Christmas lights and pictures?

[gardener]

Are there some general settings that one could/would start with in trying to capture Christmas lights and displays at night? I figure this will be somewhat like the learning curve on shooting fireworks but what do I know not having done it before... I'm thinking more of the drive by and static type displays one sees rather than actually setting up a photo shoot for some specific reason or portrait.
While I and many others have a tripod and DSLR, others may not so if you would also include some info for the hand held p&s shooters too, it would be much appreciated..
As always, thanks for sharing your expertise..
Steve W

[qdial]

Expirement! Go out and have fun with it.

[kenw]

most definitely experiement. it's how we learn.

for those so equipped, shutter speeds around 1/90s for handheld would be a good starting point, up to 1/180s if you can get away with it. Let the aperture go wide open if it needs to, so use Tv mode. Adjust the ISO up until you like the results.

for those with less capabilities, probably start on the "night" scene mode. If it isn't bright enough, adjust the ISO up unitl it gets better.

someone else may have some more/better ideas, but these will get youu started. I'm staying indoors as it is too $%^&* cold outside, so post your pics here!

[KeithAlanK]

I always use a tripod, and some of my favorites last year were at f5.6 2.5 seconds iso100

After hosting an Assignment series on another site, it was agreed from looking at everyone's entries that using a tripod was almost mandatory for good results, even with DSLRs at higher iso settings.

You can try it either way and I'm not an expert, I'm just reporting the consensus of a diverse group of photographers with a wide range of cameras.
Use a tripod or you'll probably have very few keepers.