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Good day.

As many people may or may not know ive been around on and off Esato for a few years now. In that time cameraphones have gotten better and better as have my mobile photography skills. Im quite modest by nature and dont like to claim to be the best photographer with my phone but in the past ive managed to shoot pretty amazing pictures using my various devices. But theres one area in which i fail almost every time and the reason why ive created this thread. Id like people to input and if possible help me learn how to take better pictures at night.

Night time pictures

My night time pictures have always lacked compared to anything i take in any other conditions. This becomes more apparent at this time of the year where in the UK we only get about 8 hours of sunlight each day - if we're lucky. Usually i'll just let the phone make the necessary choices itself using automatic settings but most of the time it does not work. If i try to use my own choice to decide how to take a good picture i fail almost every single time.

Often, the results are either
- blurred
- high degrees of noise
- motion blurred
- over-saturated
- under- saturated
- unbalanced colours or contrast


Which means usually i dont even bother taking any night time photos at all. In a typical summer, i might take a few thousand snaps, in winter, that number drops to about 10 per month !!

Heres some examples of mine from last year:


Original

Doesnt look too bad does it ?? but when looking close theres tons of noise and blur which literally ****** me off !!

Take a look, look at the original at 100% and Esato will show you the horrible noise and blur which plagues my photos on all my phones. The next two almost look like theres smoke or mist in the air, but its actually noise !!!

Take a look:


Original

And trying my best to get a better result..


Original


Still not happy with it at all.

Now compare those pictures to other popular posters here on Esato, chosen at random from their uploaded images:

9_destiny's:

http://www.esato.com/phonephotos/viewphotos.php?pid=61243&uid=211376

http://www.esato.com/phonephotos/viewphotos.php?pid=60647&uid=211376

http://www.esato.com/phonephotos/viewphotos.php?pid=53394&uid=211376

davidsic's

http://www.esato.com/phonephotos/viewphotos.php?pid=59921&uid=36838

http://www.esato.com/phonephotos/viewphotos.php?pid=54349&uid=36838

Clearly better than mine. Now davidsic usually says he just sticks to automatic settings for his pictures which puzzles me more.


So any help would be much appreciated from everyone who like me enjoys mobile photography !

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Posted: 2012-11-27 21:26:24
Edit : Quote


Well,for me I try to get the best I can out of any camera phone. Putting a camera phone on night scene setting helps as I find auto does not cut it at night. Also it is hard to keep still at night but I have a steady hand & find a stable surface somewhere. Quite often too white balance goes off at night too. I took these tonight but I have got better with my old N8


Original

Original

Original
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Posted: 2012-11-27 23:01:41
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Well they've certainly got less noise than mine.

So all you used is night mode on your N8 ??
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Posted: 2012-11-28 18:26:39
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I think he took them with Xperia P.
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Posted: 2012-11-28 18:53:52
Edit : Quote




Yes with Xperia P. But when I had N8 yes I also used night mode. Although night mode does create more shake if you find a flat surface & hold steady it will come out brighter with less noise. Auto at night is always crap. Wish I still had the night shots of Birmingham I did with N8
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Posted: 2012-11-28 18:56:56
Edit : Quote


Any other ideas ? you see ive tried using night mode SO many times and yet i get terrible results. It cant just be me though, because my old Satio i tried using night mode with and being square it was easy to put it down on its side for it to balance itself and used night mode. Poor results.

Just cannot get it.
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Posted: 2012-11-28 22:56:53
Edit : Quote


How about using a tripod sir? that would really help get rid of those nasty blur. Manuals would also help you by setting ISO value at about 200-400, that would at least give you minimal noise. But if you have a tripod with you then you can set your cameraphone at the lowest possible ISO and you could also tweak the EV compensation to get the slowest shutter speed possible.

Sample shot with a tripod


Without the Tripod



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Posted: 2012-11-29 01:29:46
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So the EV level affects the shutter speed ??
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Posted: 2012-11-29 11:12:26
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from my experience changing the EV level affects both the shutter speed and ISO speed while on auto mode. Lowering the ev level lowers the ISO speed (less photo grain), the shutter speed depends on how much light there is when you're taking a photo. If in night mode shutter speed is slower (higher tendency to blur but produces great results with a tripod).

If you increase the ev level usually ISO speed increases (more photo grain) but shutter speed will be faster (less tendency to blurr)

I agree with jerahm usually setting the ISO at 200-400 while on night mode produces the best results, once you get higher than ISO 400 the picture gets too grainy.

here's my try on indoor lowlight

ISO 100 night mode:


Original

ISO 200 night mode:


Original

the first shot was handheld with the help of a stable surface I've put my hands on.

the second shot was handheld

hopefully I was able to help too mate

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Posted: 2012-11-29 12:49:40
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But in everyday use or when doing the whole tourist thing, how many of us actually use a tripod ? and how many use a tripod with a cameraphone ?
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Posted: 2012-11-29 14:35:26
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