Help! Night shooting turned out blurry

[Eryca]

Hi experts,

I tried out my first night shooting over the weekend. After i download to the PC then I realised most of the pictures turned out blurry though tripod was being used.

Attached one sample pic for your advises. thanks
http://www.flickr.com/photos/erycateo/4614390487/

 

[Francis247]

Hi experts,

I tried out my first night shooting over the weekend. After i download to the PC then I realised most of the pictures turned out blurry though tripod was being used.

Attached one sample pic for your advises. thanks
http://www.flickr.com/photos/erycateo/4614390487/

Please see the following link on how to do night photography.
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=365864

Here are some consideration.
(1) Can your tripod take the load of your camera and lens?
(2) Is a remote cable used?
(3) Is the tripod stable and not affect by the wind?
(4) Where did you focus?
(5) Subjects in motion or still?
(6) Is any Vibration Reduction or Image Stabilization technology been used?

Try to ask yourself these questions and see where the problem lies.

 

[kokfann]

1. picture size is small, difficult to see
*2. picture don't have exif data, can't see your settings - ignore this

what aperture did you use? where is your focus point?

edited: you are using f4.0 for that picture, how can it be sharp?

 

[sinned79]

your lens got IS? if so, you need to turn it off when u use tripod, otherwise, the vibration from your lens will cause the blurry photos.

 

[aspenx]

I see that the shutter speed was 0.6s.

This is within the danger zone for tripods and really tests your technique and tripod, especially since you're shooting at 80mm.

Anyways, you could have easily reduced your ISO to 800 or below and use a shutter speed of 2s or longer. This will help to give you sharper photos (assuming that you already turned your IS off).

 

[night86mare]

sorry, what is danger zone for tripods?

 

[night86mare]

(1) Can your tripod take the load of your camera and lens?
(2) Is a remote cable used?
(3) Is the tripod stable and not affect by the wind?
(4) Where did you focus?
(5) Subjects in motion or still?
(6) Is any Vibration Reduction or Image Stabilization technology been used?

best answer that takes into account *almost* everything i can think of. in short (point by point):

(1) blur can be caused by use of a tripod that is not stable

(2) blur can be caused when you press the shutter button and "move" the camera - this can be solved by using either remote cable or timer.

(3) if you are using a telephoto lens, it is possible that the wind could have affected the camera. this is especially so if your tripod is not stable.

(4) oof causes blur.

(5) motion in the picture is because of long exposure, not because of camera shake. this can be easily seen when objects that are meant to be still (like buildings) are moving as well.

(6) you need to turn IS/VR off when using tripods.

on top of that, if you are shooting WIDE OPEN, or TOO STOPPED DOWN; the former will cause softness because of how lenses work.. and when it is too stopped down, diffraction will soften the image.

 

[ortega]

is your tripod sturdy?

your image is too small to see if it was camera shake or OOF

 

[aspenx]

sorry, what is danger zone for tripods?

It's broken English for "you are not likely to get sharp photos when using shutter speeds in that range with telephoto lens mounted on average tripods"?

I couldn't think of any way to put it shorter. :sweat:

 

[night86mare]

exif info from flickr:

Exposure: 0.6
Aperture: f/9.0
Focal Length: 80 mm
ISO Speed: 3200

where got f/4?

could be high iso?

 

[night86mare]

It's broken English for "you are not likely to get sharp photos when using shutter speeds in that range with telephoto lens mounted on average tripods"?

I couldn't think of any way to put it shorter. :sweat:

:bsmilie::bsmilie: ok i was wondering what was so dangerous about using tripods..

yeah, telephoto lenses, especially when you are not using tripod collar and fully extended.. can get quite iffy in windy weather even with good tripods... i tried 10 second exposures with nd110 once on a windy beach somewhere.. 5 tries later, give up.

 

[aspenx]

For TS's benefit so others can give more informed advice.

EXIF data:
Exposure: 0.6
Aperture: f/9.0
Focal Length: 80 mm
ISO Speed: 3200

Larger version of the image can be found: here.

EDIT: oops. Realised that the exposure settings have already been mentioned.......

 

[aspenx]

:bsmilie::bsmilie: ok i was wondering what was so dangerous about using tripods..

yeah, telephoto lenses, especially when you are not using tripod collar and fully extended.. can get quite iffy in windy weather even with good tripods... i tried 10 second exposures with nd110 once on a windy beach somewhere.. 5 tries later, give up.

Wow. That must be some heck of a wind. Even 10s exposures didn't cut it?

 

[Francis247]

best answer that takes into account *almost* everything i can think of. in short (point by point):

(1) blur can be caused by use of a tripod that is not stable

(2) blur can be caused when you press the shutter button and "move" the camera - this can be solved by using either remote cable or timer.

(3) if you are using a telephoto lens, it is possible that the wind could have affected the camera. this is especially so if your tripod is not stable.

(4) oof causes blur.

(5) motion in the picture is because of long exposure, not because of camera shake. this can be easily seen when objects that are meant to be still (like buildings) are moving as well.

(6) you need to turn IS/VR off when using tripods.

on top of that, if you are shooting WIDE OPEN, or TOO STOPPED DOWN; the former will cause softness because of how lenses work.. and when it is too stopped down, diffraction will soften the image.

Thanks for your contribution.
Maybe I should start a sticky thread in my Night Photography forum to have some troubleshooting guidelines to address all the issues.

 

[night86mare]

Wow. That must be some heck of a wind. Even 10s exposures didn't cut it?

300mm mar..

it was bad. i was worried about sand getting into my lenses actually, but they seemed to survive fine. walking along the beach itself was painful though. i remember i was alone, because everyone else had gone back in their funky beach houses, but i didn't live there. :bsmilie::bsmilie:

 

[ortega]

looks like due to extreme high ISO speed

when using a sturdy tripod that can take the weight of your equipment, you do not need to use such a high ISO speed

 

[kokfann]

oops..my bad..
i was looking at the Practice_Nite_1 exif. f4.0
others ranged from f8.0 onwards

 

[coolthought]

Hi TS. IMO... there is a tiny tiny bit of movement when the shutter was released caused probably by what nightmare has already mentioned that you won't know until you view it on your pc. This will be exaggerated when shooting in larger zoom. The graininess caused by high iso somewhat worsen it.

Interestingly, at 0.6 sec you are able to freeze the flyer movement at night!

 

[coolthought]

walking along the beach itself was painful though.

You walk barefoot on a rocky beach?? ?

 

[night86mare]

You walk barefoot on a rocky beach?? ?

no la!

the wind, very strong. painful to be there in the cold with sand flying in your face, etc. :bsmilie: