How do you guys get all those nifty beamshots?

Im not sure if this is the right place to post this .....Ive been trying to take some beam shots lately for fun and comparing, and my camera kind of...um....auto..adjusts? to the level of light that it sees. In other words a pic of my Fenix against a bare wall looks exactly the same in high as it does low.

Im not sure what it is that I need to adjust on my camera or if it is even adjustable. Im not to worried about tint just brightness. Any way I did some searching and couldnt seem to turn up anything helpful so I thought Id just ask outright. Any help would be great!!

Oh by the way the camera I have is a Nikon coolpix L18 if that helps. I dont know if itll really do this or not, its not super fancy.

I suppose a Moderator might move this to the Dark Room, but it is an excellent question and forthcoming answers should see the light of day. I'm another one of those Bert and Ernie picture takers who could learn something from those Spocks with Tricorders who post all those incredible beamshots.

I can manage to get comparison pics by focusing on the beam i think is dimmer then holding the button and switching to the other beam and snapping the pic. But honestly that just feels retarded, and it only shows comparison directly between sources. If i want to compare a weaker beam its of no use. Unless I take all the pics I want to compare over again.

I bet you folks get tired of guys like me asking silly questions LOL

You need to freeze the shutter & aperture settings ( ie manual) so that the camera is a constant, and the light is the only variable.

I wouldn't know how to explain it without being there with you and your camera. I know how it's done, yet my cam is not capable of doing it very well.

You'd essentially have to seek out a manual mode on your camera, and play with the settings till you find something that works, then keep that setting for all the shots.

If you have a "user friendly" point a shoot, you may not be able to pull it off. I know, my old Nikon, tho it takes wonderful pics, doesn't have manual settings. So I know the effect you're describing.

Some of those point and shoots do have manual settings.

You're looking for something that will allow you to select a shutter speed, and preferable an F-stop at the same time. Both effect your exposure.

Look for the ability to adjust denominations like F1.8, F8, F11, F22, etc.
And the ability to adjust 1/30, 1/60, 1/120, etc.

There are settings that will allow you to adjust one or the other, and if your lucky, both.

Aperture Priority mode, the more common of the two lets you adjust your F-stop, (F11,F22) which is basically, regulates the amount of light the camera takes in to its optics.
The other mode, who's name I forget adjust your shutter speed (1/30,1/60) which regulates how long the camera looks at the shot and collects the photographic data.

I could further explain how these settings work, and how to use them, but unless your camera supports these functions, then there is no point and you are SOL.

The only way around it if you dont' have manual settings is to trick your camera, and that takes some artistry and alot of patients. I could also explain this concept further.

Now, all this assumes you already have the basics covered.
For instance, turn off the flash. Get a tripod for the cam, and something to set the light up on, where you can swap out the lights and each one you plop down, will be in the same position, aimed at the same spot.

Conte said:

The only way around it if you dont' have manual settings is to trick your camera, and that takes some artistry and alot of patients. I could also explain this concept further.

Now, all this assumes you already have the basics covered.
For instance, turn off the flash. Get a tripod for the cam, and something to set the light up on, where you can swap out the lights and each one you plop down, will be in the same position, aimed at the same spot.

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Tell us sir... of the trickery! Pretty sure my L18 is just a point and shoot as you said it takes some great pics but...... not really meant for this stuff. And BTW thank you very much!:thumbsup:

I just read the manual for the L18, and there is no ability for manual override.

In other words, you can't do accurate beamshot comparisons with your camera.

The only way I see of being able to do anything resembling beamshot comparisons is by manually editing the photo in Photoshop, and your monitor is a decent LCD screen (photo's are always darker in CRT screens). You will have to find a camera that has the ability to do manual exposure adjustments (aperature isn't as big of a deal, since you can just use a longer/shorter exposure time, unless you're doing distant beamshots, or want to show everything in focus, or only a certain object in focus)

~Brian

Well, for the trickery, there is no guarantee it will work. But here goes . . .

If you press your camera's button halfway down, it will pre-focus the shot, then, you press it the rest of the way to take the shot. At least 90% of all cameras will allow you to do this.

So the idea is to set up a reference light, prefocus, and while holding the button halfway, turn the reference light off, turn the light to shoot on, then press the button the rest of the way.

So you'd have to set up 2 lights at the same time, one light you always focus too, and the camera will adjust it its brightness according to that light, then when you finally click the shot, the other light will seem either brighter or dimmer then that.

You basically have one hand on the camera at all times.

You'll have to do some experiments to figure out what a good reference light is.

Now this idea assumes you are doing comparative beamshots. Comparing the output of multiple lights.

IF you are jsut trying to compare beam patterns of perhaps the same light, with diff reflectors or lights of virtually the same output. It wouldn't really matter, you could just let the camera do the work assuming it's seeing abotu the same amount of brightness the each time.


What kind of beamshots did you have in mind ?

Conte said:

Well, for the trickery, there is no guarantee it will work. But here goes . . .

If you press your camera's button halfway down, it will pre-focus the shot, then, you press it the rest of the way to take the shot. At least 90% of all cameras will allow you to do this.

So the idea is to set up a reference light, prefocus, and while holding the button halfway, turn the reference light off, turn the light to shoot on, then press the button the rest of the way.

What kind of beamshots did you have in mind ?

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LOL!! thats what i was doing last night! I set up my LOD ce on high illuminating my target, then used it as a base for my camera to focus on. I used the 10 second timer then so i wouldnt have to fumble with holding the button and getting the light setup. It worked okay i guess. Ill post up a couple pics after a bit. Youll be able to see that it isnt as good as lots you see here but you can kinda compare the lights against each other. Just playin around really but its fun and I get to play with my lights

You could also run 2 lights at once and then we will see the relative brightness and get an idea of tint difference, even with automatic exposure an white balance.

It is best to use manual settings for exposure and white balance, of course.

Oh ? The 10 second timer on your cam does it prefocus before the count? If so, then that could work.

I can't remember if mine does that or not.

Dances with Flashlight said:

I suppose a Moderator might move this to the Dark Room, but it is an excellent question and forthcoming answers should see the light of day.

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I like your play on words there.

However, members should understand that a question about a specific topic is best asked in the sub-forum most appropriate for that topic, not the sub-forum where the member asking the question just likes to hang out. We move Batteries questions to the Batteries section, and in the same way we move photographic questions to the Dark Room. This is not least because regulars in those sections have a particular interest there, and are usually better qualified and able to answer questions about their speciality.

It also seems from reading the replies so far in this thread that most members are groping around in the dark for the answer, without much success. That is principally because the question has been asked in the wrong place. Did anyone go to the Dark Room to see if there was an existing thread there about it? No, I didn't think so... If you had, you would have seen these threads:

Tips for taking beamshots
How to Take Long-Distance Beamshots


If when you read either of those threads there is still something unclear, just ask a follow-up question in the thread concerned.

This thread is closed.