How to take good night photos ?

Even on a tripod, (especially on a tripod?) it will help if you know how to lock your mirror up and use the self timer (or a remote, if you have one). Most consumer tripods just are not heavy enough to prevent the movement associated with those two actions.

Also, learn to read your histogram for photos, it is the best way to set an ideal exposure. In brief, you don't want it to run off the graph to either side, and the peak should just touch or slightly run-off the top of the graph (night, city lights).

For long exposures, look for noise tests done with your camera and find the ideal iso settings. And, even if you don't fully understand why at the time, take one shot (same exposure time) with the lens cap on and the lens covered (in the camera case works) to prevent all light from hitting the lens, or the eyepiece. Do this both before and after shooting a series of long exposures. If needed, these can be very helpful in removing "noise" from your pictures. Without a "dark frame", it is a more difficult.

I found the lighting to be very different from one site to the next. Good environment to bracket your exposure settings (take enough memory card capacity).

I agree with the first poster. I have an F10. It has a larger sensor (1/1.7") than most compact digital cameras (1/2.5") which helps it collect more light. Just make sure you buy a camera that can take pictures up to at least 15 seconds long. A tripod is nice, but any stationary object (like a table) will do. By the way, if you're budget allows, SLRs have even larger sensors. Just be careful not to get one with too many pixels, because the pixels will be smaller and not collect as much light.

With a tripod. Tripod your camera. Compose the shot and see if the camera will autofocus. Some autofocus just won't work at night. Strangely though, compact cameras focus better in the dark. Manually focus if you have to. Set to Aperture Priority and set your aperture of choice. It's best to trigger your camera with the self timer or a remote. http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinspooner_luton/5...

Or hand-held with a large aperture and a steady hand. Use ISO800 or higher if your camera is better than mine. Set aperture to the largest aperture, the lowest number. http://www.flickr.com/photos/martin-spooner/468822...

Or all auto settings and a flash. Objects have to be in range of the flash. http://www.flickr.com/photos/martin-spooner/481663...

How to take good night photos ?

depends what you want to shoot...

light trails or lit up buildings or something else...

different ones require different equipment...