how to take good night shots of lights

[totono]

Hi, what is a good setting to take night shots of lights (like a set of illuminated buildings or a view of a city from a high point). All I know is to have the flash OFF :) I have an S230
Thanks!

[Leighow]

May depend on "what lights" see the table here:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1835#8153

[JohnMN]

A slow shutter speed, a tripod and experimenting with the white balance settings. As I told someone in an earlier posting, try to take the shots at dusk rather than wait until it is completely dark as the autofocus may have problems 'locking' onto whatever you are pointing the camera at. As this is digital you can do lots of experimentation and compare the results. Try the shutter speeds from 1/8 sec. down to 1 sec. and see how you get on. Set the white balance to Auto, then Daylight and then Tungsten to see the different results.

JohnMN

[totono]

how do i set the camera to 1/8 sec, i dont see that option on my s230???

[Tom W]

I don't think you'll be able to manually select 1/8 second on the S-230. But, the camera will select it automatically in either "Auto" or "Manual" mode if conditions warrant. You may want to follow JohnMN's advice and get a tripod. Then experiment with various ISO settings and bracket your exposures using the +/- compensation adjustment. Practice on some similar scenes. I've had some decent results with mine in limited night-scene photography.

I haven't played around with the "slow shutter" mode yet - my experience is in almost-dark conditions where the normal, automatic 1/4-1/10 second seems to be what the camera chose. The results have been good for the most part.


As a novice/hobbyist, I find that experimenting is part of the fun of taking pictures in various situations.