How do I take clear pictures at night?

Question

I own a Nikon D40 and when I try to take pictures of the moon, or just about anything at night, the images come out blurred.
The Camera has a 18mm-55mm lens.
Do I need a better one?
Is their something I can do to the settings that can help?
Any information about this camera is appreciated.Thanks!

I have been using the "Night" option,and the overall contrast of the picture is better, but it is still very hazy.

Excellent answers! I am very impressed!
I think this could be helpful to just about anyone who reads this page.
Thank You for the help.I really appreciate it.

Answer 1

Go to the menu and selection an option "night".Than you can take a photograph with flash and this can to view in the night....
(sorry my english...i'm tried to help you...)
Bogus

Answer 2

Make sure you keep your shutter speed above the reciporical of your lens focal length.

Example: if you are shooting at 55mm the you want your shutter speed at least 1/60th of a second. This doesn't gaurentee against motion blur from camera shake but it is a good rule of thumb.

If you can't get your shutter speed that high even at ISO 3200 and wide open aperture (f/5.6 @ 55mm) you will need a tripod.

I strongly disagree with the person saying to switch the the camera to night portrait mode. What this mode does is use the flash on a slow sync speed. This lets the flash stop the action of your human subject but lets the ambiant light come through so you dont just have a brightly lit subject with a pure black BG. I dont use it even for it's intended purpose of night portraits because the color balance of the flash compared the the BG is always horribly nasty looking.

just buy a tripod for $35, and then switch to aperture priority.
from there, press info and take your ISO down to 200. rotate the command dial left to select the lowest aperture. (most light getting in) then press the shutter release. (better would be the get the remote for $20 and use, that so as not to shake the camera when you stab at the shutter.

Look at the resulting picture and adjust the exposure with the +/- key and the command dial because the light meter struggles at night.

For the moon, at 55mm it will still be pretty small. your camera might just expose for the darker sky or some average between the moon and the dark sky. this would leave your moon shot over exposed. Select the "spot" exposure option and make sure the moon is in the dead center of the selected focus point. (it flashes red in the viewfinder) it you expose the moon properly you can many times shoot it hand held. ISO 1600, f/5.6 and you should get at least a 60th of a second if you expose the moon right

Answer 3

First, 55mm is way too short for moon photos. You need at least a 200mm and a 300mm would be even better.

Second, using a tripod will certainly help.

Third, the moon is a sunlit object so, believe it or not, the Rule of 16 applies. This states: "In bright sunlight set your aperture to f16 and your shutter speed to the reciprocal of the ISO". So at ISO 200 you'd use 1/250 sec. @ f16.

Fourth, moon photos are best done as far away from extraneous light sources as possible and on a very clear night.

Now if you also want to take photos of, say, the night city skyline in the distance here is how. Camera on your tripod, settings on full Manual Mode.

ISO 100

f5.6 @ 15 seconds
f8 @ 30 seconds
f11 @ 60 seconds

ISO 200

f5.6 @ 8 seconds
f8 @ 15 seconds
f11 @ 30 seconds

The above settings are from my FotoSharp (fotosharp.com) Day & Night Exposure Guide.

Answer 4

Well, the tripod has been suggested - a MUST for night photography or low-light subjects.

I shoot ALL of my night scenes at ISO 400 f/8 and judge the exposure time by how much light is on the scene. For example, a city scene might be 8 seconds, while a darker lit building might be 20 seconds. I always start with a 10-second exposure at f/8 and go from there. Having a shutter release cable is a must and super nice, too. I use a MC120 (was made for the D100 and now use it with my D200) - it allows you to set the time on the release. The other option would be to set your self-timer to 5 seconds so you can take your hand off the camera by the time shutter opens.

If you find yourself without a tripod, set your ISO to the highest possible setting (yes, you will have more noise) and set the camera to A for shutter priority. Make sure your lens is open to it's largest setting (f/2.8, f/5.6, etc.).

Someone mentioned the "Sunny 16" rule for the moon, which has never worked for me and comes out too dark. The part about your shutter speed being equal to the ISO is correct, but it's best to shoot at f/11. So, if you're shooting at ISO 400, shoot at f/11 and 1/400th or 1/500th of a second. And you definitely need a longer focal length. I use a 400mm(digital factor = 640mm) lens.

Answer 5

The rule of thumb for being able to handhold a camera without being affected by camera shake is to use a shutter speed that is the reciprocal of the focal length of the lens.

For example, if you set your 18-55mm lens to the widest focal length of 18mm, then if you shoot at 1/18 sec. and faster (say, min. 1/25 sec.), the camera would have captured the shot before your camera movement can affect the picture. Likewise at the longest end of the focal length of 55mm, you'd probably need a shutter speed of 1/55 sec. or faster (say, min. 1/60 sec.).

However, at night, since there is not much light, the camera will typically use shutter speeds that are slower than 1/25 sec., going down to 1/2 sec., 1 sec. or even slower. At these slow shutter speeds, even a slight movement of the camera (say, caused by your depressing the shutter release button to take the picture) can be registered in your picture as a blurred image.

As a previous person said, using a tripod is almost obligatory for night photography. What I do sometimes is set the camera on a flat surface and use the self-timer to trip the shutter.

You can also try using a higher ISO so the camera can select a faster shutter speed. Your pictures, however, can look "noisy."

For a good moon shot, you need to meter the moon (switch to Spot metering) or it will come out all washed out and with no details. Try different shutter speeds of 1/125 sec. or faster.

Answer 6

Basically you need a slow shutter speed with a high flash for pictures at night to come out clear. The D40's come with the pop up flash like the Canon Rebel XTi which is the camera i use, but it is not enough for a clear shot at night. So for this i recommend getting a speedlite. I own one for my Canon ( i dont know what Nikon brands are called, sorry) this should dramatically help your night photos. i also recommend getting a better lense. Sigma makes Great Nikon lenses that offers image stabilizer and great dof's and pricing. Nikon's Nikkor lenses are one of the best lenses out there but it could run you deep out of your wallet. Oh yeah and a lower ISO setting....Hope this helps!

Answer 7

I've done that, here's what I learned. You need a tripod to steady the camera. You also need to manual focus, and a remote trigger. I found that pushing the button shook the camera enough to blur the picture since I set the exposure to max. Also what I did was play with the aperture settings. I would take allot of pictures and note the settings then when I got the film developed I could see which setting was best. Of course now with digital you can get instant data.

Answer 8

Use a tripod. The shutter speed, even on night mode, is too slow for you to shoot by hand. That alone will improve your night pictures. I suggest you learn more about photography before you take some of the great advice being given in your answers. Doing what your told to is great but unless you understand why, it won't do you much good. A bit of advice, read your cameras owners manual, cover to cover. It will help.

Answer 9

Blur is caused by camera movement. When shooting at night, the shutter speed may be too low to keep the camera steady so you don't get blur. You have some options. Use a small tripod and place it and the camera on a table when shooting at night without a flash or increase the ISO to the maximum your cameras supports and learn to steady the camera when shooting at slow shutter speeds (less than 1/125th second)

Answer 10

you need to get a tripod to stabilize the camera while taking the picture. it seems you are shaking while taking the pics, and that is why it is coming out all blurry. hope this helps.