Did your tripod move during the exposure or is it just the focus is towards the sky? Perhaps you need to stop down a bit, although the exposure will take longer. It's damned hard to focus properly at night though!
Yep it does suffer from a bad case of edge softness:)
No tripod movement, but if you look at the exif below the explanation is partly there. Pentax K100D - Sigma 17 -70 @ 17mm - 30 sec - f2.8 - ISO 200
They were shot at infinity focus and wide open... the sigma 17-70 is a bit soft wide open, but If I were to stop the lens further down I would have had to do a bulb exposure and I did not have a watch out there... It were a choice between soft edges and no capture...
Yep manual focus at night is pretty hard, when I am doing tripod work i tend to us a zenon flashlight to light up the subject while focusing, it makes it a lot easier.
Good idea using the bright flashlight. I'll have to get outside and get some night shots of the stars when the weather improves - it's been raining a lot recently
Well I am using the cable remote wth a shutter lock. Leaves me the opportunity to press the shutter, lock it and let go of the remote until it is time to close the shutter again...
Yes, it works the same way. Unfortunately, for the Nikon D50 there isn't a cable release so it's the IR remote or nothing
The D80 and above have sockets for attaching cable releases but I guess they thought the D50 is aimed at 'casual' users. Not everyone has a spare £800 to spend though....
You are soo right about that... well I got a good deal on the K100D and then a even better one on a K10D replacement, but pure luck and not exactly cheap either.
Well the upside is that the D50, just as my K100D benefits from the larger pixels, which equals cleaner High ISO performance, combine that with a stabilised 50mm prime and you are up for great flash free lowlight photography:D
Do you mean stabilization in-camera or just by using a tripod? I'd need to splash out nearly £500 for the cheapest Nikon VR lens so I have to make do with a solid tripod
I'd love the Nikon 18-200mm VR lens but there's a long waiting list because it's a really useful optic - maybe next year!
Well my K100D and K10D (just received it today) has in body stabilisation... means that e.g. a 50mm f1.4 all the sudden gets stabilised:yes: same goes for my sigma 70-200 f2.8.. on my K10D it gains between 2.5 and 4 stops...
I love the concept of that every lens I mount is stabilised... i have shot my 70-200 @ 70mm as lov as 1/15 sec handheld.
VR/IS/SR or whatever will never fully replace a good tripod, but it is ideal for lowlight street photography.
Take a look at the exifs in this Gallery, all images taken at ISO 800 and 1600 were shot handheld and without worrying more about shooting technique than I would in daylight. tells a little of what you can expect from that VR lens...
Nice and crisp! I'll have to save my pennies to get a VR I think but I suspect there will be a new lens out by that time with VR III technology.
Still, it's a terrfic feature of digital cameras that all it takes to change the light performance is a flick of a switch, ISO 200 to 800... 10 years ago you would have to mess around with several speeds of film.
Yep VR is wonderful, but it will never replace a tripod entirely...
Digital has changed photography a lot in that respect... It has added flexibility to that third variable in the exposure triangle, what I like is how they have implemented it... The coolest part in that respect is the TAv and Sv modes... especially the latter has changed my way of shooting low light. you D50 has two dials (front and rear) as I recalls right. Imagine having Aperture at one dial and ISO in 0.3EV steps o the other and the camera handling the shutterspeed, thats kind of cool fo street photography... Or using the two dials to control the shutter and aperture and having the ISO changing in the same 0.3EV steps within a predefined range... Not much use for landscapes, but darn cool for lowlight street or indoor no flash photography:D
Actually, the D50 has just one dial (the D80 and up have 2) and sometimes it's a pain to navigate the menu for changing things like white balance etc but it's a terrific camera.
I usually shoot in manual mode these days although I sometimes use the presets if I have no time to fiddle around.
The D50 is much like the K100D then one dial which is not ideal and a lot of fiddling in menu, but a great camera none the less. And at the end of the day it is really only a tool:)
Well I have to admit that I am a Manual mode shooter as well, but when shooting lowlight and stret photography Av and now Sv modes are useful, but for landscapes and such I do prefer the manual mode. Have never really used anything but M and Av, before the K10D, now it is M, Av, and Sv.
Yes, like portrait and sports modes, although I rarely use them. Having said that, Auto is useful for giving to people who haven't the foggiest idea how to use a 'real' camera. At least then it's more like a point and shoot but some people can't fathom the viewfinder either and expect the view to appear on the screen
I agree completely auto and scene modes on the entrylevel cameras are not bad at all for their purpose. Which to me is one letting people learn the aspects while maintaining the ability to use the camera as if it almost were a P&S. Kind of makes the learning curve a little less steep.
I tend to use Av and Sv for those situations. Just as quick when you get the hang of it.
The creative freedom is what made me go down that road in the first place, the ability to show how I would like things to be seen:)
Indeed it is an expensive hobby... I have a Pentax FA 31mm LTD waiting for me soon and a Pentax DA 21mm LTD I think (unless I am able to track down either the FA20 or FA24). the 31 does not come cheap though:)
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Comments
ALLY G.ALLY_G # Thursday, November 23, 2006 11:39:20 PM
Thomas Bojer EltorpDuplo # Friday, November 24, 2006 3:58:26 AM
Glad you like it.
Peter Battypjbatty # Saturday, December 9, 2006 5:35:10 PM
Thomas Bojer EltorpDuplo # Sunday, December 10, 2006 12:03:47 AM
Yep it does suffer from a bad case of edge softness:)
No tripod movement, but if you look at the exif below the explanation is partly there.
Pentax K100D - Sigma 17 -70 @ 17mm - 30 sec - f2.8 - ISO 200
They were shot at infinity focus and wide open... the sigma 17-70 is a bit soft wide open, but If I were to stop the lens further down I would have had to do a bulb exposure and I did not have a watch out there... It were a choice between soft edges and no capture...
Yep manual focus at night is pretty hard, when I am doing tripod work i tend to us a zenon flashlight to light up the subject while focusing, it makes it a lot easier.
Peter Battypjbatty # Sunday, December 10, 2006 12:46:55 PM
Cheers
Thomas Bojer EltorpDuplo # Sunday, December 10, 2006 7:02:59 PM
Heavy snow up here right now... I am looking forward to see those star shots of yours:)
Peter Battypjbatty # Sunday, December 10, 2006 7:28:47 PM
Thomas Bojer EltorpDuplo # Sunday, December 10, 2006 11:32:24 PM
Will your IR be workable in bulb mode?
Peter Battypjbatty # Monday, December 11, 2006 4:24:17 PM
The D80 and above have sockets for attaching cable releases but I guess they thought the D50 is aimed at 'casual' users. Not everyone has a spare £800 to spend though....
Thomas Bojer EltorpDuplo # Monday, December 11, 2006 5:16:59 PM
Well the upside is that the D50, just as my K100D benefits from the larger pixels, which equals cleaner High ISO performance, combine that with a stabilised 50mm prime and you are up for great flash free lowlight photography:D
Peter Battypjbatty # Tuesday, December 12, 2006 5:09:49 PM
I'd love the Nikon 18-200mm VR lens but there's a long waiting list because it's a really useful optic - maybe next year!
Thomas Bojer EltorpDuplo # Wednesday, December 13, 2006 1:18:10 AM
I love the concept of that every lens I mount is stabilised... i have shot my 70-200 @ 70mm as lov as 1/15 sec handheld.
VR/IS/SR or whatever will never fully replace a good tripod, but it is ideal for lowlight street photography.
Take a look at the exifs in this Gallery, all images taken at ISO 800 and 1600 were shot handheld and without worrying more about shooting technique than I would in daylight. tells a little of what you can expect from that VR lens...
Peter Battypjbatty # Thursday, December 14, 2006 5:51:13 PM
Still, it's a terrfic feature of digital cameras that all it takes to change the light performance is a flick of a switch, ISO 200 to 800... 10 years ago you would have to mess around with several speeds of film.
Thanks
Thomas Bojer EltorpDuplo # Thursday, December 14, 2006 11:57:56 PM
Digital has changed photography a lot in that respect...
It has added flexibility to that third variable in the exposure triangle, what I like is how they have implemented it...
The coolest part in that respect is the TAv and Sv modes... especially the latter has changed my way of shooting low light.
you D50 has two dials (front and rear) as I recalls right.
Imagine having Aperture at one dial and ISO in 0.3EV steps o the other and the camera handling the shutterspeed, thats kind of cool fo street photography...
Or using the two dials to control the shutter and aperture and having the ISO changing in the same 0.3EV steps within a predefined range...
Not much use for landscapes, but darn cool for lowlight street or indoor no flash photography:D
Peter Battypjbatty # Saturday, December 16, 2006 5:05:18 PM
I usually shoot in manual mode these days although I sometimes use the presets if I have no time to fiddle around.
Thomas Bojer EltorpDuplo # Saturday, December 16, 2006 6:42:29 PM
And at the end of the day it is really only a tool:)
Well I have to admit that I am a Manual mode shooter as well, but when shooting lowlight and stret photography Av and now Sv modes are useful, but for landscapes and such I do prefer the manual mode. Have never really used anything but M and Av, before the K10D, now it is M, Av, and Sv.
What do you mean by presets? Scenemodes?
Take care:)
Peter Battypjbatty # Sunday, December 17, 2006 3:16:06 PM
Thomas Bojer EltorpDuplo # Sunday, December 17, 2006 4:56:05 PM
Kind of makes the learning curve a little less steep.
I tend to use Av and Sv for those situations. Just as quick when you get the hang of it.
Peter Battypjbatty # Monday, December 18, 2006 5:34:55 PM
I have a Sigma 10-20mm wide angle waiting for me back home so I'll expand my horizons a little more with that. Expensive hobby though!
Thomas Bojer EltorpDuplo # Tuesday, December 19, 2006 5:58:40 AM
Indeed it is an expensive hobby...
I have a Pentax FA 31mm LTD waiting for me soon and a Pentax DA 21mm LTD I think (unless I am able to track down either the FA20 or FA24). the 31 does not come cheap though:)
Peter Battypjbatty # Tuesday, December 19, 2006 5:23:36 PM
Thomas Bojer EltorpDuplo # Tuesday, December 19, 2006 7:42:42 PM
Dacotah # Friday, November 9, 2007 8:46:34 PM
Thomas Bojer EltorpDuplo # Friday, November 9, 2007 10:40:02 PM
Thank you first of all:happy:
I am sure we can work something out, let me know which:)
Dacotah # Saturday, November 10, 2007 2:50:37 AM
You are welcome.
ssalonis # Wednesday, February 20, 2008 5:57:42 PM
Thomas Bojer EltorpDuplo # Thursday, February 21, 2008 3:18:28 AM
Leo Wongjust4u # Friday, May 9, 2008 3:46:56 PM
Thomas Bojer EltorpDuplo # Saturday, May 10, 2008 5:15:00 AM
Thank you for that.