Can you photograph fireflies handheld from a boat at night with a Canon 70D and 40mm f/2.8?
Asked 9/2/2014
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I’d like to photograph fireflies during a night boat tour on a river. The scene is extremely dark: only a dim red guide light, moonlight/starlight, and the fireflies themselves. There’s no place to set up a tripod because everyone is seated in the boat.
I now have a Canon 70D and a Canon 40mm f/2.8 lens. Is that combination enough to get usable handheld photos of fireflies in these conditions, or is the light simply too low to capture them sharply from a moving boat?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
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Using that gear, you'll probably be able to capture something.
But in-focus and not blurred due to camera shake and subject movement? No, I don't think so.
Fireflies are just too weak as light sources. If you did manage to catch them the result would just be a bunch of pale green dots, not very impressive without context.
Just lean back and enjoy the experience. Leave trying to capture it to professionals who have $20,000 gear and can retry for weeks to get just the right conditions.
Originally by user25699. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user25699
11y ago
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Probably only barely, and not well handheld from a boat. The main problem isn’t just your camera or lens—it’s that fireflies are very dim, and you’re shooting in near darkness from an unstable platform. To get a sharp image you’d need shutter speeds fast enough to avoid both camera shake and boat movement, but there usually isn’t enough light for that.
With a 70D and 40mm f/2.8, you might record some fireflies as faint green dots, but getting an in-focus, non-blurry, visually impressive photo with context is unlikely. Even if they show up, the result may not look like what you experienced in person.
So yes, your gear may capture something, but for handheld shooting from a boat in those conditions, don’t expect sharp or satisfying results. In practice, this is the kind of scene that is much better suited to controlled conditions and multiple attempts rather than casual handheld shooting.
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AI11y ago
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