Got this new high ISO baby and some night photography in Sydney!

[cruvon]

Having been a fan of compacts for their sheer versatility, I finally seized the opportunity on my birthday last week to get into the world of compact mirrorless cameras. These compact mirrorless cameras are a decent compromise in size between the two extremes so after some research settled for the Sony A7S for it's high ISO (50 - 409,600) on stills and excellent video capability.

Not knowing much about ISO's, Aperture and shutter speed intricacies, I went do some night street photography to try it out. I also got a fixed length Sony Zeiss 55/1.8 prime lens to go with it All pictures clicked here are with the camera handheld and using mostly auto features with some basic manual control. I still have a long way to go in getting a hang of pumping out some decent photography but am beginning to love this new found hobby. The only regret I have, not having got into this earlier.

Any suggestions on how to improve my manual camera skills much appreciated!

[Psmith]

Very nice - although makes me feel a bit homesick!

[Kingair]

Nice shots

Love these night colors

Problem of shooting at night is the low shutter speed . . . so moving objects are always hazy . .

[Travelair007]

The Zeiss glass helped as well.... Love it!!

[cruvon]

Originally Posted by Psmith

Very nice - although makes me feel a bit homesick!

Thanks mate:)

Originally Posted by Kingair

Nice shots

Love these night colors

Problem of shooting at night is the low shutter speed . . . so moving objects are always hazy . .

Thanks Marc. True, not sure if hazy objects come under brokeh and is acceptable in street photography, some more reading to do?:)

Originally Posted by flagada2009

The Zeiss glass helped as well.... Love it!!

Thanks mate, true, I too think the lens with its fixed focal has a lot to do with it!

[vitalsignsrn]

Nice pictures. :-)

[Wllnv19]

Very nice pictures

[BNA/LION]

Great night shots!

[Kingair]

Originally Posted by cruvon

Thanks mate:)



Thanks Marc. True, not sure if hazy objects come under brokeh and is acceptable in street photography, some more reading to do?:)




Thanks mate, true, I too think the lens with its fixed focal has a lot to do with it!

Guess you mean bokeh

“In photographic terms, bokeh is the blur, or aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or he way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light”

[RetailSlave]

OP, The blurry pics are missed focus and not bokeh. Cameras tend to struggle with low light and many cameras miss focus. Also it's hard to get the right shutter speed at night which will cause blur as well. I usually use manual focus at night and use focus peaking. It takes lots of practice but much more fun IMO. Keep up the good work and keep shooting/posting.

[Kingair]

Originally Posted by RetailSlave

OP, The blurry pics are missed focus and not bokeh. Cameras tend to struggle with low light and many cameras miss focus. Also it's hard to get the right shutter speed at night which will cause blur as well. I usually use manual focus at night and use focus peaking. It takes lots of practice but much more fun IMO. Keep up the good work and keep shooting/posting.

Do you shoot Leica . . . .

[cruvon]

Originally Posted by vitalsignsrn

Nice pictures. :-)

Originally Posted by Wllnv19

Very nice pictures

Originally Posted by BNALION

Great night shots!

Thanks Judy, Willie, Leon, am inspired to click some more:)

[cruvon]

del

[cruvon]

Originally Posted by Kingair

Guess you mean bokeh

“In photographic terms, bokeh is the blur, or aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or he way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light”

yes mate, see, am too new to this:).I need to try again with the subjects in front in sharper focus.

Originally Posted by RetailSlave

OP, The blurry pics are missed focus and not bokeh. Cameras tend to struggle with low light and many cameras miss focus. Also it's hard to get the right shutter speed at night which will cause blur as well. I usually use manual focus at night and use focus peaking. It takes lots of practice but much more fun IMO. Keep up the good work and keep shooting/posting.

Thanks, yes, I guess it happened because I put it on the night scene mode and adjusted a few variables but obviously the shutter speed was too slow on night scene mode. I badly need to learn the manual stuff and also learn about focus peaking, loving the possibilities!:)

[uscmatt99]

If I could offer some suggestions, as a fellow amateur and user of the A7 with the same lens....

Definitely read up on how aperture, shutter speed, and ISO level affect your images. There's a great book with examples called Understanding Exposure. You'll learn all of the trade-offs and aspects of the image you can control with each parameter.

In general, your whole image won't be in focus with this camera and lens if the subject of the photo is close to you. Unlike cell phone pics where almost everything is in focus. This is the concept of "depth of field", objects a certain distance will be in focus, and anything closer or farther will be out of focus, more so the farther the object is from this optimal distance. You can control this with your aperture setting.

Pick a main subject for your photos, and get it in focus. Let the surroundings tell the story. Or alternatively, pick a subject and blur the rest of the stuff out for a nice artistic rendering.

Here are my settings for low light photography:

Mode: M for manual baby! This is how you take control and tell the camera what to do, the best way to learn. I use M in low light, and A in bright light.

Aperture: f/4 to f/5.6 to get a decent amount of stuff in focus, f/1.8 to isolate a subject, f/11 to get the most in focus, though this will be tough at night.

Shutter speed: 1/100 to reasonably stop motion, as low as 1/30-1/50 with that lens if you're okay with some motion blur, which adds to the photo sometimes

ISO: Auto-ISO, spin the rear dial all the way to the left to engage this. The camera is a low light monster so this can be pushed more than on other cameras.

Face-detect: On, so that if there is a person or people, the camera will see it, focus on it, and adjust the exposure optimally for the person.

Exposure compensation: usually at 0, but if there is a bright subject you want to capture, like a well lit building surrounded by darkness, set it to -1.0 to -1.7. See your clock tower photo as an example.

DRO: Auto. This will brighten up the shadows while keeping brighter parts of the picture from "blowing out", or going all white with no detail.

Shoot in JPEG-fine for now. When you get more comfortable, you can try shooting in RAW and importing these images to a photo editing program. As mentioned above, when you get more comfortable with these things, get a manual focus lens like the new Zeiss Loxia 35mm coming to market. I mostly use manual focus glass, and enjoy the further control I get over choosing what is in focus. The Sony A7 cameras are excellent for this, I say that coming from Nikon cameras.

[antbkny]

could be my monitor or my eyes but the white balance seems off

[Kingair]

Originally Posted by Rolex Dude

could be my monitor or my eyes but the white balance seems off

That's why you better shoot RAW . . .

[mtrunner]

Gorgeous pictures! No advice since I am a novice at best when it comes to taking pictures.

[uscmatt99]

Sony's auto white balance stinks, especially with low light and incandescent light. But it's managed to jack up bright sunlight for me as well! I agree RAW is the way to go.

[cruvon]

Originally Posted by uscmatt99

If I could offer some suggestions, as a fellow amateur and user of the A7 with the same lens....

Definitely read up on how aperture, shutter speed, and ISO level affect your images. There's a great book with examples called Understanding Exposure. You'll learn all of the trade-offs and aspects of the image you can control with each parameter.

In general, your whole image won't be in focus with this camera and lens if the subject of the photo is close to you. Unlike cell phone pics where almost everything is in focus. This is the concept of "depth of field", objects a certain distance will be in focus, and anything closer or farther will be out of focus, more so the farther the object is from this optimal distance. You can control this with your aperture setting.

Pick a main subject for your photos, and get it in focus. Let the surroundings tell the story. Or alternatively, pick a subject and blur the rest of the stuff out for a nice artistic rendering.

Here are my settings for low light photography:

Mode: M for manual baby! This is how you take control and tell the camera what to do, the best way to learn. I use M in low light, and A in bright light.

Aperture: f/4 to f/5.6 to get a decent amount of stuff in focus, f/1.8 to isolate a subject, f/11 to get the most in focus, though this will be tough at night.

Shutter speed: 1/100 to reasonably stop motion, as low as 1/30-1/50 with that lens if you're okay with some motion blur, which adds to the photo sometimes

ISO: Auto-ISO, spin the rear dial all the way to the left to engage this. The camera is a low light monster so this can be pushed more than on other cameras.

Face-detect: On, so that if there is a person or people, the camera will see it, focus on it, and adjust the exposure optimally for the person.

Exposure compensation: usually at 0, but if there is a bright subject you want to capture, like a well lit building surrounded by darkness, set it to -1.0 to -1.7. See your clock tower photo as an example.

DRO: Auto. This will brighten up the shadows while keeping brighter parts of the picture from "blowing out", or going all white with no detail.

Shoot in JPEG-fine for now. When you get more comfortable, you can try shooting in RAW and importing these images to a photo editing program. As mentioned above, when you get more comfortable with these things, get a manual focus lens like the new Zeiss Loxia 35mm coming to market. I mostly use manual focus glass, and enjoy the further control I get over choosing what is in focus. The Sony A7 cameras are excellent for this, I say that coming from Nikon cameras.

Thanks for your kind advice mate, is really very helpful and have started experimenting with the settings you mentioned. Glad to know you have been enjoying your A7 and chose it above the Nikons. I don't have that experience coming from point and shoots but is great to hear. Thanks again for taking the time to share your experiences with the Sony A platform.

[cruvon]

Originally Posted by Rolex Dude

could be my monitor or my eyes but the white balance seems off

Thanks Anthony, whats the best way to control that? Do you mean the yellowing?