[DeadJohn]

My experience (K-1 and K-5) is that Av mode gives good exposures until around 15 minutes past sunset. Manual mode is my preference at night.

I always use raw DNG format. That gives a lot of flexibility for adjusting brightness later.

[jmacias]

I set the EV to some value from -1.3 to -2.7 depending on the situation and use M mode. That usually does the trick.

[Photobill]

What setings do you use with live view? The results i get while using live view are not always what the screen shows, especially using an nd filter. It is more guess work than anything.

If you use LV to help get the proper exposure make sure you have the LCD screen adjusted properly. If its turned up you'll get under exposed, turned down you'll get over exposed. (In LV do you have an active histogram?)

[robiles]

If you use LV to help get the proper exposure make sure you have the LCD screen adjusted properly. If its turned up you'll get under exposed, turned down you'll get over exposed. (In LV do you have an active histogram?)

I only use live view with nd filter on a tripod, but since having the KP, that is like never. But i did notice the two cameras work differently in live view. The KP shows the exposure real time, while the K3 not really. Because it does not get much LV use anymore, i did not dig any deeper to solve the problem.

[HoutHans]

The exposure compensation trick mentioned by some works as well, but I constantly keep forgetting to turn it back.....

[Lambic]

Great advice, everyone. Thank you.

You have to remember to readjust the exposure compensation back up for normal conditions. There is a page of settings probably called Memory which tells the camera what to remember when you turn it off. I like to uncheck Ev Comp so it's reset to zero on my next session.

This, in particular, seems like a great tip as I frequently forget to reset to zero. I may also look into something like this for manual changes to ISO.

I'm also going to take a look at post-processing.

[Kobie]

I shoot with a friend who has a K-70, which is his first camera (picked it up in April, 6 months ago) other than his smart phone. We shoot Milky Way landscapes, so essentially the same problem you are having for our landscape shots (without astrotracing).

I shoot with a K1 with a DA 15-30/f2.8. He is shooting with his K70 and my borrowed Sigma 18-35/f1.8. Essentially, we have found them very similar. The K1 has about 1 to 1.5 stop advantage over the crop sensor K70.

• Photographic Dynamic Range versus ISO Setting

However, the K70 with the Acceleration Chip picks up 1.5 stops, starting at ISO 600. What the K1 give up with a slower aperture (f2.8) lens the K70 picks up with a faster aperture (f1.8). So, what we have found shooting together over the last 6 months, is that the kits are pretty equal in terms of overall results.

The K70, with its Sony sensor is also ISO invariant. Which means that you can shoot, capture the light and then make your adjustments in post essentially loosing nothing. Actually, you can gain by shooting at lower ISOs which tends to limit the noise, while capturing better color (star color), and then boost in post. Now that does not mean that you will capture no sensor noise. Note - actually we have found that the K70 also has the same white dot problem as the K1 has.

Shooting off tripods, we crank up the ISO to whatever (51200) and shoot say a 2 to 5 second frame to check framing, levelness, etc. then lower it to ~800 for the rest of the shooting. For the landscape segments, a 1 to 2second exposure (sometimes 4 seconds) or several 2 second exposures stacked, yields some pretty nice results.

In post processing, you can then adjust your exposures to keep the sense of night, while bringing out some of the shadow detail (well in the dark of night, everything is in the "shadows"). But, the key is - with the sensor being ISO invariant, you have the latitude of adjusting the exposure in post to provide the overall sense that you are looking for.

Here is a shot at midnight (3 frames stitched). Actually this is a test shot, that I'm using to help me process a 27 frame stitch of exactly the same view. I'm trying to get the lighting right. This was shot at 15mm with the large stitch shot at 30mm which captures about 4x more light.


Here is shot - 18 frames stitched - that I want to reshoot again - trying to get the headlights to light up the canyon at night.


There is a lot of trial and error while you are shooting out in the field, but with some reasonable post processing you can get the overall look you desire. It's not like shooting during the day with a light meter, where you can meter the scene and expose for perfection. This is more hit and miss, getting a feeling for the location, and the overall darkness that you are dealing with.

These are very well done!

[Kozlok]

Here is shot - 18 frames stitched - that I want to reshoot again - trying to get the headlights to light up the canyon at night.

Wow. Wonderful stuff.

[Gerbermiester]

To put yourself in the ballpark quickly, meter off the brightest area in your frame. (For example, meter off the pool of light below a street light, rather than off the whole frame). Your metering mode should be centre-weighted or spot for this method to work.
You can lock this exposure at the push of a button in any mode (other than auto). But, all that being said, practise is the most important factor. The more effort you put into practising you camera skills, the quicker you'll be able to make the adjustments to exposure the first crack just by looking at the scene in front of you.

[Zooland]

Take several then stitch later, you can get really good results that way. It does take a bit of patience with post processing though and it may be overwhelming for the first time.

[Lowell Goudge]

To put yourself in the ballpark quickly, meter off the brightest area in your frame. (For example, meter off the pool of light below a street light, rather than off the whole frame). Your metering mode should be centre-weighted or spot for this method to work.
You can lock this exposure at the push of a button in any mode (other than auto). But, all that being said, practise is the most important factor. The more effort you put into practising you camera skills, the quicker you'll be able to make the adjustments to exposure the first crack just by looking at the scene in front of you.

I agree with this, I use spot metering and meter on the part I want correctly exposed, and let the rest fall where the exposure puts it.

[Mercifulfate]

Like others said, playing with exposure compensation is the way to go. In Av mode, you can even set the front wheel to adjust EC, which makes it quick and easy. For a nightime shot to look like night, a -2 setting is a good starting point.

You can also combine this with auto bracketing to rapidly get three shots from -3 to -1. One of them should be about like you’re looking for.

... and stitching together in post can help get you what you want when you can not get out straight out of the camera.

---------- Post added 10-14-19 at 04:58 AM ----------

I shoot with a friend who has a K-70, which is his first camera (picked it up in April, 6 months ago) other than his smart phone. We shoot Milky Way landscapes, so essentially the same problem you are having for our landscape shots (without astrotracing).

I shoot with a K1 with a DA 15-30/f2.8. He is shooting with his K70 and my borrowed Sigma 18-35/f1.8. Essentially, we have found them very similar. The K1 has about 1 to 1.5 stop advantage over the crop sensor K70.

• Photographic Dynamic Range versus ISO Setting

However, the K70 with the Acceleration Chip picks up 1.5 stops, starting at ISO 600. What the K1 give up with a slower aperture (f2.8) lens the K70 picks up with a faster aperture (f1.8). So, what we have found shooting together over the last 6 months, is that the kits are pretty equal in terms of overall results.

The K70, with its Sony sensor is also ISO invariant. Which means that you can shoot, capture the light and then make your adjustments in post essentially loosing nothing. Actually, you can gain by shooting at lower ISOs which tends to limit the noise, while capturing better color (star color), and then boost in post. Now that does not mean that you will capture no sensor noise. Note - actually we have found that the K70 also has the same white dot problem as the K1 has.

Shooting off tripods, we crank up the ISO to whatever (51200) and shoot say a 2 to 5 second frame to check framing, levelness, etc. then lower it to ~800 for the rest of the shooting. For the landscape segments, a 1 to 2second exposure (sometimes 4 seconds) or several 2 second exposures stacked, yields some pretty nice results.

In post processing, you can then adjust your exposures to keep the sense of night, while bringing out some of the shadow detail (well in the dark of night, everything is in the "shadows"). But, the key is - with the sensor being ISO invariant, you have the latitude of adjusting the exposure in post to provide the overall sense that you are looking for.

Here is a shot at midnight (3 frames stitched). Actually this is a test shot, that I'm using to help me process a 27 frame stitch of exactly the same view. I'm trying to get the lighting right. This was shot at 15mm with the large stitch shot at 30mm which captures about 4x more light.


Here is shot - 18 frames stitched - that I want to reshoot again - trying to get the headlights to light up the canyon at night.


There is a lot of trial and error while you are shooting out in the field, but with some reasonable post processing you can get the overall look you desire. It's not like shooting during the day with a light meter, where you can meter the scene and expose for perfection. This is more hit and miss, getting a feeling for the location, and the overall darkness that you are dealing with.

Nicely done. Very Lovely.

[wstruth]

I usually start with AV mode to check the settings and then move to manual and tweak the settings till I get what I want.

[dan.a.nesheim]

Are there any good alternatives?

I some times shoot activities at night with both people and vehicles moving around, all with their own light source and different reflections.
For me exposure compensation is not an option, so the only setting i can use is Manual mode. I have fixed shutter speed and vary aperture as needed, and then manually increase iso as it gets darker.
For my use, manual mode is the only option to get those nice dark images.

[OldPentaxFan]

Manual and, for the most part, changing aperture based on having gotten to know how the camera behaves under various conditions.


Mostly getting to know how the equipment works and going from there.