Canon 60D Settings

CharlieOscar

Hi All, hoping your can help me out.
If I wanted to take photographs of traffic (say on the national road or motorway in the evening &/or at night, what settings would you use.

I am a novice and looking to learn, but could do with a help in the right direction.

What I want from the photography is the appearance of cars flashing by, so I think I need a low shutter speed and high ISO (could be wrong, thats why I am asking).

Thanks in advance

Stephen P

You would need a slow shutter speed, I'd recommend anything from 1 second to 30 seconds and keep the ISO at 100, no need for high ISO for night shots. The aperture should be about F11, maybe higher. Experiment with different settings but you need a slow shutter speed.

Stephen P

Just found the attached, I got it off a website, think it was Digital Camera World. It actually says use f22 for Traffic shots and 30 seconds.

Weylin

you could try using the cameras auto night settings,and you will need a tripod (argos ) to keep it steady ,or a wall

b318isp

Obviously start with a tripod. I'm not a huge fan of heavily stopping down to f22 unless specifically needed, often the f8-f16 range will cover most shots. ISO100-400 could be used, the 60D is really good in this range.

I'd set the camera to M (Manual) and set the aperture according to the depth of field you need (f8 with ISO 200 can be a good starting point). From there, experiment with the exposure time. Start at say 1 second, and extend until you get the exposure you want.

You may need to balance the aperture/ISO setting to get the balance right between the brightness of the scene and the traffic trails. Increasing either will increase the relative brightness of the background.

If the road is very busy, very long exposures may clutter up the image with car trails, so you may want to shorten this; obviously if the traffic is light then the opposite is true.

As there is a bit of trial and error, and you are learning - perhaps hand hold the camera until you are happy to shoot as this is a liitle easier than doing it on a tripod. Don't worry about the pictures being blurred as exposure is the critical thing.

CharlieOscar

Thanks guys so far, that is really great.
Just to add, I am using a Canon 18-55mm lens (the kit one) if that makesa difference to any of your comments.
I do have a tripod, so if you see a randomer over a bridge tonight on the North side of Dublin, holding a camera down at traffic its me.

Stephen P

I've used kit lens for my night shots of car trails and does the job fine.

CharlieOscar wrote: »

Thanks guys so far, that is really great.
Just to add, I am using a Canon 18-55mm lens (the kit one) if that makesa difference to any of your comments.
I do have a tripod, so if you see a randomer over a bridge tonight on the North side of Dublin, holding a camera down at traffic its me.