000s,F11)

Storm 10

pixbyjohn wrote: »

[Image]
Make = FUJIFILM
Model = FinePix S8000fd
Orientation = top/left
X Resolution = 72
Y Resolution = 72
Resolution Unit = inch
Software = FinePixViewer Ver.5.1
Date Time = 2009-01-07 19:11:39
YCbCr Positioning = co-sited
Copyright =
Exif IFD Pointer = Offset: 276
PrintIM Data = 28 Byte

[Camera]

Exposure Time = 1/60"
F Number = F4.5
Exposure Program = Manual
ISO Speed Ratings = 100
Exif Version = Version 2.21
Date Time Original = 2009-01-02 18:40:46
Date Time Digitized = 2009-01-02 18:40:46
Components Configuration = YCbcr
Shutter Speed Value = 6 TV
Aperture Value = 4.3 AV
Brightness Value = 3.6 BV
Exposure Bias Value = ±0EV
Max Aperture Value = F2.83
Metering Mode = Pattern
Light Source = unknown
Flash = Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
Focal Length = 84.2mm
Maker Note = 330 Byte
Flashpix Version = Version 1.0
Color Space = sRGB
Exif Image Width = 1280
Exif Image Height = 960
Interoperability IFD Pointer = Offset: 1152
Focal Plane X Resolution = 5714
Focal Plane Y Resolution = 5714
Focal Plane Resolution Unit = cm
Sensing Method = One-chip color area sensor
File Source = DSC
Scene Type = A directly photographed image
Custom Rendered = Normal process
Exposure Mode = Manual exposure
White Balance = Auto white balance
Scene Capture Type = Normal
Sharpness = Normal
Subject Distance Range = unknown

[Interoperability]
Interoperability Index = ExifR98
Interoperability Version = Version 1.0

[Thumbnail Info]
Compression = JPEG Compressed (Thumbnail)
Orientation = top/left
X Resolution = 0.007
Y Resolution = 0.007
Resolution Unit = inch
JPEG Interchange Format = Offset: 1288
JPEG Interchange Format Length = Length: 3774

[Thumbnail]
Thumbnail = 160 x 120

[MakerNote (Fujifilm)]
Version = 0130
0010 = 4C3330302020080108A0358SQ02526
Quality = FINE
Sharpness = Normal
White Balance = Auto
Colour Saturation = Normal
Flash Mode = Off
Flash Strength = 0/100
Macro = Off
Focus Mode = Auto Focus
1022 = 1
1023 = 640, 480
Slow Sync = Off
Picture Mode = Manual Exposure
1032 = 1
Continuous taking or auto bracketing mode = Off
1101 = 0
1200 = 0
1210 = 0
Blur Warning = Blur Warning
Focus warning = Auto Focus Good
Auto Exposure Warning = Over exposure (>1/1000s,F11)

Dont know what this info means or where you got it from can you explain ????????

AnCatDubh

af_thefragile wrote: »

Hey, i'm very interested in night photography too.
Does anyone know how to take those star trail kind of pictures?
Kinda like these:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3250/2482407911_625f09d0ca.jpg

There's one or two threads started - try a search of the forum (your kinda derailing the OP's thread!) but this one http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055416640 should contain what you are looking for.

af_thefragile

AnCatDubh wrote: »

There's one or two threads started - try a search of the forum (your kinda derailing the OP's thread!) but this one http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055416640 should contain what you are looking for.

Thanks that was pretty useful, i thought the OP might be interested in these kinda things too.
Apologies for derailing OP's thread!:)

Mycroft H

pixbyjohn wrote: »

[Image]
Make = FUJIFILM
Model = FinePix S8000fd
Orientation = top/left
X Resolution = 72
Y Resolution = 72
Resolution Unit = inch
Software = FinePixViewer Ver.5.1
Date Time = 2009-01-07 19:11:39
YCbCr Positioning = co-sited
Copyright =
Exif IFD Pointer = Offset: 276
PrintIM Data = 28 Byte

[Camera]
Exposure Time = 1/60"
F Number = F4.5
Exposure Program = Manual
ISO Speed Ratings = 100
Exif Version = Version 2.21
Date Time Original = 2009-01-02 18:40:46
Date Time Digitized = 2009-01-02 18:40:46
Components Configuration = YCbcr
Shutter Speed Value = 6 TV
Aperture Value = 4.3 AV
Brightness Value = 3.6 BV
Exposure Bias Value = ±0EV
Max Aperture Value = F2.83
Metering Mode = Pattern
Light Source = unknown
Flash = Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
Focal Length = 84.2mm
Maker Note = 330 Byte
Flashpix Version = Version 1.0
Color Space = sRGB
Exif Image Width = 1280
Exif Image Height = 960
Interoperability IFD Pointer = Offset: 1152
Focal Plane X Resolution = 5714
Focal Plane Y Resolution = 5714
Focal Plane Resolution Unit = cm
Sensing Method = One-chip color area sensor
File Source = DSC
Scene Type = A directly photographed image
Custom Rendered = Normal process
Exposure Mode = Manual exposure
White Balance = Auto white balance
Scene Capture Type = Normal
Sharpness = Normal
Subject Distance Range = unknown

[Interoperability]
Interoperability Index = ExifR98
Interoperability Version = Version 1.0

[Thumbnail Info]
Compression = JPEG Compressed (Thumbnail)
Orientation = top/left
X Resolution = 0.007
Y Resolution = 0.007
Resolution Unit = inch
JPEG Interchange Format = Offset: 1288
JPEG Interchange Format Length = Length: 3774

[Thumbnail]
Thumbnail = 160 x 120

[MakerNote (Fujifilm)]
Version = 0130
0010 = 4C3330302020080108A0358SQ02526
Quality = FINE
Sharpness = Normal
White Balance = Auto
Colour Saturation = Normal
Flash Mode = Off
Flash Strength = 0/100
Macro = Off
Focus Mode = Auto Focus
1022 = 1
1023 = 640, 480
Slow Sync = Off
Picture Mode = Manual Exposure
1032 = 1
Continuous taking or auto bracketing mode = Off
1101 = 0
1200 = 0
1210 = 0
Blur Warning = Blur Warning
Focus warning = Auto Focus Good
Auto Exposure Warning = Over exposure (>1/1000s,F11)

Just the f stop, the shutter speed, iso value, 35mm equiv would have done

pixbyjohn

landyman wrote: »

Just the f stop, the shutter speed, iso value, 35mm equiv would have done

Apologies`, but sure you posted them all again in your quotes

pixbyjohn

Storm 10 wrote: »

Dont know what this info means or where you got it from can you explain ????????

I got all that info from YOUR photo of the moon. I used an application called Opanda, it gives you all the settings of your camera when you took the shot.

Storm 10

pixbyjohn wrote: »

I got all that info from YOUR photo of the moon. I used an application called Opanda, it gives you all the settings of your camera when you took the shot.

Thanks for that it is very interesting, is that a free download

Burnt

Storm 10 wrote: »

Hi Guys

As promised the pic I took of the Moon on Monday night, I set the camera to manual and took the photo on a tripod dont ask me the settings I will try the settings posted and see how I get on, I also took one of the star near the Moon dont know what its name is.

First of congratulation those shoots are superb given the kit you are using.:cool:

The star is more than likely the planet venus; hence why you were fit to resolve it (see it's shape)

Secondly for shooting stars for a lens at say focal length 20mm you will only be fit
to take picture of about 20 seconds longer and they will start to trail.
see here

Have your aperature wide open lowest possible f no. say f3.5

Take multiple images and then stack them using something like deepsky stacker

murpho999

Storm 10 wrote: »

Thanks for that it is very interesting, is that a free download

I'm not being trying to be smart but if you googled your questions then you would get all your answers.

All the info you need about learning camera settings is out there on tons of websites.

To start you off, here's a link I found on google in about 5 seconds telling you about Opanda and offering a free download.

http://www.opanda.com/en/iexif/index.html

Liked your moon shots btw.

Storm 10

murpho999 wrote: »

I'm not being trying to be smart but if you googled your questions then you would get all your answers.

All the info you need about learning camera settings is out there on tons of websites.

I find that I get answers to querys far better on this board than any google search not just for photos etc, after all thats what this forum is for.

Thanks to all for your help its appreciated.

phog

murpho999 wrote: »

I'm not being trying to be smart but if you googled your questions then you would get all your answers.

All the info you need about learning camera settings is out there on tons of websites.
To start you off, here's a link I found on google in about 5 seconds telling you about Opanda and offering a free download.

http://www.opanda.com/en/iexif/index.html

Liked your moon shots btw.

Yeah, google is great BUT if everyone that asked a question on a forum was referred to google then googling could become impossible as you could end up with lots of questions being answered with "goggle" and the real information being lost in the vastness of the net.

Storm 10

Another picture that I took tonight of Venus with my finepix camera on full 18x optical and some digital zoom.

af_thefragile

^Thats a fairly decent pic considering the camera you're using.
It produced the right color for venus. Though pretty distorted...

AnCatDubh

Digital zoom if used will always lead to distortion - the feckin marketeers put it in the camera not photographers so they can say 'ours is bigger than yours' - like i've got a 400x zoom. Eh.... no you actually don't mister marketeer.

Its not real zoom at all - it essentially equates to crop and stretch of your image. Well i'm sure there is more science to it than that but i've never seen a digital zoom that is worth its salt. There is nothing a digital zoom will do in camera that PP on computer won't do for you. And when you use digital zoom you will lose detail from the optical range.

I'd always avoid using it if it is on your camera. You get more from your image if you don't use it and if you feel the need to use it then you can always apply 'digital zoom' later on in post processing.

Ok. I lie. One occasion it *may* be useful - that is when framing an image. If you want to see what it would eventually look like if you crop'd a portion of your image beyond the optical zoom capability in PP, and to assess this before you go to take the image. Then zoom away to your hearts content, but just reset it back out to the optical zoom range before you press the shutter release.

Ok, rant over. Back on topic