zuzanne Loc: Crawfordville, FL

I am going to North Rim of the Grand Canyon for 3 day camping trip the end of August. I have ordered the MK Lightning Bug in hopes of capturing lightning strikes if any happen during my trip. Its monsoon season in the Southwest, so felt my chances should be pretty good. The manual says to shoot in manual mode. Unfortunately I have never learned how to shoot in manual mode, just Auto or Aperture.

I will be using Canon T5i camera with Tokina Ultra Wide F2.8, 11-16 lens. I need help with settings for both day and night shots. I will be using tripod. My other question is for using the same equipment what settings to use for night sky photography.

TIA,
zuzanne

ggttc Loc: TN

If you read the Lightening bug manual...it should give you the settings you want...set the camera to the M mode and follow those settings

BassmanBruce Loc: Middle of the Mitten

For night sky I shoot my 11-16mm wide open for 30" with 2" delay.
Try setting up and operating your camera in the dark before you go.
I also use manual focus by turning iso to about 6400 and use live view 10x choosing a bright star and making it as pinpoint sharp as possible, sometimes I then move to a dimmer star and repeat. Then move iso back to shooting range (800ish for me usualy) and begin the party.

Danger, night shooting may cause money to fly out of your wallet for faster gear! Lol! Have fun and good luck!

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

From the following video, to shoot the night sky: 30 sec @ f/2.8 ISO 6400.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1Kfr8RG3zM

repleo Loc: Boston

To avoid star trails, use the 1/500 rule. Divide the effective focal length of the zoomed lens by 500 to get the maximum seconds of exposure. Open up as wide as you can and start ISO around 6000 - 8000. When focusing, don't forget your foreground.
For night shots of objects or scenes, start with ISO 200, F8.0, WB around 3600 and shutter speed of 3 minutes. This will require a cable release. You will have time to 'paint' the scene with a flashlight but don't over do it. Your most important piece of equipment is your tripod. Try to shelter it if there is any sort of breeze.

IHH61 Loc: Homestead Fl

With the Lightning Bug you can still shoot in apature priority. Go to a high enough Fstop to get you to an exposure of 1/50 or so. Set and lock focus either with BB or turn off auto focus. Set drive to multiple shots. Plug in the Bug. You may need to play with sensitivity.

For night you will want manual and an exposure of 20 to 30 sec.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

We don't have enough lightning around here to make the Bug worthwhile, but from what I've seen online, using it shouldn't be a problem.

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=lightning%20with%20the%20mk%20lightning%20bug

whitewolfowner

I have shot lightning before and it all is experimentation to achieve the results you want. You can capture a lightning bolt with a 1/2000 of a second shutter speed if you can time it and get a good exposure; lightning is very bright and easily exposes. Most get the shots by just pointing the camera in the direction of the lighting and keeping the shutter for a period of time open hoping for a flash. The lightning that doesn't hit the ground and just bounces around in the clouds are harder to get because they are not as bright for exposing and requires usually faster lenses wide open. You have the advantage of shooting digital, I'm sure; so take a shot and see if you like it and go from there by making adjustments as you desire. Be aware that few strikes are the same intensity so your perfect exposure can vary from shot to shot, so don't be too critical as you make changes or you may be chasing your back all night long. Also, be aware of the lightning hitting you, sudden bursts of rain and/or wind coming your way too; so have a fast exit planned.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

I've always had pretty good luck with lightning with shutter priority. I set it to 15 and let the camera decide the rest and it's always right. On a tripod of course. I also use my 10-second on board timer to avoid camera shake when shutter opens.

martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida

Here's an example of lightning using manual settings at night
ISO 250 Aperture F/5.6 shutter speed 1.6 seconds
Short shutter speed, because the wind is usually blowing hard and your foreground will be blurry, Low ISO so the photo won't be blown out from the super bright flash.
On a tripod, prefocused, and I just pressed the shutter button ever couple of seconds. Real easy, just hard to find lightning in the distance and not in the middle of a rain storm.. Good-Luck..

(Download)

zuzanne Loc: Crawfordville, FL

Thank you all so much for your help. I have printed off the Lightning Bug Manual and will take it with me. I am going to try to practice before the trip but its hard to find a dark area in East Las Vegas where I live. I am writing down all of your suggested settings and will try them as well. I have a wireless remote which I will use to avoid camera shake for night sky shots.

Thank you all again for your help.

zuzanne

zuzanne Loc: Crawfordville, FL

WOW, that's a beautiful shot. Thank you for sharing it. I have your settings written down to try.

zuzanne

zuzanne Loc: Crawfordville, FL

UPDATE: Received the Bug late yesterday afternoon. Followed instructions for setting it up. Camera is on tripod, Tokina wide angle F2.8 lens is on the camera. Bug is on camera. The test shot shows all is working. Camera is set to Aperture F2.8 rest of settings are on Auto. I got lucky at midnight last night, we had a thunderstorm with lots of lightning. I am on my 2nd floor balcony trying to capture lightning. The Bug did fire as it was supposed to do on a few shots. However, it didn't fire for very many and the lightning was all around. So I think I need to work on the sensitivity thing. All the shots were so totally blown out that you could not tell what they were. So I tried again. This time I went thru the manual and changed the ISO to 200 and tried to increase the sensitivity as the manual stated.

This time I got 2 shots that I am posting below. But again the Bug did not pick up and fire at the lightning that was all around the sky. So I need more practice and any advice you all can give me. Shots are not in order, messed up the downloading. Please not the first original shot goes with last adjusted shot and 2nd original shot goes with first adjusted shot. Sorry about that. Hope its not to confusing.

zuzanne

Attached file:
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Adjusted in Camera Raw

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Original Shot

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Original Shot

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Adjusted in Camera Raw

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BudsOwl Loc: Upstate NY and New England

Waiting to see what happens when you finally work out the bugs in the Bug.
Bud

zuzanne Loc: Crawfordville, FL

So am I. Hoping to get another storm to practice on this week. Tonight is slim chance for storm then nothing for the following week. I want to be comfortable with it before my trip.
zuzanne