It’s challenging to attain sharp photos when hand-holding a camera in low light, but I’m comfortable pushing the ISO on the Nikon Z5 to 6400 to force a faster shutter speed to avoid blur. Furthermore, the in-body stabilisation of the Z5 helps to ward off the worst of the shakes and vibration.
As I’ve admitted previously, I’m still guilty of using shutter speeds that are too slow at times! Maybe I’ve become too accustomed to large sensors and vibration reduction technology? It’s a good thing the Nikkor 40mm lens I had with me opens up to f2 ~ not super fast, but fast enough to allow more light to hit the Z5’s 35mm sensor in low light situations.
Between the black bars of the heavy gates, I positioned the camera, opened the aperture wide to f2, set to ISO 6400, and glanced at the exposure readout in the electronic viewfinder to see a measly shutter speed of 1/15th of a second. Knowing that a blurry photo was one tiny movement away, I braced myself with my arms tucked into my sides, held my breath, leaned against the fence, and left the rest to the in-body stabilisation of the Nikon Z5.
Apart from the softness at F2, the photo is acceptably sharp. I’ll always say that you can make great photos with all kinds of cameras, even film in tin boxes, but tools like sensor-based stabilisation do make some situations easier.
When framing up this photo, I noticed that lights from passing traffic illuminated parts of the door and wall. With my back to the road and my eye pressed against the viewfinder glass, I waited until I heard the diesel-stutter of a loud engine that likely signalled a truck. I half-pressed the shutter button to focus. A few seconds later, the vehicle’s lights created red shadows and streaks. I timed the shutter click just right.
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I’m at the age where even bracing against something isn’t enough to stabilize the camera and lens, and while the VR helps, I now rely on fast speeds and AUTO ISO, trusting that the current noise-reduction tools are sufficient to clean up the noise and recover details (they are).
These days, for a photo like your first one, I would have used the S23 Ultra. It does amazingly well in low-light. That shot would have been a casual snap with the phone (pardon the pun). Given the size shared above, that is.
Admittedly, the second shot would have been a bit more difficult with the phone unless using the pro mode. Even then, it would require burst shooting to ensure a decent chance of getting the desired image.
To be clear, I’m not advocating switching to phones. There’s more satisfaction working the DSLR and getting images that allow favor pixel-peeping.
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Honestly, I really don’t use phones for serious photos. It’s not that they don’t do well enough at small share sizes, but I tire quickly of phone use. And if I ever wanted to print bigger, I’d be limited. Still, if it’s what you have it’s better than nothing.
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I find myself holding my breathe every time I take a photo, it make no difference, my photos are still blurry! 😂
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Ohhh…! Slow shutter speed is often the usual suspect here.
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The Nikon Z series are all excellent cameras. I own the Z8, Z50 and Z30 for vlogging. All wonderful cameras. 🙂
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Thanks Paul. Yes, they absolutely are. Took me a whole to get used to the Z5, having used a crop sensor for a long time. I’d even go for the Z50 as a crop sensor backup for when I really want to travel much lighter.
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