Hong Kong at night, but...

[Ian]

Re: Hong Kong at night, but...

I mean low f values like 2.8, 3.2, 3.6 and not 6.3, 7.1, 8, e.t.c

George

OK - I would agree that in auto, the camera would tend to choose such an aperture - most compacts would be fixed at full aperture (typically f/2. in dark night conditions, but my argument is that this is not ideal because of potential aberrations that can only be controlled by making the aperture size smaller (larger f number).

Even at full aperture, very slow shutter speeds are inevitable, so a tripod or some other means of stabilising the camera (I used a gorillapod attached to the railing) is necessary for best results and this gives the photographer the freedom to choose a more ideal aperture and not to worry about the slowness of the shutter any more.

And this is exactly what I did.

Ian

[Archangel]

Re: Hong Kong at night, but...

Not if you use a tripod or something steady to rest the camera on. Pretty much any aperture you want I'd suggest. In the auto modes, what the camera chooses is often far from the best setting.

I agree using program shift when using a tripod too.
Though program shift doesn't offer flexibility at night if you want to shoot handheld.

George

[Stephen]

Re: Hong Kong at night, but...

I agree using program shift when using a tripod too.
Though program shift doesn't offer flexibility at night if you want to shoot handheld.

George

Haha, shooting handheld at night doesn't offer any flexibility I'd say. Even my camera that will shoot happily at iso1600 really needs a tripod for most stuff at night

[Archangel]

Re: Hong Kong at night, but...

[quote=Ian;14601]OK - I would agree that in auto, the camera would tend to choose such an aperture - most compacts would be fixed at full aperture (typically f/2. in dark night conditions, but my argument is that this is not ideal because of potential aberrations that can only be controlled by making the aperture size smaller (larger f number)./quote]

That is true and I don't argue with that.

Even at full aperture, very slow shutter speeds are inevitable, so a tripod or some other means of stabilising the camera (I used a gorillapod attached to the railing) is necessary for best results and this gives the photographer the freedom to choose a more ideal aperture and not to worry about the slowness of the shutter any more.

That is also true even though that up to specific shutter speeds (1/10, 1/8, 1/6 or 1/4) you can still shoot even handheld. Though a tripod would yield better results, even in this cases.

And this is exactly what I did.

Ian

Here is my disagreement Ian, since your question was if the picture is too dark.
I think in the name of "controlled potential abberations and blown highlights", you have sacrificed the brightness and clarity and that is why I suggested low f value and/or EV to 0, since the camera was in Aperture Priority.

If the question was for aberrations or blown highlights (of another picture as this one looks OK in terms of that) then I would have said otherwise.
My opinion anyway, but don't misunderstand my intentions through my English as we have spoken in the past about these differences that might sound strange when speaking and writing a foreign language.


George

[Archangel]

Re: Hong Kong at night, but...

Haha, shooting handheld at night doesn't offer any flexibility I'd say. Even my camera that will shoot happily at iso1600 really needs a tripod for most stuff at night

I would say it does Stephen and even with ISO80