How fast lens needed to shoot Dragon sensor at night?

[Tom S]

My Angenieux Optimo 16-42mm is fantastic, but the T2.9 doesn't cut it at night with the Epic-x Dragon sensor. I have lenses at 2.1 and 1.8. Is this usually good or would most of you add lights? Would rather not go above ISO 1600. I have Aputure 300D's and Source 4s.

No streetlights, only house and xmas lights. This was taken with iPhone.

[Nick Morrison]

Sigma Primes @ 1.4

[David Peterson]

You need a T0.4 lens ;-)

[M Harvey]

I don't see a still attached. However, keep in mind that the main difference between using lights and shooting without lights is contrast.

No matter how fast your lenses are, if you don't light the houses, you'll get very bright highlights compared to the illumination of the exteriors. And as you open your lens/raise your ISO to brighten the buildings, the surroundings will come up them. (That said, the faster your lenses, the brighter you'll be able to get them.) So be prepared for potentially harsh highlights-- which might be just fine-- and noise on darker areas.

If you light the buildings, you'll be able to control how light the buildings are relative to the surroundings, and how light they are compared to the christmas and house lights. Depends what you want to do, but this gives you more control over the look. However, you'll need a significant amount of light to light up a whole building. (Again, I don't see an attached still, so it may be that you're looking to illuminate a much smaller area.)

[Tom S]

I don't see a still attached. However, keep in mind that the main difference between using lights and shooting without lights is contrast.

No matter how fast your lenses are, if you don't light the houses, you'll get very bright highlights compared to the illumination of the exteriors. And as you open your lens/raise your ISO to brighten the buildings, the surroundings will come up them. (That said, the faster your lenses, the brighter you'll be able to get them.) So be prepared for potentially harsh highlights-- which might be just fine-- and noise on darker areas.

If you light the buildings, you'll be able to control how light the buildings are relative to the surroundings, and how light they are compared to the christmas and house lights. Depends what you want to do, but this gives you more control over the look. However, you'll need a significant amount of light to light up a whole building. (Again, I don't see an attached still, so it may be that you're looking to illuminate a much smaller area.)

Awesome. Thanks and embarrassingly obvious. This is exactly how I approach dark indoor scenes; contrast between light and dark. I have a mental block about outdoor night lighting after trying to shoot a decent cityscape with a T2.9. It looked so disappointing.