Flexible application of high sensitivity in tourism photography

Lead: Whenever you decide to travel, apart from worrying about your clothes, the biggest headache is the matching of photographic equipment and its lenses. Even if you are sure to bring a camera, but you are worried about the performance of the camera, is it enough to meet the shooting needs during the trip? In fact, as long as you are familiar with the camera's limit and sensitivity, even if you travel overseas with only one camera and one mirror, you can easily cope and take the pictures you need.

Flexible application of high sensitivity in tourism photography Basic setting of overseas tourism photography

Shooting mode: aperture priority automatic

Aperture: F4 ~ 1 1

ISO sensitivity: automatic, 200 ~ 12800.

White balance: automatic

Shooting and commenting: Abe Hideyoshi

▲ The large cruise ship is scheduled to arrive at Tenerife Island in the Canary Islands in the early hours of the morning. Although the sea is quite calm, the ship is still rocking slowly. Relying on the ultra-high sensitivity ISO6400, that is, using hand-held photography, the photos still have no problem of vibration blur.

Data: Nikon DF, AF-S Nicole 16-35 mm F4 G ED VR, aperture must be automatic (F5.6, 1/3 seconds), -0.3EV, WB: automatic, ISO 6400, RAW.

0 1. What's the impact of the improvement of ultra-high sensitivity on overseas travel photography?

The most direct impact is that the time spent using the tripod is greatly reduced. In the past, tripod and cable were necessary equipment when shooting night scenes or night scenes, but now most of these scenes can be shot by hand. This performance is not only based on the innovation of ultra-high sensitivity, but also the evolution of anti-shake function. For tourism photography, the combination of high sensitivity and anti-shake function can be said to be invincible.

As mentioned before, the tripod can be used as a convenient base for fixing the camera, except that it can really arrange the composition and cooperate with the slow shutter, even in the scene where the high shutter can be used. However, in many restricted overseas trips, if you don't need a tripod, you can save energy and time, and you can go to more places to shoot. This alone has infinite charm.

Digital cameras decades ago were actually equipped with high-sensitivity function, but as long as high-sensitivity shooting is used, the image quality will be obviously deteriorated, and people simply don't want to use it to shoot scenery. Nowadays, the performance of high-sensitivity image quality has been greatly improved, and finally the dream of "shooting scenery with high sensitivity" has been realized.

▲ St. Peter's Cathedral. There are many places in European churches that cannot be photographed with flash. When setting ISO sensitivity, don't forget the concept that the lower the ISO sensitivity, the better the image quality.

Data: Nikon DF, AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm F4 G ED VR, aperture must be automatic (F8,115s), WB: automatic, ISO 1000, RAW.

02. When traveling abroad, will you encounter scenes that you have to give up shooting because of dim light?

Almost all of my overseas travel topics are centered on Europe, so I often use planes, trains and passenger ships when I move. Especially on passenger ships, every morning or evening, we often encounter various beautiful scenery. Although large passenger ships will not have too severe shaking problems, after all, they are floating on the sea and cannot completely avoid vibration. If you don't use the high-sensitivity function, you can use a tripod with a slow shutter to shoot, but the tripod itself is also set up on the swaying deck, and its function is very limited.

In addition, most tourist attractions have regulations prohibiting the use of tripods, and the most representative place is the station. In fact, there were no such strict regulations before, but in recent years, due to frequent terrorist attacks in various places, as long as a tripod is set up, the local police will soon pay attention. If you just take a few photos as a souvenir, you may not get much attention. However, if you take the station as the photography theme and slowly shoot all kinds of works, it may not only hinder other passengers, but also cause resentment. Perhaps this is also a concept derived from the prevention of terrorist activities.

03. How to distinguish low sensitivity (general sensitivity) from high sensitivity?

Although the problem of image quality is greatly reduced compared with the past, with the increase of sensitivity, the trend of noise increase and color saturation deterioration remains unchanged, so it is necessary to avoid excessive increase of sensitivity. As long as it is set to ISO6400, if it is raised above ISO 10000, the noise will become more conspicuous and the overall picture quality will be rough. To avoid hand shake, we must first deal with the anti-hand shake function of the camera or lens itself. When the hand shock prevention function can't effectively eliminate the vibration blur problem, we should increase the sensitivity.

If you need to shoot a dynamic subject, or the object on which the photographer rides vibrates, you can only shoot a still and clear image with high sensitivity and high speed shutter. In terms of setting skills, if the situation permits, it is recommended to set the sensitivity to a value just enough to make the image still with Shoot.

In addition, when taking landscape photos, the main premise is to avoid the vibration and blur of the image caused by low sensitivity, and then adjust it to the most suitable setting according to the needs of the scene, and make judgments according to personal preferences and experience.

▲ When I got off the train at Genoa subway station, I just met the conductor's eyes. His body exudes the style of an opera singer. The scene is quite dark, and the automatic ISO sensitivity is used to adjust to the high sensitivity setting of ISO 10000.

Data: Nikon D7 100, Tenglong16-300mm F3.5-6.3 di Ⅱ VC PZD macro (24-450mm), program automatic (F6.3, 1/250s), WB: automatic, ISO 6550.

04. What is the sensitivity setting suitable for overseas travel photography?

I would recommend you to use the automatic ISO function, which is quite convenient in general. Going from a bright place to a dark place often increases the sensitivity, but returning to the bright place and forgetting to adjust the sensitivity back leads to the failure of shooting. I believe everyone should have had such an embarrassing experience. Depending on the automatic ISO mode, such failures can be effectively avoided.

When automatic ISO automatic mode is turned on, you can set the upper limit of ISO sensitivity by yourself. When arranging this setting, the anti-vibration function must be considered. Generally speaking, the anti-vibration function can be 3? The effect of 4-level shutter speed, such as the scene that has to be upgraded to ISO6400 in order to avoid the hand shake problem, can take a clear image only by using ISO 1600 with the hand shake function.

Once the subject is in motion or shooting while walking, the effect of anti-shake hand function will be greatly reduced, so it must rely on high sensitivity enhancement. In addition, the automatic ISO mode can also set the lowest numerical limit to avoid the shutter speed being too slow and blurring the subject vibration.

05. When traveling overseas, what is the best stage of high sensitivity?

When visiting art galleries in Europe, as long as many places do not use flash lights, visitors will not be prohibited from taking pictures of the items on display. The reason why the flash can't be used is that the flash may fade pictures and other works of art, and also to avoid disturbing other visitors. In addition, tripods can't be brought into the art gallery, which may accidentally hurt the exhibits, and it is also an obstacle when there are many people. If you have a tripod, remember to put it in the locker in advance.

After listening to the relevant regulations above, photographers with a little common sense certainly know that this is a good opportunity for high-sensitivity functions to show their talents. When visiting an art gallery, many people will pick up their cameras and snap various famous paintings or artworks, but I personally will never shoot these subjects alone. The reason is that if you want to have images of these works of art, you only need to buy postcards or picture books from the store in the exhibition hall before you leave. Scenery, art exhibition scenes, etc. that can only be photographed in this art museum. , are all pictures I want to capture. Sometimes they bring tourists into the camera together, and sometimes they take pictures of themselves in the background of various exhibits.

06. What's the secret of using wide-angle and telescope head?

Wide-angle lens can make the problem of hand jitter less obvious, and it does not need a very high shutter speed when used. If the camera or lens itself is equipped with anti-vibration function, is it about ISO800? Most scenes can be shot between 65438 and 0600. However, the telescope head is not like this. In order to avoid hand jitter, it is generally said that the shutter speed should be set above "one tenth of the focal length" seconds. Therefore, when the focal length is 300mm, it needs to be set above 1/ 300 seconds. If the camera at hand is APS-C, the focal length of 300mm will be equivalent to 450mm, so the shutter speed must be set to a value exceeding 1/450 seconds. Of course, the sensitivity must also be improved. If the scene is dark, it should be adjusted to ISO6400 immediately.

For the telescope head, monopod is a practical choice, and it is quite suitable for travel except for unlimited space. Some tripods can be used as monopods after being removed. However, it is often seen that many people put up a tripod to hold a straight shot, which is a wrong usage. You should make a tripod with your feet to achieve a stable effect.

▲ The dance venue of Frankfurt Hotel, Germans are very good at using metal in buildings. I used to shoot with a tripod, but now I can shoot with one hand, which is very gratifying.

Data: Nikon DF, AF-S Nicole 16-35mm F4 G ED VR, aperture must be automatic (F8, 1/60s), WB: automatic, ISO800, RAW.

▲ Even in a big city like Frankfurt, it will turn from noisy to silent every night. Personally, I like this quiet atmosphere very much. Being able to take pictures easily while walking is the charm of high sensitivity.

Data: Nikon D7 100, Tenglong16-300mm F3.5-6.3 di Ⅱ VC PZD macro (24-450mm), automatic program (F5.6,1/25s), ISO1.

▲ "The Lady and the Unicorn" became a topic when it was exhibited in Japan, and it is usually collected in a small art museum in Paris. It was difficult to judge the size of the original picture from books or picture books, because tourists appeared in the picture, so it was clear at a glance.

Data: Nikon D7 100, Tenglong16-300mm F3.5-6.3 di Ⅱ VC PZD macro (24-450mm), program automatic (F4,1/25s), WB: automatic, ISO5000.

07. The larger the size of overseas travel photography and sensitivity image sensor, the more noise can be suppressed.

Traveling overseas, of course, I hope to bring less equipment and make my luggage lighter. In the previous negative camera era, the equipment was huge and bulky, so after entering the digital age, I have been expecting this aspect to become easier. However, in fact, there are many devices used with digital cameras, such as spare batteries, chargers, laptops and external hard disks. In the end, it seems that the burden will become even greater.

"Physical strength and financial resources are always inversely proportional", which is a motto I often hang on my lips. When I was young, although I was full of physical strength, it was not a problem to carry all kinds of heavy equipment, but it was difficult to buy expensive equipment because of lack of financial resources. With the growth of age, after the purse is gradually full, all kinds of high-priced and sophisticated equipment can indeed become their right-hand man, but their physical strength has become difficult to bear such a heavy partner. Life is always spent in imperfection, as if it really is.

Today's photography has become a popular interest across ages and genders, which can be seen from the popularity of compact and lightweight miniature digital monocular cameras. Having said that, if you want the follow-up to be a successful "work" and not just a personal "travel record", you can't choose a miniature digital monocular camera with a small image sensor in the selection of shooting equipment. The most formal equipment, of course, is the 35mm Quan Huafu digital monocular camera. If you think this fuselage is too heavy, you should at least take an APS-C digital monocular camera. Considering physical problems, you can choose a lighter style on the lens instead of starting with the camera. With the improvement of high-sensitivity performance, there is indeed more room for equipment selection.

In the past, when high-sensitivity shooting could not be used, in order to match the large aperture lens, the telescope head adopted the style of 70-200mm F2.8. Regardless of efficiency, the single weight is as high as 1500g, but if a lens of 70-200mmF4 can be accepted, the weight will be reduced to about 850g. In addition, a high-power zoom lens is also a good choice for light luggage. Three of the sample photos released this time were taken with a lens of 16-300mm. In general, this lens alone can cope with most of the shooting scenes in the tour. Furthermore, when choosing a lightweight lens, the tripod only needs to be matched with a lightweight style. Although the price is expensive, I suggest you buy carbon fiber products, which are more practical.

In fact, the improvement of high-sensitivity practicality of digital cameras has only gradually matured in recent years. Ten years ago, the image quality was just improved to ISO800, which made people collapse. Nowadays, under the setting of ISO3200, the image is still beautiful, even if it reaches ISO6400, it is still within the acceptable range.

However, even if the high-sensitivity performance is excellent, you must pay attention to the fact that the noise problem will still increase with the increase of sensitivity, and the possibility of coarse particles in the image has not been exempted because of the evolution of high-sensitivity performance. In addition, although the color tone of the image has been greatly improved, if the sensitivity setting is too high, the image saturation will decrease and the color tone will be turbid.

The above problems are also closely related to the size of the image sensor. The larger the size of the image sensor, the better the image quality can be suppressed, so it is best to choose a digital monocular camera with a large image sensor. I'm going to Europe soon. It's rare to go there, but I don't want to spend more time preparing all the equipment. I really can't say that I am a competent travel photographer.