Which lens should I use on a moving night boat cruise: 35mm f/1.8 or 16-85mm zoom?
Asked 9/2/2011
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I’m shooting a night boat cruise in London with a Nikon D7000 and can choose between a Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 and a Nikkor 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6, plus an SB-400 and Yongnuo YN-465 flash. Most photos will be of people indoors and on deck with the city lights behind them, but I also want some cityscape shots from the moving boat. Since I won’t want to change lenses often, which lens is the better default choice for this kind of low-light, fast-changing situation?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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For night-time photography, a fast prime is worlds better than a consumer-grade zoom - you can see better through the viewfinder, and the camera has much better chances of achieving focus; and of course you can use shorter shutter time or lower ISO. So I'd pick the 35mm f/1.8. Whenever I go out shooting at night without tripod, I usually only take a 28mm f/1.8 and leave all the zooms at home - it's really not their playground.
Originally by user4390. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4390
14y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
For a moving boat at night, the 35mm f/1.8 is the better default lens. Its much wider aperture gives you faster shutter speeds, lower ISO, a brighter viewfinder, and more reliable autofocus in low light than the 16-85mm zoom.
The zoom is more versatile in framing, and 16mm can be very useful for wide cityscape views, while 85mm helps isolate details. But at f/3.5-5.6, it’s a poor fit for true night shooting unless you rely heavily on flash.
So the tradeoff is simple: if your priority is low-light/night shooting, use the 35mm. If your priority is framing flexibility and wider views, use the 16-85mm—but expect to need flash more often.
Practical approach: keep the 35mm on the camera most of the time for people and low-light scenes, and bring the zoom only if you’re willing to switch for specific wide or detail shots. Auto ISO can help, and flash may be useful for people, but for ambient night scenes the fast prime is the stronger choice.
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