Night shooting advice

[Reeray]

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A few nights back I shot this image. This is the first time I've used my M240 for such a situation and I was totally confused. Some advice would be appreciated for future endeavors.

 

In short, the image was shot at 19.45 p.m. which is 1 hour after after sunset and pretty dark here in Thailand. The train is actually pure black.

 

I used a Zeiss M 25mm F2.8, f11, ISO 200 and eventually 60 secs exposure. I say eventually as this became my issue.

 

I expected that using Liveview i would get WYSIWYG but this was not so and this is where I'm confused. Setting the camera to auto I couldn't see a thing. It was pure trial and error from here on in. Focusing was guess work.

 

Was I expecting too much from Liveview or am I missing something in the camera setup that enables me to see the image and adjust to taste.

 

Sorry if this is a silly question but I'm stumped on this one.

 

 

Thanks for any help

 

Ray

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[michaelwj]

 Focusing was guess work.

 

 

You could use the RF for focussing in this case with no trouble at all. 

 

As for LV, there are limits to the gain that can be applied, maybe ISO200 and 60sec is too much gain? I have no experience with LV on an M240 so I'm just speculating. You could run some simple tests tonight using LV at different ISOs? It's quite possible that ISO200@60s doesn't work but ISO6400@2s might?

[FeralCoton]

The photo is quite nice. I think rangefinder focusing would be easier, but the color difference is likely a white balance issue.

 

 

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[LocalHero1953]

I agree that you're beyond the limit of what LV can show you, but I don't think the LV display would be improved by increasing ISO. I'd have to check, but I think LV just tries to display what's on view on the sensor and is independent of ISO. After all, if you need a 60s exposure to show this much, then you're unlikely to see much more than black in a literal live and immediate view.

 

I also agree that the colour is a white balance thing. You can see the colour change as a shadow comes across, part way down the boiler, or in and out of the pools of light on the platform. You might get a better balance in Lightroom by taking a reading off the boiler. The alternative is to just reduce yellow or orange saturation.

 

Nice picture though.

Edited October 12, 2017 by LocalHero1953

[Reeray]

Thanks everyone. It's a relief that it's user error (naivety) as opposed to a camera error.

 

As for the white balance, I added the yellow/gold tint as it looked a little too austere in the "correct" WB.

 

Appreciate the feedback

[frame-it]

beautiful shot

A few nights back I shot this image. This is the first time I've used my M240 for such a situation and I was totally confused. Some advice would be appreciated for future endeavors.

 

In short, the image was shot at 19.45 p.m. which is 1 hour after after sunset and pretty dark here in Thailand. The train is actually pure black.

 

I used a Zeiss M 25mm F2.8, f11, ISO 200 and eventually 60 secs exposure. I say eventually as this became my issue.

 

I expected that using Liveview i would get WYSIWYG but this was not so and this is where I'm confused. Setting the camera to auto I couldn't see a thing. It was pure trial and error from here on in. Focusing was guess work.

 

Was I expecting too much from Liveview or am I missing something in the camera setup that enables me to see the image and adjust to taste.

 

Sorry if this is a silly question but I'm stumped on this one.

 

 

Thanks for any help

 

Ray

[Exodies]

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Live view must be showing what a picture taken at X shutter speed will be. X is unlikely to be 60sec. I wonder what it is and if it varies.

[FeralCoton]

I do think it is an error at all. I think it is just realizing that post processing isn’t cheating. It is making the photo as it was intended. Photoshop is not that much different from the darkroom.

 

 

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[MarkP]

Nice photo.

 

I do a fair bit of night photography.

LV can only amplify available light so much. It's not a night scope but does a reasonable job.

 

If you want to focus using live view or EVF rather than the RF (which actually works very well in the dark), you need to:

1. open the lens up so you have adequate light to work with on the EVF/rear screen

2. set the optimal focus point

3. then stop down to the aperture of your choosing

4. meter or guesstimate for shutter speed*

5. shoot.  

 

However, if you shoot with a 25mm lens then you have huge depth so just go hyperfocal and use the index lines on the lens as a guide for focus range (give yourself an extra stop or two when using digital rather than film).  Then you can focus blind, certainly for a photo such as the one you posted.

 

Regarding the 'eventual' correct exposure at night, you can:

1.  use a handheld light meter

2.  meter wit the lens wide open and just adjust the exposure as you stop down.

3.  bracket till you get a photograph where the histogram is satisfactory

4.  there are a number of low-light exposure guides available to give you a ballpark exposure

5.  with experience you get a feel for the exposure range. 

Edited October 13, 2017 by MarkP

[Reeray]

^ Thanks @Mark. That's pretty much what I ended up doing. I think I was a little swayed from using my Fuji X-T1 on previous night shots which really is a night scope as you put it. Nevertheless I'll persist with the M240 and its superior IQ.

 

Again, thanks all.

[sblutter]

I agree with the above:  Definitely use the RF, very easy in those conditions

 

FYI, all I have to add is:  I would have focused on the front of the engine and let the rear fall off with an f: around 4.0, which also would have shortened the exposure - less noise

 

All that said - you did great!  Keep shooting (a lot!), experiment and have fun with the 240!

[colonel]

I only use LV for framing and rarely

Even reviewing photos is not that useful as thy tend to look darker on the camera then in real life

Also the lowest level of zoom is never sharp, so it's difficult to assess absolute levels of sharpness on the VF

I don't think this is specifically a Leica problem, with every camera I have used the photo looks different once loaded up on the computer

I agree with the above, I would use the RF

 

I only use LV for focusing with telephoto lenses or sometimes for landscape (at infinity or close) on a tripod to understand framing