best lens

Aaron Wilson

I like to shoot photos at night.... Some wide and some telephoto... what is the best lens to use at night in low light settings for the best pictures? I hate getting almost to bulb speed because I have to use a trypod... Were is the shuter was at 10 or higher I can shoot with the camera in my hands... any idea? There usually is fair amount of city light...

gubbs

Aaron, if you want to do hand held shots, I think you'll need lenses that open up to f2.8 or more. There's lots of options depending on what you want to do.
In rough price order heres's a few, (there are plenty of others, these are just the ones that came to mind and seem to have good reviews)

Canon 50mm1.8
Canon 50mm 1.4
Tamron 28-75 2.8
Tamron 17-35 2.8-4
Canon 17-40 L 4
Canon 16-35 L 2.8
Canon 24-70 L 2.8
(apologies if I've got any numbers wrong, my memory is not so good)

For handhelds only, set your 20d set on the lowest iso setting that will keep the shutterspeed at 1/45 or faster. Remember that having to use the wider apertures will seriously reduce your depth of field and will limit the shots available to you.

If you going to do long exposure stuff on your tripod set the iso to 100.

TBH if you really like doing nightshots, I don't think there's any getting away from using a decent tripod. Once you get used to carrying one around it's no big deal and it gives you so many more options. I take mine everywhere....day or night...

Hope that's some help

lambad

gubbs, what kind of tripod do you have that you are comfortable carrying with you everywhere? Meaning, is it small??? Thanks.

Aaron Wilson

I do have a 80 - 300 f2.8 ... I do have a try pod but I think What i really need is a remote switch.. I still get blury shoots due to me pushing the trigger. It's been a long time sence I have played with camera's and now Im going digital with the 20d from a rebel 35mm... but just to make sure.. is it better for the f2.8 to be a higher number for more depth of field? that number means how much kight is allowed into the lens correct?

Steve Cavigliano

Aaron,
Using a remote, or the self timer, is always a good idea for long exposures. Which is pretty much any shots you'd use a tripod for.

Yes, the higher the aperture number, the less light is let in to the sensor. An F2.8 lens is nice because it's so versatile. You can use it wide open in low light, to maximize shutter speed. Or, you can back off a few stops, from the max aperture, to get the sharpest images.

Steve

gubbs

Aaron Wilson wrote:

I do have a 80 - 300 f2.8 ... I do have a try pod but I think What i really need is a remote switch.. I still get blury shoots due to me pushing the trigger. It's been a long time sence I have played with camera's and now Im going digital with the 20d from a rebel 35mm... but just to make sure.. is it better for the f2.8 to be a higher number for more depth of field? that number means how much kight is allowed into the lens correct?

I hope i don't confuse things now
there's an explanation of f stops here

Beth, when I say I take it everywhere I mean I always have it in the car. My camera goes everywhere but the tripod only comes if I specifically go out to shoot or if I definitely know its needed (if you know what I mean).

At the moment I use a Velbon which I bought because its light and compact. These are not good reasons to buy a tripod!
Whilst I used to get by with my Oly 8080 in calm conditions, in the wind it was virtually useless, with the slr its just not up to the job at all!

Anyway, I'm hoping that after a lot of very subtle hinting that Santa will be bringing me a Manfrotto tripod , head & shoulder strap!!!:D