Which lens amongst these is better for night skyline and slow shutter photography?
The Nikon 18-55 3.5-5.6 or Nikon 28-100 3.5-5.6?
I would want sharp pictures and widest possible without barrel distortion, so if you have any experience with either of these lenses which one can (and at what setting) yield me the best shot?
Also, what f-stop do you recommend for it? I tried a few night shots last night and though it was pitch dark because I exposed the pics for over 15 seconds the sky became too whitish bright.brighter than it was. I like skyline pictures where the buildings, foreground background are well lit and reflective where needed but the sky should be dark, isn't that what adds to the contrast.
It's gna be my first and won't have much time for trial and error while i'm there.hence the question nuke! Thanks.
Added (1). I can't buy any of those. So which one would you recommend from these two?
Your photographing the sky, so no matter what aperture you use everything is going to be in focus.
The widest f-stop you can get is always an advantage.
A tripod is a must for slow shutter speeds.
If you are shooting buildings at night, use the same aperture as you would in the day for the large DOF. Don't expose for too long and don't use too high of an ISO, try to balance the ISO and shutter speed.
If you want to avoid distortion, go with a prime lens (fixed focal length).
I know Canon has a relatively cheap EF 24mm f/2.8. Nikon probably has some lens equivalent to this. On a crop-sensor body you will almost no distortion at all.
Actually, I'd go with the shorter lens, because you can get wider with it.
As for the aperture to use, lenses are usually at their sharpest at the middle apertures, but this may be only a relative difference, visible in the largest magnifications, but otherwise unnoticeable.
Fortunately for you, "trial and error" is more of a couple-of-minute things, rather than a "shoot now and see the results next week" condition. If you want the sky to be black, you have to start with a dark sky, but don't hold your breath that you can always get one, or that even on a "clear" night over a city there won't be enough crud in the air to reflect the streetlights. It is what it is, unless you Photoshop. If you are getting too light a sky, then back off the exposure time.
18mm tends to be the best without distortion…
but set the f~stop to between 5.6 and 8…
The 18-55 would be the better lens for this work.
The beauty of digital is that you can see what you are getting after each shot. This makes it much easier to adjust the camera for the results you are trying to achieve.
You must use a tripod or other solid support. Use the lowest ISO you can, 100 or 200.
Put the camera into manual mode. No auto modes can do this for you. Medium aperture, f/5.6 or f/8. Set the shutter speed to something too fast, maybe 4 seconds. Take your shot, and check your results. Now do it again at 8 seconds, and again at 15 seconds. This is called bracketing your exposure. Depending on your specific camera, you may be able to use smaller increments, 1/2 or 1/3 stop adjustments. Use whole stops to begin with, and then move to the smaller increments to fine tune the exposure.
City sky tends to have much more light present than you think, so it is difficult to keep the sky black. With the bracketing method, you can then use post processing software to put the sky you like in the city scape you like.