D70 long exposure woes

<p >Hi, </p>

<p >I am looking for a little help.</p>

<p >I have a Nikon D70 and have been using it for about a year and a half.</p>

<p >I have been fairly happy with the results but now I am exploring the world of long exposures I am finding more hurdles than I expected.</p>

<p >Last night I went out and took loads of shots of a river at sunset with a nice selection of fast moving clouds and some buildings etc in the background.</p>

<p >I use a tripod and experimented with my ND8 filter, my CP filter and loads of different combinations to get a nice effect (water like glass, clouds moving and sharp and correctly exposed buildings in the background).</p>

<p >I tried to keep the aperture to F22 or as high as possible and the shutter as low as I could to get the effect I was after but none of the buildings in the background were clear. The buildings were visibly multi-coloured to my eye but not in the shot and the water was not as smooth as I had hoped for. </p>

<p >I had my white balance set to Auto and then I tried it at cloudy but it still was not very pleasing to the eye.</p>

<p >Can some one explain what sort of settings I could try to get the best out of long exposures?</p>

<p >Thanks, </p>

<p >Alan</p>

<p>Alan,<br>

One thing I've experienced is F22 and long exposures on a crop camera inevitably results in a very soft result. Try not dropping the aperture down to F22 - F8 is the smallest I'd go, F11 already starts to show softness - however, I've not done landscape/long exposure type shots in a long while, I'm sure another pnet member with experience will chip in soon :)<br>

This link may help. http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/diffraction-photography.htm<br>

Hope you are using a good tripod and remote release!<br>

Alvin<br>

PS: An example photo (full view & 100% crop) would be great!</p>

<p>I think on a 6 MP camera you should be OK at f/11. On my D40 I find f/11 is OK, f/16 noticeably softer and f/22 pretty poor. All this when viewed at 100% or more.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Maybe you could post a sample.</p>

<p>But f22 is too small an aperture on most any lens.</p>

<p>For some reason my 55mm micro works fine all the way at f22, but none of my other lenses are anything but soft.</p>

<p>How sturdy is your tripod? Can you weight it down with something?</p>

<p>In addition to what already has been said, also check whether "long exposure NR" is ON. It will take twice as long to make one exposure, but it does remove a lot of the issues that come from long exposures.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>not as smooth as I had hoped for</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Noise, or still texture because your exposures were not long enough? An example picture would be great :-)</p>

<p>Hi, <br />Thanks very much for the responses. I will try at F11 and see what comes out. I usually shoot in 'M' mode, is this the best option? I will post a sample when I get home and regarding the tripod its fairly sturdy.<br />I dont use a remote but I do use the timer.<br />Regards, <br />alan</p>

<p>In any review of the D70, I've always read that the auto white balance was not great. I use a D70S, and I almost always use one of the WB presets rather than Auto. Would I notice the difference? Maybe not, but it's a habit I've got into. Also, if you shoot in RAW mode, you can correct the WB afterwards.</p>

<p>I do shoot in Raw and usually used the Cloudy WB, however it was picking out orange from a street lamp and making the whole image orange - see...............<br>

<a href="

Also noise was an issue!</p>

<p>If you're shooting RAW then there's no reason to worry about WB selection in-camera.</p>

<p>It's rather difficult to tell anything from the small photo you posted (and yes, that includes the slightly larger version available by clicking through).</p>

<p>You mentioned problems with buildings in the background, but I don't see any in that photo. Could you upload an example of a problem image that others can view at a reasonable size for this discussion?</p>

 

<p>Hi,<br>

Yes I will upload it when I get home.<br>

I will upload a straight from the camera shot.<br>

Best,<br>

Al</p>

 

<p>Hi again,<br>

Right I am home now.<br>

This is one of the shots I am struggling with...........</p>

<p>How would I post process this?<br>

When I lift the exposure in photoshop there are crazy blown out sky areas!</p>

 

<p>this is the one I attempted yesterday...........</p>

<p>alan, <br>

The first image was shot at f22 and the second at f3.5. As suggested above, try something in the range of f8. The shot at f3.5 is still very soft (blurred) and this is not likely due to diffraction or even poor focus (lack of DOF) assuming that you were focussed at or close to infinity. That leaves camera motion as the possible culprit. Try using a remote release and mirror up function if available on your camera.</p>

<p>Note you are shooting at ISO 200. You may want to increase this if you need to reduce motion blur of clouds or water, but otherwise you are fine at 200. There is nothing inherent in long exposure images that should lead to very soft images lacking in fine detail.</p>

<p>Alan, this is WAY too soft for any lens or camera. You must either have a focus problem, or camera shake. If you get such softness at daylight, you have a focus problem. Are you using AF or Manual? Do you get the dot showing correct focus in the viewfinder?</p>

<p>But most likely, this is camera shake with a long exposure. Then you need a more sturdy tripod.</p>

<p>Note that night photography is not easy. You tend to overexpose the lights. They get halos etc. I suggest you try this just after dawn, when the sky still provides some light.</p><div></div>

<p>Hi Alan, the two images are way too soft (when looked 100%) but there is something weird: both the images are at a resolution that's more than the original resolution of the camera D70 = 6Mpx = 3000X2000<br>

Your images are 4096 x 2723 (oversampled)<br>

Obviously this adds softness to the picture. In any other case F16 is the maximum you can get with D70 before entering in the difraction area.</p>

<p>Regards Fabio</p>

<p>Hi again,<br>

Sorry its been ages.<br>

I have been out experimenting and I have to say that I am very dissapointed with the results.<br>

I have been out several times and I just cant seem to get anywhere with this.<br>

Using several different combinations and I have some expamples below.<br>

Can anyone tell me whats wrong with what I am doing?<br>

I have a sturdy tripod so I know thats not the issue!<br>

Thanks,<br>

Al</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hi again,<br>

Sorry its been ages.<br>

I have been out experimenting and I have to say that I am very dissapointed with the results.<br>

I have been out several times and I just cant seem to get anywhere with this.<br>

Using several different combinations and I have some expamples below.<br>

Can anyone tell me whats wrong with what I am doing?<br>

I have a sturdy tripod so I know thats not the issue!<br>

Thanks,<br>

Al</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Alan,</p>

<p>Can't help you without a sample.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hi again,<br>

Sorry its been ages.<br>

I have been out experimenting and I have to say that I am very dissapointed with the results.<br>

I have been out several times and I just cant seem to get anywhere with this.<br>

Using several different combinations and I have some expamples below.<br>

Can anyone tell me whats wrong with what I am doing?<br>

I have a sturdy tripod so I know thats not the issue!<br>

I am struggling with sharpness, noise and blown out lights.<br>

The other thing thats a problem is bringing out details in the image!<br>

Thanks,<br>

Al<br>

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i178/analtwat/Docks.jpg<br>

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i178/analtwat/Stmary.jpg<br>

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i178/analtwat/Stmary.jpg</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Sorry!<br>

My pc went berserk just then!<br>

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i178/analtwat/Pier.jpg</p>

 

<p>How about going back to square 1. Return to this site when there is good daylight illumination and take a few shots. If you get good definition then it is likely that your nighttime technique is responsible. Even a sturdy tripod is subject to some vibration which long exposure makes visible.</p>

<p>You are taking shots where the dynamic range (between shadows and the streetlamps) is probably more than the sensor can capture. Result is noise in the shadows and/or blown out lights. Consider HDR.</p>