Best Lens for Low Light Night Flight

[PatEisen]

I am going on a "one in  a lifetime" shoot - flying low and slow over the city of Detroit at sunset/night! I want the best equipment for the situation. I currently have a 70D, and would probably use my 24-105mm f/4L IS USM. I've had a suggestion that the 5D Mark II is the best body for low light, and the 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM would be the best lens.

Thoughts?

[ebiggs1]

"How much DOF would be lost if you're shooting from a helicopter in flight?"

Well you can figure DOF as well as me. Let's say the subject is 100 feet away, DOF would be about 85 feet.  Depending on the subject, would that work?  I don't know.  But change that focal ratio to f2.8 on a 50mm and it would be infinite.

[kvbarkley]

At 50mm, f/1 and a FF camera the hyperfocal distance is 76 meters. I think you want to set the hyperfocal and leave it in manual anyway, just to be safe.

Note that F/1 -> F/1.4 is a full stop. So you can stop down with this lens, improve the performance and still get excellent low light capability.

[Waddizzle]

"Well you can figure DOF as well as me. Let's say the subject is 100 feet away,..." 

From a helicopter, in flight?  The subjects [buildings of the night skyline] are likely to be 3-10 times that distance, if not way more than that the majority of the time.  The chopper will no doubt have to conform to flight rules that specify a minimum altitude, and flight paths.

[ebiggs1]

"The subjects [buildings of the night skyline] are likely to be 3-10 times that distance, ..."

Perhaps.  Who knows?    Maybe the OP will wnat to shoot form the ground,also?  But you can figure DOF as well as me.

Let me ask, do you typically take cityscapes at max aperture, say f1.4 or even f2?  Either of you?

[Waddizzle]

"Let me ask, do you typically take cityscapes at max aperture, say f1.4 or even f2?  Either of you?"

It depends upon the distance of the nearest features.  But, if I want to grab the whole big picture, then I typically shoot landscapes and cityscapes between f/6.3 to f/8, day or night.  Of course, at night thise f/stops would require a tripod, and lengthy exposure. 

I wouldn't know what to use from a helicopter flying around a cityscape.  Never tried anything close to it.  But, narrow aperture could be an issue.  I have shooting from the Freedom Tower on my bucket list for the summer, though.

[kvbarkley]

At night I do, especially from a moving vehicle.

[ebiggs1]

"At night I do, ..."

Let's see what ya got.  Care to share a few? 

[kvbarkley]

I rooted around a bit, and found that all my examples pre-date digital - taken with my TL electro or Minolta S1 - and my scanner is not working or they might be lost. Most of the current night shots that are digital have intentionally *long* shutter times to cause light trails on cars.