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Captured some lightning

K

Komataguri

2[H]4U
Joined
Jan 29, 2004
Messages
3,355
My camera isn't fast enough to react to the lightening...But I did capture a little bit of it in video mode.


Heres a screen cap.


This is from about...10 minutes ago, From my carport looking south.

Lightening1.jpg




Main question.


What is a good budget digital [ say.... <300$ ] that can make capturing lightening in either video or still mode a somewhat slightly easier chore.


Yes, I know you have to almost react before the lightening bolt even happens to get a good shot, but my camera isn't fast enough even for that.
 
To capture lightning, set a long exposure of a few seconds at an aperture like F/11. You'll have to predict where the lightning will be though, so frame it loosely. If lightning strikes, the camera will capture the streak.

I don't know about just taking a shot when lightning strikes though, never tried it. I only learned about the long exposure thing. And you'd need a camera with manual controls of aperture and shutter speeds.
 
BillLeeLee said:
To capture lightning, set a long exposure of a few seconds at an aperture like F/11. You'll have to predict where the lightning will be though, so frame it loosely. If lightning strikes, the camera will capture the streak.

I don't know about just taking a shot when lightning strikes though, never tried it. I only learned about the long exposure thing. And you'd need a camera with manual controls of aperture and shutter speeds.
Click to expand...


I use a Canon Powershot A300, And I believe the only selection it has is ISO speed, of 100, 200 or 400.
 
Set it to F8, lowest iso you have and 10 second exposures or so... play with it a little bit.
 
Test this and tell us if it works. Go somewhere pretty dark, about the same lighting as that lightning area. Then like Gondi said force it to its lowest ISO, turn the flash off and set it to the largest f-stop you can.

Look at the exif and post it up. Hopefully it takes it at about 5 seconds or more.
 
if you can get the timing right it would be an awesome picture... just remember though that still shots of lighting are pretty hard to dig up for a reason...
 
Only problem, is I don't have a stable platform for long exposure times.


I need a tripod.
 
use a legde and a beanbag.. anything sturdy and still will double as a tripod
 
Lightning is actually pretty easy to photograph in the right conditions. For nighttime and dawn/dusk storms, set up on a tripod and use long exposures. The lightning will take it's own photo. Daytime is more tricky, but the resulting photos are more dramatic, in my opinion. For daylight lightning, there are two options:

1. Use a moderate aperature and shutter speed, and rely on reflexes to hit the button at the right time. A tripod isn't required for good results, although it helps. This works for lightning strikes that "strobe", or flash down the same channel several times before disappearing. These strikes are kinda boring to look at, since they don't seem to have any branching, just a single line from the clouds to the ground. The quick flashing type of lightning is the most visually interesting, but impossible to catch with this method.

2. Set up on a tripod, and choose the smallest aperture possible to attain the longest shutter time.

The last time I tried to capture lightning, I took over 120 frames to get three good shots. Here is a typical strike:

lsmall.jpg


It's all about being in the right place at the right time. Set up well before hand, and point your camera towards the oncoming storm. You may want to be in a somewhat elevated location to get a better view of the horizon, which of course is dangerous. Choose your lens carefully, and stay dry.
 
[TQ] said:
That solves nothing, "speed" does not help in capturing lightning.
Click to expand...

But considering you can take like 15 pics in a row... your chances would be highly more likely :p

QJ
 
QwertyJuan said:
But considering you can take like 15 pics in a row... your chances would be highly more likely :p
QJ
Click to expand...

The size of the buffer doesn't matter. Speed makes a difference in only one aspect - write speed. Faster writes to the CF card improves your odds of capturing a strike. Lightning photography is like gambling. There is no sure thing, you're just working to better your odds. I sometimes miss strikes because my camera's buffer is full, and is writing out to the card. There's no way to get around the buffer issue, except to empty it as quickly as possible. I guess a 150 shot buffer might work around it, too.

Really though, as long as it has manual aperture, shutter, and focus, any camera will work. A tripod is pretty much a must-have, too.
 
with my D70, its easy.
1) use tripod
2) aim it in a direction you think lightning will be
3) set it to manual mode, F/11, bulb shutter speed (that means it takes a picture as long as the shutter is pressed, so you could take a 5 hour long picture if you really wanted), focus to infinity
4) use remote to control camera
5) wait until theres a thunderstorm (where I'm at, never, so I'm SOL)
6) take some sample shots to make sure teh settings are okay, make sure its not overexposed or underexposed
7) hold down and lock the shutter open for as long as it takes

without a SLR, I dunno what the hell you should do. bulb mode is the only way to do it properly
 
Bugalaman said:
with my D70, its easy.
without a SLR, I dunno what the hell you should do. bulb mode is the only way to do it properly
Click to expand...

Bulb mode works best only at night, in my opinion. When shooting lightning in daylight, I meter the scenery and set the exposure accordingly, almost always selecting the longest shutter. I sometimes underexpose a bit to account for the "giant flash bulb effect". Why use a stopwatch in bulb mode when the camera has a perfectly good shutter timer?
 
You don't need an SLR to get lightning guys. You just need to know a little about what your doing and the conditions your doing it in. Most cameras have enough controls to either create a long exposure or force it.

I took this with my Nikon 5400 setting it to 8 seconds I believe.



Komataguri said:
Only problem, is I don't have a stable platform for long exposure times.


I need a tripod.
Click to expand...

No need for a tripod, just set it on something, railing, ground, car, etc. You can always crop a little if you need.

QwertyJuan said:
But considering you can take like 15 pics in a row... your chances would be highly more likely :p

QJ
Click to expand...

From this comment I'd have to so you have never taken pictures of lightning. Why try to take a picture of something that happens in an instant, by the time your brain tells your finger to push the shutter it's already happened. Leaving the shutter open on the other hand not only easily captures it but you can get multiple strikes on one image.
 
Emberghost said:
You don't need an SLR to get lightning guys. You just need to know a little about what your doing and the conditions your doing it in. Most cameras have enough controls to either create a long exposure or force it.

I took this with my Nikon 5400 setting it to 8 seconds I believe.





No need for a tripod, just set it on something, railing, ground, car, etc. You can always crop a little if you need.



From this comment I'd have to so you have never taken pictures of lightning. Why try to take a picture of something that happens in an instant, by the time your brain tells your finger to push the shutter it's already happened. Leaving the shutter open on the other hand not only easily captures it but you can get multiple strikes on one image.
Click to expand...


*stands up and claps*

Yay...someone knows! yay!
 
How do you leave the shutter open on say a Canon S2 IS?
 
pug said:
How do you leave the shutter open on say a Canon S2 IS?
Click to expand...

There's a few ways. If you know how long you want it to be open for change it to Tv mode on the dial. Adjust it with the little rolly dial thing until you get the time you want, be it 1 sec 5 sec w/e it allows.

If you want it to stay open for a while you can keep the ISO setting low, and then put it in Av mode and choose a high f-stop f16 or something.

Basically messing around with those two will show you what I mean and vary in results but give the same basic effect. There's probly more ways but I'm tired and can only think of those.
 
Having a SLR helps though.

This was a 30 second exposure from my 350D off the west coast of florida as a thunderstorm rolled through off the coast, heavily cropped.

stormynight8xd.jpg
 
The bulb timer is good though. Basically the same way I catch fireworks. The people who don't know how it's done are REALLY impressed with how I managed to capture every explosion. Beer in one hand, and shutter release in the other. With out even looking. hehe. I they only knew.

I tried the 20d out today. I gotta tell ya, I'm sold. The AF is almost instant. And the burst mode almost made me cry. With happy tears ofcoarse. I'm getting one next week. I can't wait to try out a few shots at ISO 3200.
 
Rooster said:
I tried the 20d out today. I gotta tell ya, I'm sold. The AF is almost instant. And the burst mode almost made me cry. With happy tears ofcoarse. I'm getting one next week. I can't wait to try out a few shots at ISO 3200.
Click to expand...

Indeed, the new DIGIC II is leaps and bounds above the old. Its like going from a Pentium II to a P4EE... its just nuts how much faster it is.
 
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