photos at night

Hi, can anyone tell me what is the best settings for taking photos at night, with a Pentax K20?

I think more information would help the experts here. What sort of photos? Indoors/outdoors? Type of ambient lighting?

It does really depend on the type of photo and the type of lighting. It's as broad a question as it stands as asking what settings are best for taking photos during the day...

If long exposure - Lowest ISO possible, small aperture i.e.f16, tripod is a must, use cable release or remote release if none available then timed release, mirror lockup. Bulb is good in these situations because you control when to open and close the shutter.
If hand held then crank up the ISO and suffer the noise then use PP to fix.

If you don't have a cable release use bulb mode and a card over the lens to become a temporary shutter.

I've sent you a private message with a link to a helpful tutorial.

Any lens really.

f5.6-8.0
tripod
mirror lockup
iso ~400 (lower the better, but remember the rule of 600 if you want no star-trails)

I hadn't heard of the Rule of 600 before, so I just Googled it. Seems like a useful rule of thumb to remember. Another thing learnt from this forum!

Just wondering, should it not be the Rule of 400 on our crop sensors?

I keep a Manfrotto Quick release plate on my cams. They are also invaluable for placing ( and protecting ) the camera on a wall or on the ground, or even against the side of a wall for long exposures when I haven't got my tripod with me

If its helpful why don't you share it with all of us?

It should be for Pentax, but it is better to just remember the general rule of 600 and just add in the crop factor each time.

You would mess up if you by chance some time use a different brand crop body, 12x10 format, 6x7 format or 135mm format if you remember it as the rule of 400.