Tips for taking photos through a train window at night

[Ramsden]

Hi folks 

Continuing the planning for my autumn trip from London to Aberdeen at the end of October. Thanks to everyone for their great advice on camera settings and ideas for innovative shots.

Just one last thing (for now) I realised that the last hour of the journey will be at sunset. I aim to book a seat looking East, so out across the North Sea and hopefully a moon rise. It will darkish outside and the carriage lights will be on.

So, I did a quick internet search for advice, and while there is a slightly consistent line, I have to turn to my friends across the pond for not only settings, but how and what shoot as it gets dark.

I've bought some rubber lens caps so I can hold my camera upto the train window.

Here is what I have so far:

Low f numbers 1.4 1.8

Highish ISO, 3200 - 6400

M mode

A blackout hood for me and camera (is this needed with rubber lens caps)?

EOS90D and thinking I should test these  lenses before the big trip: EFS 18-135, EF 50mm and EF100mm Primes and EF-S 10-22mm wide angle.

As ever your help and advice gratefully received 

Ramsden 

[SignifDigits]

What is your thinking on considering the 50mm and 100mm lenses?  I can understand the wide angle and long zoom, but not sure what your thinking is for those.   I am guessing because of their lower f numbers? 

The 50mm would be effectively 80mm with your sensor and the 100mm effectively 160mm.   These are pretty narrow.   Of course the 50mm at 80mm would be a cheap, bright lens in what many consider a good portraiture field of view.

Often after our trips afterwards we gravitate to pics with a narrower field of view.  I'm personally bad about wanting to catch the wide angle too often and failing to use the principles simplicity and exclusion.

The EF 100mm macro is an excellent macro lens, though I prefer the 180mm.  The 180mm would be nearly a 300mm lens on your camera, so it could serve as both a macro and long lens.  Again, not sure what you were thinking of in considering the 100mm and you might not have been considering the 100mm macro at all, but the non-macro version.

If you get a good copy a Rokinon/Samyang 24mm f1.4 might be another lens to consider if you're looking for low f stops.  It is pretty popular for astrophotography, but quality tends to vary a lot.  Essentially a 35mm (more precisely 38mm) lens on your camera.

[Ramsden]

Hi

Thanks for your detailed reply. 

Start with the positive: I have an EFS 24MM, so that's encouraging. I thought that it would be too small for distance photos out of a window. I really like it and have it on my camera quite frequently on my daily walks, so will test it out on local trains shortly.

I bought the 50mm quite soon after getting my EOS90D, and just found it very versatile. I like the clarity you get with Prime lenses, and soon bought the 100mm. And yes, the low f no's are a bonus. I thought that they would be good capturing the seascape and scenery en route, with clarity at speed. But that was an intuitive assumption!

My knowledge of camera technology is quite limited hence my post. I know some people don't like the Prime lenses, but they work for me.

But, as I've often said in previous posts,  I need to do more reading and research and basically learn what my equipment is designed to do.

Finally, I've also got a 70-300mm zoom but thought that would be too big.

Regards 

Ramsden