I plan on going to Las Vegas and I need a camera that will take good night shots. I want a camera that will capture all the lights and buildings in the background. Does anyone know which camera will do the best in a setting like that? The digital camera I have now is terrible and the backgrounds always come out completely black. Any suggestions will be great!
2007-11-22 04:27:49 · 2 answers · asked by Vicka411 1 in Consumer Electronics ➔ Cameras
You will need a camera with shutter priority or manual mode. You also need to have a tripod in order to capture the background at night. A DSLR would be the best to this job.
2007-11-22 05:27:05 · answer #1 · answered by TheCat 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As already said you will need a tripod.
You also need a camera that can be used in Manual Mode and accepts a cable release.
Turning now to my trusty FotoSharp (fotosharp.com) Day & Night Exposure Guide, lets look at Scene # 8 "Brightly lit street corners"
ISO 100
f2.8 @ 1/15 sec.
f4 @ 1/8 sec.
f5.6 @ 1/4 sec.
f8 @ 1/2 sec.
ISO 200
f2.8 @ 1/30 sec.
f4 @ 1/15 sec.
f5.6 @ 1/8 sec.
f8 @ 1/4 sec.
ISO 400
f2.8 @ 1/60 sec.
f4 @ 1/30 sec.
f5.6 @ 1/15 sec.
f8 @ 1/8 sec.
ISO 800
f2.8 @ 1/125 sec.
f4 @ 1/60 sec.
f5.6 @ 1/30 sec.
f8 @ 1/15 sec.
Now if you drive outside of town and want to capture the lights, we'll use Scene # 14 "City skyline in distance"
ISO 100
f2.8 @ 4 sec.
f4 @ 8 sec.
f5.6 @ 15 sec.
f8 @ 30 sec.
ISO 200
f2.8 @ 2 sec.
f4 @ 4 sec.
f5.6 @ 8 sec.
f8 @ 15 sec.
ISO 400
f2.8 @ 1 sec.
f4 @ 2 sec.
f5.6 @ 4 sec.
f8 @ 8 sec.
As you can easily see there is no "magic digital camera" that automatically "takes good night shots." Even with a high-powered flash there will be little you can do about the background going dark. (See the Inverse Square Law - it explains how light intensity decreases with distance from its source)
Taking good quality photos after dark requires a more sophisticated camera.
2007-11-22 06:57:36 · answer #2 · answered by EDWIN 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋