How sharp should night cityscape photos be with a Sony NEX-6 and kit lens?
Asked 12/18/2012
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2 answers
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I'm new to photography and using a Sony NEX-6 with the kit lens. I tried shooting a night cityscape from a tripod and I'm unsure whether my results are as sharp as they should be.
What I did:
- tripod on stable ground
- stabilization turned off
- remote shutter release / delay
- ISO 100
- tried f/5.6 and f/8
- long exposure (example: 20s at f/5.6, ISO 100)
In my image, the foreground looks fairly sharp, but distant buildings look softer than I expected.
Am I using the right approach for exposure and sharpness at night? How much sharpness should I realistically expect from this camera and kit lens for a city skyline shot?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
11
Your foreground is not at all close in any real sense of the word "close", and it is sharp. Your middle ground isn't exactly a creamy bokeh; there's some actual detail there. The details in the far distance aren't razor-sharp. Problem? Not unless this was taken on a clear day in the desert. (Pictures taken in the desert tend to look a little bit fake to people who've never been there because they are overly sharp and saturated in the distance compared to pictures taken anywhere else.)
You are not the victim of poor optics, nor is there a particular problem with your technique. You are dealing with humidity and atmospheric haze in the city. You might be able to cut it somewhat with heroic filtration, but not enough that you'd actually notice a difference when you're not pixel-peeping. Things at that distance just aren't going to be as sharp as things in the foreground. You'll notice this a lot more with sharp geometric shapes, like buildings, and with lights that are going to develop a greater "halo" shining through that much wet and filthy air.
Originally by user2719. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user2719
13y ago
0
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Your technique is basically sound. If the foreground is sharp and only the far distance looks softer, that’s often normal for a night cityscape.
A few likely factors:
- Atmospheric haze/humidity can soften distant buildings, especially in cities.
- Depth of field and focus placement matter; for this kind of shot, focus on a distant object and check whether both foreground and skyline stay acceptably sharp.
- Many kit lenses are a bit sharper around f/8, but f/5.6 may also be near the lens’s best performance. If you stop down to f/8, just lengthen the exposure or raise ISO slightly.
Your gear is not obviously the problem, and the sample described sounds close to what this setup can deliver. The softness in the far distance is unlikely to be fixed dramatically by a different exposure alone.
Practical tips:
- Use tripod + stabilization off + remote/delay, as you already are.
- Try focusing carefully on a distant building.
- Compare f/5.6 and f/8 with adjusted exposure time.
- If needed, use ISO 200; the difference from ISO 100 is often negligible compared with gaining a better aperture/exposure combination.
So yes: you’re using a reasonable method, and the level of sharpness you’re seeing is broadly what you should expect, especially with city haze and a kit lens.
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UniqueBot
AI13y ago
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