So today we finally got a chance to put some time aside and type up and publish our list of various Nikon Coolpix b700 night photography tips and tricks that we have had on our to-do list for months now. We always see people asking for ways to improve their nighttime performance with the b700 so are hoping that this article will help any of our readers who own a b700 and are looking to get into nighttime photography.
We have photographers who read our blog coming from a wide range of experience levels so some of these tips may seem basic to professional level photographers but we have lost count of the number of times they are overlooked.
Table of Contents
Choose An Appropriate Tripod
That said, if you don’t currently have a tripod or you are looking to upgrade your current tripod then we would highly recommend that you consider the ZoMei Z818 (Click here to check for product prices and availability). It is a high-quality but budget-friendly tripod that offers tons of functionality and will server your b700 well. Additionally, we also published a dedicated ZoMei z818 tripod review recently that you may find helpful.
Using a tripod will help provide some much-needed image stabilization for your b700 that is essential when capturing photographs of the night sky at its mid to high zoom levels. Simply mounting your camera on a tripod to offer it a stable base can drastically improve the image quality available to you.
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Get Your Hands On A Intervalometer
Due to the massive zoom range of the b700, the slightest movement can end up ruining a timelapse or long expose even if it is just gently touching the camera to tweak some settings. An intervalometer or wireless shutter remote release control remove this risk and can save you valuable time when out on your photography sessions by removing this risk.
Experiment With ND Filters
Depending on what type of nighttime photography you are doing with your b700, picking up a cheap ND filter (Click here to check for product prices and availability) can help improve your image quality. Essentially, the filter will limit the amount of light that can enter your lens and reach your camera sensor helping to reduce light pollution.
That said, we would only really recommend this if you are taking photographs in a city or town with a lot of light pollution. Additionally, we would not recommend that you use an ND filter to take photographs of the stars either as it will limit the light your sensor picks up from the starts and have a negative impact on the photograph.
The Nikon b700 comes with a 62mm filter thread size so if you do choose to pick one up choose the 62mm variant so it will seamlessly connect to your camera. Our article reviewing the Gobe ND filter range or our article reviewing the Hoya ND filter range may be helpful for you to choose what brand of filter to pick up.
Experiment With Steel Wool
Again, depending on what type of night photography you are doing with your b700 picking up some steel wool (Click here to check for product prices and availability) may be pointless as it is useless for photos of the night sky. That said, it can be a great way to easily add a little excitement to an otherwise boring photograph of a ground level shot.
If you have never used steel wool for your photography then we would highly advise that you watch the short video below to get the best out of it for your images.
Start with ISO 3200
Tweaking the ISO setting of your camera is another quick and easy way to improve your night photography performance. Although the optimal setting will change depending on your location and what you are doing, try starting with an ISO of 3200 and then adjusting as required.
Play With Your Cameras Shutter Speed
Another quick and easy setting that you can try to tweak to help improve your image quality is to tweak your shutter speed on your camera. We often see some commonly reported complaints with the b700 performance solved by simply using a quicker shutter speed at higher levels of zoom to help you get better photographs.
Watch A Professional Night Photography Tutorial
Although it can be expensive to get a professional photographer to help you improve your photography skills, there are some excellent resources available online for free. We would highly recommend watching the video below as it has been created by a very successful professional photographer and offers a ton of valuable little tips that you can implement to improve your performance.
Know When and Where to Look
Although it is largely out of your control, knowing where and when to go out and try to capture photographs of the night sky will have a massive effect on the image quality that you are able to capture. Although many people recommend various websites, we always suggest trying to find local photography groups on Facebook and asking for the best local locations and times of year for night time photography.
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Image Licensing
Shared under Creative Commons – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Michael Seeley – Spot The Station + Milky Way – https://flic.kr/p/HgpAfh
