Fall and winter means night photography for me. And for me, night photography means handheld, I’m just not into tripods for anything smaller than large format. I want to work quickly and loosely, wandering quiet night streets, keeping a low profile, able to recompose or shoot the same subject quickly without setting up a tripod, making myself obvious. So a good night photography set up is a camera with fast lenses and really good image stabilization.
2 seconds, iso 800, f0.95, lumix g9
My current night photography workhorse is the Panasonic Lumix g9, a top of the line, but shockingly affordable flagship stills camera with just as good an m43 sensor as m43 sensors get. I bought it a few years ago, used, for the reasons stated above, it has phenomenal IS, and there are quite a few superspeed lenses available for the m43 lensmount. My primary is a Mitakon 17mm f0.95, affordable for the aperture, and actually quite decent wide open provided you use a the included hood, avoid unwanted flare, and accept a little vignette. Which at night is not an issue, for me at least. Night is dark, I want my night photography to be dark.
1/3rd second, iso 200, f0.95, lumix g9
The one major downside of the g9, and all m43 sensors in my opinion, is poor dynamic range compared to modern full frame cameras, especially at higher ISOs, this is offset by being able to use base iso with the fast aperture and extremely good IS. Of course a full frame sensor with an equally fast lens and capable IS would be even better, and for that reason when used Sony a7rV prices dip far enough down for a mere mortal like myself, I will be all over that. I even have the lens, a Laowa Argus 35mm 0.95, which gets some night action on my Sony a7rII, it’s sensor is much nicer than the g9’s, but both IS and viewfinder resolution can’t compare, and so whatever sensor benefits might exist are mitigated. But of course the combo is a blast. Mostly I’m hoarding the lens for a a7rV, for fear that I won’t be able to find a good copy in 5-10 years.
1/10th second, iso100, f0.95, sony a7rii
I’ve got a million things to say about night photography from an experiential and aesthetic perspective, but this is just tech talk. I spent about 1200 on a used Lumix g9/Mitakon 17 combo in late 2022, now you can find them for well under $1000, probably closer to $800 if you’re patient. There’s more superspeed lenses out there too, if the 35mm-e focal length isn’t your scene. I can hardly imagine a better m43 camera than the g9, and despite not using it much outside of this particular type of photography, I highly recommend it.