In this article you will find the objectives recommended to practice night photography, but if you want to delve into this discipline, we have this very complete mega guide, with tips, tricks and a lot of inspiration for night photography.
Most legends tell that the most fantastic beings arise under the moonlight. Apparently, when the sun stops heating up and goes out of the forum or, what is the same, disappears behind the horizon line, goblins, fairies and other magical beings come out of hiding, the fireflies dance to the sound of the song of the cicadas in the countryside, while in the cities everything is covered with lights, white or of different colors. Everything happens under the watchful eye of an army of stars and their captain, the moon. The nights are magical, that is clear, what happens is that sometimes we forget because we let ourselves be carried away by fatigue and routine. And with the fact that you need light to photograph, of course… even more so we forget all the wonderful things that the night can give us in terms of photography. However, at night there is also light, artificial or natural light, that of the moon, what happens is that it is very scarce and we need more time to “catch” it, that is why we resort to long exposures. But that is not today’s topic. In this article, as I told you beforehand, I want to tell you what the best lenses are for capturing night magic. It does not matter if you are from the countryside or from the city, the night seduces everyone equally. You stay?
When it comes to night photography, there are two most important aspects in a lens: that it is bright and that it is wide angle. Perhaps the focal length is more important, since in night photography, to capture the sky and landscapes, it is important to cover the entire field of vision that is possible. In the following scheme you can see the objectives classified according to their focal length and angle of view.
It is important that it is also bright so that it can capture as much light as possible. The best lenses for your landscapes and night skies will be ones where you can open your diaphragm wide. You may have the doubt that if I open the diaphragm a lot (a small f number) will the background not be out of focus? And in landscapes, the ideal is not a small depth of field so that everything comes out sharp, not just the foreground? The answer is simple, you are right that sharpness is sought in all planes of the photo, what happens with wide angles is that they achieve great sharpness in all planes with very open diaphragms, since at a shorter focal length, greater depth of field. In any case, if you have to choose between wide angle and luminosity, I would recommend that you bet on the focal length beforehand, because you will have to use a tripod anyway and this will save you something. With that said, I do recommend a few goals for your “nights out.”
Tokyo 12-24mm f/4
A wide angle and very bright, which offers excellent results. To give you an idea I leave you a night image. You can find it for Canon and for Nikon (for less than 500 euros on Amazon).
Tokyo 11-16mm f/2.8
This is the evolution of the previous one, around 600 euros on Amazon. If you want to take photos indoors, you may be more interested in this one, which is somewhat brighter, for outdoors you will not notice the difference as much. You can see more images taken with this objective in this link.
Sony SEL 10-18mm f/4 OSS
Do you have a Sony camera? Take a look at this wide angle with fast autofocus and very sharp results. Indoors it would need some corrections but it is a perfect extreme angle for landscape lovers. It has a fixed f/4 aperture and a built-in image stabilizer that enables handheld shooting in low light with detailed results. Its price is around 800 euros. You can see pictures taken with him in this flickr group.
Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5
With mount for CanonNikonPentax. For four thirds check out this. Geometric distortion is a bit high and sharpness at the edges could be improved, but it offers great sharpness in the center and good contrast. Here’s an example.
Samyang 14mm f/2.8
It is an objective that, despite being somewhat rudimentary, offers excellent results. And the rudimentary thing is because it does not have automatic focus (which makes it difficult to use in other types of more “moved” photography) or automatic diaphragm opening, so you have to focus first at maximum aperture. In the case of night photography, it is normally shot at maximum aperture and focuses manually, so this is not a problem and it performs very well from the center to the edges, even at maximum aperture. It costs about 350 euros on Amazon.
Nikkor 12-24mm f/4
With the same aperture and focal length, you find the original for Nikon. It is perfect for large outdoor buildings and landscapes. nature. If you want stunningly sharp images that are completely free of chromatic aberration and line distortion, this is your goal. At the time of writing this, it is on sale on Amazon (1,150 euros) If you can afford it, go ahead, if the price is a problem for you and you don’t do night photography professionally… I recommend you consider the Tokina, because the price difference is important and the results are also fantastic . To see images taken with this lens, click here.
Canon 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 EF-S USM
It is a super wide angle with great control of distortion and with fast and precise focus. It offers excellent sharpness in the different planes. For less than 600 euros you find it on Amazon.
Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM
With mount for CanonNikonPentax and sony, it costs about 700 euros. It is one of the most extreme angles and offers brilliant results. Exaggerates the perspective in a way that emphasizes the subject to be photographed. Here is a gallery of images.
As you can see, a whole world of possibilities opens up before you. Before deciding on your objective, assess what you need, what is your level of demand in terms of quality, or if you are looking for more versatility. Price is also important so it’s okay to consider compatible alternative brands like the ones I’ve shown you. If you have doubts among several, you may read this article or this I helped you. And always remember that the tools help to achieve better images but they are not the ones that do the work, but you. It is you who puts the creativity, the photographic eye and the passion, the objective is a mere tool, do not forget it 😉 .
If you’ve made it this far, thank you! And if you have also found it useful, there may be acquaintances of yours who may also be useful to them, help them by sharing this article. Thank you and see you soon!