Taking ligthning pictures is a matter of patience. During night it might be possible the use open shutter position of your camera. My recent pictures are taken during day time. Shutter time used was around 1/30s and focal length 18mm f/3.5. ISO was automatic and between 200 and 1000 depending sky. Using manual settings for focussing and all other aspect automated I was able to take up to 5 pictures continiously everytime the camera was loaded from previous shoots.
About 5 pictures out of 500 did results in a ligthning picture which was usefull.
