How do you get it sharp (Page 3): Most night shots need a high ISO. Your ISO 100 does not gather enough light. ISO of 800, 1600 can be used without noise on your camera. David...

Meives Loc: FORT LAUDERDALE

Most night shots need a high ISO. Your ISO 100 does not gather enough light. ISO of 800, 1600 can be used without noise on your camera. David

Djedi

I agree with Gene. Either the anti-shake on your camera was compensating for movement that didn't exist (always turn that off when on a tripod) or your tripod had movement.
I learned long ago that a tripod's best friend is a 3-liter waterproof bag filled with sand, suspended from the head's column by a hook.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Orange-Water-Resistant-3L-Dry-Bag-Waterproof-Pouch-For-Camping-Kayaking-Rafting-/222337934615
And in windy conditions that may not even be enough.
Remember, there is no such thing as a lightweight, really sturdy tripod. Especially for long exposures.

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

I shot the Detroit fireworks one night across the river from Windsor. I was on a tripod and had my shutter open for about 5-10 secs. per shot each as I usually do. By mistake, I had Vibration Reduction On (it is dark for these events, after all). When I got home and looked at my shots closely they were all mush and all had to be trashed. Operator error.

Djedi

Meives wrote:

Most night shots need a high ISO. Your ISO 100 does not gather enough light. David

Sorry David, but that I have to disagree with you. Take a look at Gene51's night-time bridge shots. Looking at that first one, it is amazingly sharp, and shot at ISO 100, with a Nikon D800.
Higher ISO will not yield a better photo (all things being equal) than the same shot at low ISO on an extremely steady base. It is one reason I prefer to place a sandbag on my woodpile for moon photos rather than using a tripod. Unless I am using long exposures (rarely) when I need tracking.

anneabc

Where can I find that focus info' and legend. I understand it's a plugin, but for the life of me, I can't find a plugin folder on my pc. Can anyone help? Is a plugin folder one I should have made, or does it automatically come on the pc? Thanks

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

stevenh0027 wrote:

Hi all, br I tried to take some photos of some bui... (show quote)

A few things I've noticed in the past that are good to remember.

One is that not all lenses are "tuned" for proper distance exposure. This can often be rectified by manual focusing and trying just a touch before the infinity setting.

The second thing several Canon-Nikon users seem to have a problem that turned out to be the in-lens IS. It hunts a lot. That's likely why you are often told to turn off the IS at slower speeds. My Pentax (in body IS), doesn't seem to be affected as much in the regards of "hunting".

Third thing, that many others might want to try also. When I took a few pics of the super moon last month using an older lens, I played around with a few post editing thing and just happened to use the purple fringing tool. Removing some of that did wonders for my moon shot! That is something I didn't relies before but will definitely keep in the back of my mind.

Hope these are helpful to you.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

stevenh0027 wrote:

Hi all, br I tried to take some photos of some bui... (show quote)

Look at the bottom of the first image. The closest car looks fairly sharp. I'm thinking that the AF point selector was set to focus on the closest thing it could see, or the point selected was in that area.

If you have a lens with IS, TURN IT OFF when you use a tripod, or it will ADD shake, not remove it. IS is best for hand-held work, and perhaps helps with a monopod.

I would turn autofocus OFF, and use a depth of field calculator to determine a reasonable point of focus for the scene.

You can do SOME sharpening improvement of these scenes in Lightroom or Photoshop (etc.), but it would be better to re-photograph the scene. I assume you have a good, heavyweight tripod with sturdy legs and head...

manofhg Loc: Knoxville, TN

Looking at the image, I don't see a real focus problem, but there is motion. Looking at the stop sign in the lower left doesn't look particularly blurry. Motion is evident in all the bright points though, especially visible on the two lights on top of the towers on the right, but also on other bright points, you see the same motion. As others have suggested, the stabilization off may remedy this. I don't have a special heavy tripod and have shot in moderate winds without difficulty, but with it on a tripod, I always have stabilization off.

Vinman

It may be simply setting to Single point focus.
It looks like your camera is focusing on the trees
and not the buildings.
Either that or use longer exposure and change to a
much higher aperture to get all in focus.

manofhg Loc: Knoxville, TN

If the buildings are what you are interested in having in focus, focus on the bright part of the tower using single point focus. Try a shot at a very high ISO to see if the focus is acceptable. The only reason I say use the high ISO is that it won't take but a few seconds for the exposure. Generally, beyond about 40 ft, the focus won't change in things so far off.

Billy Bob

try this...
https://www.ashampoo.com/en/usd/mar
Works for me.

Meives Loc: FORT LAUDERDALE

Djedi wrote:

Sorry David, but that I have to disagree with you. Take a look at Gene51's night-time bridge shots. Looking at that first one, it is amazingly sharp, and shot at ISO 100, with a Nikon D800.
Higher ISO will not yield a better photo (all things being equal) than the same shot at low ISO on an extremely steady base. It is one reason I prefer to place a sandbag on my woodpile for moon photos rather than using a tripod. Unless I am using long exposures (rarely) when I need tracking.

ISO of 100 is for old film cameras. ISO 800, 1600 gather more light and make for a better picture most of the time. David

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

anneabc wrote:

Where can I find that focus info' and legend. I understand it's a plugin, but for the life of me, I can't find a plugin folder on my pc. Can anyone help? Is a plugin folder one I should have made, or does it automatically come on the pc? Thanks

It's a Lightroom Plugin called Show Focus Points and you can download it here: http://www.lightroomfocuspointsplugin.com/

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

manofhg wrote:

Looking at the image, I don't see a real focus pro... (show quote)

I couldn't agree more.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

One point worth considering is that some of the softness that you're noticing is due to haze and glare. You'll notice that the brighter the exposure, the more hazy it looks. That provides an incentive to avoid over-exposure. In PP you can minimise the glare by subduing the top end of the luminosity scale. You can do that by subduing the Whites and Highlights, and compensating for the loss of brightness by lifting the Shadows and Blacks. In addition to that, Contrast and Clarity can both be used to combat softness due to haze and glare. And there's always dehaze tools if you have any.