Night Shooting

madzy13

Hi @Moose! Excellent site! What's the best lens for night shooting (getting the stars and trees)? Also, is there a setting for night time?

Thanks a bunch, Maddie

Moose

Howdy @madzy13 - For nighttime landscape shots (stars, trees, city sklylines, etc...) you can use any lens, even your 18-55mm kit lens. The key gear for this type of photography is a sturdy tripod and a remote.

The tripod is needed because you'll need to use long shutter speeds in order to shoot subjects at night. With shutter speeds in the seconds and minutes, it will be impossible to hand hold your T2i and get a crisp shot.

The remote is needed to get your hands off the camera. Believe it or not, even the simple act of pressing the shutter button can cause camera shake which will affect the image sharpness. A remote eliminates any chance of these small movements/vibrations.

If you need some recommendations for tripods or remotes, I'd be glad to point you in the right direction. Just give me a ballpark budget and I'll give you a short list of tripods to look at.

Happy shooting! :)

Five92

Great advice above. One final suggestion though, when using a tripod to capture awesome night shots, turn off the image stabilization feature as this can create some image blur.

Moose

@Five92 - Great advice, forgot to mention that. :)

shaun91

Can someone recommend an entry level remote?

Moose

@shaun91 - You could go with the Canon RC-6 (wireless remote) or the RS-60E3 (wired remote). Both can be for for around $20 new and $10 used. All the best!