Camera question? Help please!?

Question

I really want to be able to take *good* night photos.

I have a digital camera. (Olympus d-540 Zoom)

It has a night mode, but whenever I try to use it..the pictures come out awful!

Anyone know why? Is there any tips to get better night photos?

Answer 1

Remember built in flash on most cameras is only good to about 12 or 15 feet So the on camera flash would do nothing in this shot. What it looks like happens is that there is so little light that the camera movement caused the blurring. You can use the same settings and set the camera on a tripod and use the timer or a remote release. Another option is to set your camera on aperature priority mode, put your meter on spot and meter for the areas you want to be properly lit, adjust the aperature to the widest setting ( lowest number )  set your ISO at about 400 to start and see what your shutter speed is. Keep bumping the iso till you have a shutter speed of no slower than 1/60 sec. You should be able to handhold it there without shake

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Answer 2

For concert type things like this do not use your night setting.  Use your typical setting and let the flash do its thing, it will make the camera go faster even though it will make no difference in the shot, the stage lights will light it for you.

Answer 3

You need a tripod as the exposure time is very long and any shake will cause the camera to be blurry.

You can turn up the iso to make the sensor more sensitive to light and that will make your camera increase the shutter speed.

The lighting is difficult in low light situations so you can alter the white balance to what you want.However, streetlights do not have much range and will almost always be orange in pictures.

Hope this helps.