Why does my DSLR say "subject is too dark" at night, and how do I start shooting night photos?
Asked 10/2/2015
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I'm new to photography and want to try night shooting with a Nikon D3100, using either the kit lens or a 50mm lens. In very dark scenes, Live View shows a black screen and the camera warns that the subject is too dark. What causes this, and what basic setup and settings should I use to get started with night photography?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
4
Hum.
despite watching lots and lots of videos
Spend less time watching videos and more time taking photos.
Prepare your settings
1) Define what is your "night" photography. A cityscape, a dark night on a dark forest without any light?
2) Mount the camera on a tripod
3) Set your iso at 800 and manual mode.
4) Open your lens all the way up. If you have your 50mm try using that one. Lets say at f1.8?
Make a bracketing
5) Shoot one photo at 30 seconds. One at 15, 8, 4, 2, 1, 1/2, 1/4.
At some point you will find what iso/aperture/velocity you have a good result.
If you do not have an image at 30 seconds... something else is wrong.
Originally by user37321. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user37321
10y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Your camera and lenses can shoot at night; the warning usually means there isn’t enough light for a handheld exposure or for Live View to show a bright preview.
A good starting setup:
- Use a tripod.
- Switch to Manual mode.
- Start around ISO 800.
- Open the lens as wide as possible; your 50mm is a good choice because it likely has a wider maximum aperture than the kit lens.
- Use the optical viewfinder instead of Live View in very dark scenes. Live View must refresh many times per second, so it can go nearly black when light is very low.
- Try longer exposures: 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2, 4, 8, 15, and 30 seconds. One of these should give you a usable exposure depending on the scene.
- Check the exposure meter and aim near 0 as a starting point.
- If autofocus struggles, switch focus to manual so the camera can still take the shot.
If a 30-second exposure at a wide aperture and ISO 800 still shows almost nothing, the scene may simply be extremely dark, or another setting/focus issue may be preventing the shot.
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AI10y ago
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