[The1]

I did 2 attepts at the mini, both very different results. The out of focus car makes the crop iffy. but the colours came out nicely (in my opinion) on the crop.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by The1

He shoots a T1i. He should be able to pull off a 400ISO without sacrificing quality too badly.
I used to run one of those, the noise was borderlined after 400, but it all comes down to what you think is acceptable or not too.

He can shoot ISO 800 with light NR with good results. ISO 1600 would be better than that shake.

Dave

[M_Six]

Thanks, Guys. I missed the conversation last night due to exhaustion and an early bedtime.

Yeah, I should have bumped the ISO. Quite simply, I had brain fog. I had it set to 200 in the room and neglected to change it when I went out. I do the same thing every time I take the WB off auto. I always forget to set it again for the next shoot. Usually takes at least one blown picture to remind me.

I'll try more at 400. I've shot at 800, but I was not happy with the noise level. Maybe I need to brush up on my NR techniques, though.

[The1]

Originally Posted by dcstep

He can shoot ISO 800 with light NR with good results. ISO 1600 would be better than that shake.

Dave

I shot at 800 a couple of times when i had that camera and hated the results, but back then i never used NR So i'd be curious to see how they turn out.

High ISO handling is one of the big things that really drew me into my purchase of the 5DmkII along with the full frame.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by M_Six

...
Yeah, I should have bumped the ISO. Quite simply, I had brain fog. I had it set to 200 in the room and neglected to change it when I went out. I do the same thing every time I take the WB off auto. I always forget to set it again for the next shoot. Usually takes at least one blown picture to remind me.

I'll try more at 400. I've shot at 800, but I was not happy with the noise level. Maybe I need to brush up on my NR techniques, though.

Remembering to constantly check my settings is something that I continue to work on. Back in the olden days, when we ALL shot manual, you looked at the light and then your settings for every shot. With modern cameras, it's easy to get lazy on settings and screw up a great shot opportunity.

My worst in recent memory was shooting a full moon at -2EV at pre-dawn. Next I walked way back in the woods to the lake shore and set up my blind and shot the birds as the sun rose. Maybe 30 shots were taken before I thought to check my settings, which were 3-stops too low for the morning light. Luckily there were no once-in-a-lifetime shots missed, but lesson enforced, if not learned.

Shooting in RAW, exposing right (to the right of the historgram) and judicious use of NR can yield surprisingly good results.

Dave

[The1]

how heavily do you depend on your histogram? I use it as a reference if something doesn't seem to be working right, but beyond that, i don't touch it too much.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by The1

how heavily do you depend on your histogram? I use it as a reference if something doesn't seem to be working right, but beyond that, i don't touch it too much.

I only check it occasionally on each outting. If dynamic range is really high, then I'll look at it more often. I have the "blinky" light on constantly in the Preview, so I can see immediately if I've blown out any highlights.

My default setting is +2/3EV and I'll adjust up or down from there based on the histogram. The jpeg out of the camera generally look overexposed, but that's corrected in RAW conversion. Anything brown, grey or black will get added EV, while anything white in bright sun will get -EV.

All that said, once you do it for an outting or two, it becomes intuitive and easy to do.

Dave

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by dcstep

I only check it occasionally on each outting. If dynamic range is really high, then I'll look at it more often. I have the "blinky" light on constantly in the Preview, so I can see immediately if I've blown out any highlights.

My default setting is +2/3EV and I'll adjust up or down from there based on the histogram. The jpeg out of the camera generally look overexposed, but that's corrected in RAW conversion. Anything brown, grey or black will get added EV, while anything white in bright sun will get -EV.

All that said, once you do it for an outting or two, it becomes intuitive and easy to do.

Dave

I'll give that a shot. Heading out for a walking tour in a bit. Got to rest up first from the walk back from the Javits Center with a big bag of books. Oof.

[The1]

Originally Posted by M_Six

I'll give that a shot. Heading out for a walking tour in a bit. Got to rest up first from the walk back from the Javits Center with a big bag of books. Oof.

that would be some interesting shots in there with the 1.8...

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by The1

that would be some interesting shots in there with the 1.8...

Yeah, I wish I had it with me, but I couldn't carry the camera stuff and all the books. My walking tour will be to St. Bart's church, Grand Central Station, and then over to the UN plaza. Tomorrow I'll return to Central Park for my annual walkabout. Might hit the Statue of Liberty area on Friday for some shots back at the skyline.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Yeah, I wish I had it with me, but I couldn't carry the camera stuff and all the books. My walking tour will be to St. Bart's church, Grand Central Station, and then over to the UN plaza. Tomorrow I'll return to Central Park for my annual walkabout. Might hit the Statue of Liberty area on Friday for some shots back at the skyline.

You gotta check out Times Square at night. It's best with a tripod and/or high-ISO.

Dave

[TL]

Originally Posted by dcstep

You gotta check out Times Square at night. It's best with a tripod and/or high-ISO.

Dave

but you can get away with a tripod cause they're so many bright lights there

Also, hop on the 6 train to get to the Brooklyn Bridge

[TL]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Yeah, I wish I had it with me, but I couldn't carry the camera stuff and all the books. My walking tour will be to St. Bart's church, Grand Central Station, and then over to the UN plaza. Tomorrow I'll return to Central Park for my annual walkabout. Might hit the Statue of Liberty area on Friday for some shots back at the skyline.

to get the NYC skyline you'll have to be in NJ or Roosevelt Island.
Hop on the Staten Island ferry to see the Statute of Liberty for free

[The1]

It took me over 2 hours to get on the statue of liberty ferry.... all the security is ridiculous for how long the lines are, or they should have another ferry doing the run.

I think next time, i'll go from the jersey ferry to save some time (hoping it's shorter lines.)

[TL]

Originally Posted by The1

It took me over 2 hours to get on the statue of liberty ferry.... all the security is ridiculous for how long the lines are, or they should have another ferry doing the run.

I think next time, i'll go from the jersey ferry to save some time (hoping it's shorter lines.)

yea, that's post 9-11 NYC for you

[The1]

Originally Posted by TL

yea, that's post 9-11 NYC for you

fortunatly enough me and my buddy did the empire state building at around 10pm and there were no lines Otherwise that would have been another long wait!!!

[TL]

Originally Posted by The1

fortunatly enough me and my buddy did the empire state building at around 10pm and there were no lines Otherwise that would have been another long wait!!!

i waited 1 hour + for pizza in Brooklyn (Grimaldis). It was well worth it though

[The1]

Originally Posted by TL

i waited 1 hour + for pizza in Brooklyn (Grimaldis). It was well worth it though

haha, for that kind of wait, you pretty much have to have food with you in line to get more food

[ShopVac]

Not to shed off a great topic like 'NYC' since I've never been there...

Is there something I need to change when doing the night pictures for different lighting situations? I can't understand why some of my pictures came out crystal clear while ones like this last one are grainy and out of focus?

[The1]

in low light, if you have a camera that handles ISO well, you'll get little grain.

however, not a lot of cameras are built to take high ISO like the pro cameras, so your best solution is to bring a tripod with you and do longer exposures.

if you're having issues focusing, find a sharp edge to an object and use your center focus point (canon) to focus on, then move back to where you want to be shooting.

also closing down the aperture will help any sharpness issues once properly focused.

some lenses allow you do do a focus, but allow you to fine tune the focus, so depending what equipment you have, this may also be an option in low light for you.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by ShopVac

Not to shed off a great topic like 'NYC' since I've never been there...

Is there something I need to change when doing the night pictures for different lighting situations? I can't understand why some of my pictures came out crystal clear while ones like this last one are grainy and out of focus?

Show us an example or two.

[ShopVac]

Originally Posted by The1

in low light, if you have a camera that handles ISO well, you'll get little grain.

however, not a lot of cameras are built to take high ISO like the pro cameras, so your best solution is to bring a tripod with you and do longer exposures.

if you're having issues focusing, find a sharp edge to an object and use your center focus point (canon) to focus on, then move back to where you want to be shooting.

also closing down the aperture will help any sharpness issues once properly focused.

some lenses allow you do do a focus, but allow you to fine tune the focus, so depending what equipment you have, this may also be an option in low light for you.

Not sure if you saw the exif info from the raw file...

Camera: Nikon D90

Lens: AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Shot at 38 mm (35mm film equiv: 57mm)

Exposure: Auto exposure, Shutter priority AE, 0.6 sec, f/5, ISO 720

Flash: none

Focus: AF-A, at 3.4m, with a depth of field of about 1.6m, (from about 63cm before the focus point to about 1.0m after)
AF Area Mode: Contrast-detect (wide area)

Date: May 21, 2011 9:45:34PM (timezone not specified)
(3 days, 15 hours, 21 minutes, 25 seconds ago, assuming image timezone of 5 hours behind GMT)

File: 2,868 × 4,352 NEF (12.5 megapixels)

10,718,264 bytes (10.2 megabytes) Image compression: 71%


Camera's not the greatest model out there, but I don't think it's a slouch either.

I'm wondering if I had the focus box set just above the hood, meaning that it picked up on the building instead of the car?