To be complete it should be aperture, shutter, iso and white balance. And to be more thorough focal length (zoom) and distance shouldn't change too. I've seen comparison shots where framing was changed either through zoom or subject distance.
Metering would not matter since manual settings are used. And many of us will appreciate it if no editing will be done and to preserve exif data like ILIKEFLASHLIGHTS' photos here have. Although should be in manual mode instead of night mode as settings were automatically changed by the camera in each shot.
You guys are getting to complex for me on all the settings. The only bad thing I see about the manual setting is I don't know how to adjust my camera so it does the beamshots justice. I don't want to get to technical on posting pictures here or else I for one won't want to even post them anymore if it gets to be too much work. I'll play with my camera on some what was suggested here. But I'm not even sure how to do all what was even stated to begin with. I'm not in to photography like some apparently are here. And my so called serious probably would be a joke to others here. But I do appreciate the help.
Sorry if my posts were overly technical, but I've been a photographer for 30 years so it's almost subconscious to me . Looking at your exif information shows the photos posted above were taken with the shutter speed at 3 seconds, the aperture at f4, and the ISO at 200.
If these photos produce the look you're happy with, then just set those values in manual mode, and the white balance to 5000k. You can then easily take all pics at the same standard setting.
I hope this helps as your photos are wonderfully helpful. If not then I don't think anyone will find it a problem if you carry on as you are - your camera's night mode seems to be pretty consistent anyway.
Line up your top 3 throwers next to each other and pointing to something a few hundred feet away. Turn em on and take a picture. That would be way cool!
You have some serious throwers for sure, otherwise I wouldnt ask :-)
PS. I've got the same reservations about posting pictures as you've got. I just dont think me or my camera are up to it :-)
I second that. The "night" mode on most compact cameras means that it (the camera) doesn't automatically activate the tiny built-in flash (which is useless beyond 10-15 feet, anyway). What white balace is defaulted to is anyone's guess. Manufacturers do vary.
However, by using the manual mode, YOU decide what aperture, shutter speed, ISO and white balace is used. Consistency is the winner.
My apologies if we (Photogs) sound overly technical. This does not detract from the tremendous effort you've put in, and all of us have benefitted accordingly. Kudos to you, ILIKE..
I appreciate it. I just like having fun with beamshots. My nite mode doesn't seem too bad. That's why I use it quite a bit. But I do play with the manual settings. But I don't think my camera has the same sertttings that some of your cameras have. I would strain my brain to find half of them.
I tried to do 3 lights at a time but I don't have the room where I'm at to shine 3 beams at once from my pool deck so you can actually see the difference. Even 2 lights at once is tough. I did manage this one. It's a good picture but the beams are touching somewhat. But you should be able to make the difference out. They are both so close for which is the best. And I used the nite mode setting. And the tree on the right is probably 25yds closer than the tree on the left just so you know. So that's my fault. I should of just sread these out more so I missed shining directly over the closer house. My bad.
Sunwayman T40CS on left and Olight M3X on right aprrox 150yds or so.
The fact is that Nite modes are full auto modes. On auto expose the camera will always try to give you a neutral result every time, so it will try to balance the highlights with the shadows, so none loses in favor of the other. A full manual exposure has to be set by you after all, take a photo look at it and you say it's about what I see, the you simply, change the flashlights. Also the cameras don't have the dynamic range of the human eye, especially if the manufacturer has set them to give contrasty shots, or if the user has set the contrast on +.
I've taken a full auto photo. The XinTD L2 vs the DRY. They look like they just have a different beam pattern and the shadow angles are different (because the different height of the flashlights) but the bounced light is identical? 700 lumen vs 2000lumen give almost the same diffused light in this photo because it's full auto.
However, all those throwers output is so close that there will be no day and night difference.
. Looking at your exif information shows the photos posted above were taken with the shutter speed at 3 seconds, the aperture at f4, and the ISO at 200.
