HELP: Night Photos possible with 35 SP?

[IlikeOly]

I have a hankering to give night/low light shooting a try. I am a newly proud owner of a 35 SP. I have been reading a lot of comments that say the 35 RD is better in low light. (Are they speaking of AE mode?) I know I have seen some great low light/dusk shots that some of you have posted that were taken with your SP's. My question is, if I use the manual mode on my SP, am I good to go? Or would me getting an RD make sense? If I did that, I suppose that I could use the SP for daylight shots and the RD for evening? If you can tell by this long, rambling question that I'm a bit confused, you would be right! 😕

 

[Brian Legge]

The SP and RD lenses are the same speed. And have the same speed speed ranges (the SP actually has 1 second while the RD only goes down to 1/2).

The comments you've seen are probably all auto exposure related.

The SP in manual will work perfectly well at night. 🙂

 

[IlikeOly]

Thanks Brian. That makes sense as I had see where the SP in AE mode would have some sort of "Safety Lock" feature if exposures went beyond 1/15th which seemed odd given the SP's speed ranges. Given some of the amazing shots I've seen in low light with SP's, I am inclined to give my SP a spin in the evenings and see how I make out. Given all the image stabilization I am used to with DSLR's, I do believe I see a Tripod in my future!!!

 

[stratcat]

I've used my SP in AE and manual for low light shooting with ISO 400 film with no problem. The following was shot in manual metered mode handheld, I seem to recall it was 1/15 (@ f/1.7)


Autoretrato por Stratcat 74, en Flickr

In very low light and/or with slow film the meter (maybe just in mine) is not very useful as it becomes difficult to see and difficult to read but the camera is of course still useful. The following was more a test shot than anything, but I liked how it came out. 7 seconds at f/5.6 with ISO 100 Kodak ProImage, with a tripod and cable release, naturally.


Naturaleza muerta por Stratcat 74, en Flickr

Still, the SP's AE is relatively limited. If you want full AE for night/low light shooting, maybe a Yashica Electro 35 can help; then again it's aperture priority only.

 

[TXForester]

Until you get a tripod, you could get away with shots down around 1/15s by bracing the camera on convenient surfaces like sign posts.

 

[julio1fer]

The autoexposure goes down only to something like 1/30 at f/1.7 IIRC. You should use a high ISO film anyway, say ISO 400 pushed to 800 or more.

Remember to use a hood, that awesome lens in the SP really needs one all the time.

 

[IlikeOly]

Great Feedback everyone!

Great Feedback everyone!

Thanks for all the suggestions. Yes, Stratcat, I had wondered how in the heck I was going to see the RF lines to line up manual focus in the dark. 🙄 (RF's are a totally new concept to me so I'm on the learning curve). Somewhere (maybe Camera Quest?) the writer had mentioned that the RD has better AUTO focus in low light, though they don't specify why. Or perhaps they did, but I was clueless and missed their point. FYI, I will be doing my experimenting with basic drugstore film (private label made by Kodak) before running any of the fancier stuff.

 

[stratcat]

Well, it's not actually the focusing patch which is hard to see (it's not, unless it's REALLY dark); it's the meter display at the top of the viewfinder which gets increasingly difficult to read as the EV falls to the lower values. For the long exposure shot above I actually used a handheld meter.

Neither the RD nor the SP have auto focus.

 

[IlikeOly]

Meter Reader!

Meter Reader!

Thanks for clarifying on the metering. I don't mind learning the hand held. Heck, it might be more accurate than the built in meter at very low light levels anyways. So, let me revise what I stated earlier. I see a tripod AND a hand held meter in my future. 😎

 

[Trius]

35SP, 1/8 second, handheld

 

[IlikeOly]

Fireside Shot

Fireside Shot

Well gosh, you can't ask for darker/more low light conditions than that. Well, I am no longer "afraid of the dark"!! 😀

 

[Frontman]

The SP is as capable in low light shooting as any other camera. The AE system on the SP is limited, and usually won't work when shooting at night. I like shooting my SP at night, and it works quite well. If you want an AE camera, use a Yashica Electro, the AE system will allow exposures of more than 15 seconds.

 

[Trius]

The nice thing about the 35SP for night shots is the spot metering. That was key in making the the campfire shot above. Essentially it's a modified Zone System RF.

 

[Zorkiiglaza]

A Black Cat exposure guide is another route to obtain your exposure. I have found it very helpful in the past - put in your film speed and then match to the scene from the card.
Then bracket +/-

 

[Frontman]

Akihabara at night, shot with one of my SP's wide open at 1/25 or so on Tri-X

 

[Zorkiiglaza]

Great example of night photography with an SP!
1/25 can still be hand held.
One can often find some stationary object to brace your camera against for longer shots or increasing your depth of field

 

[alexnotalex]

Carry a little blu-tac to steady your camera on a handy fencepost, then set the self timer and step back for a quiet, stable shutter release!
(tripods are so bulky to carry)

good luck!