D70s Indoor shots


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qing02051981

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Dec 25, 2005
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Hi,

I am facing some problem with my D70s after using for almost a month now. I realised that for indoor shots, I often had to use the widest aperture F4.5 and a relatively slow shutter speed of around 1/10. The problem is my pictures often get blurred because the shutter speed is too slow. I do not wish to use a tripod for indoor neither to whip up my ISO 200 because the lightings inside the building seems bright enough. Is this a nature of the D70s with the Kit lens?

The places I meant indoor are like inside esplanade, shopping centres etc..
 

qing02051981 said:
Hi,

I am facing some problem with my D70s after using for almost a month now. I realised that for indoor shots, I often had to use the widest aperture F4.5 and a relatively slow shutter speed of around 1/10. The problem is my pictures often get blurred because the shutter speed is too slow. I do not wish to use a tripod for indoor neither to whip up my ISO 200 because the lightings inside the building seems bright enough. Is this a nature of the D70s with the Kit lens?

The places I meant indoor are like inside esplanade, shopping centres etc..

I think you will need a flash to go with it (for portraits) if you are taking indoors. I do not understand why the reluctancy to increase the ISO to about 400. Also, always remember the 1/ focal length rule.
 

qing02051981 said:
Hi,

I am facing some problem with my D70s after using for almost a month now. I realised that for indoor shots, I often had to use the widest aperture F4.5 and a relatively slow shutter speed of around 1/10. The problem is my pictures often get blurred because the shutter speed is too slow. I do not wish to use a tripod for indoor neither to whip up my ISO 200 because the lightings inside the building seems bright enough. Is this a nature of the D70s with the Kit lens?

The places I meant indoor are like inside esplanade, shopping centres etc..
1. Use flash. recommend ISO 400, around f5.6
2. shoot available light, up your ISO to 800 or higher, you want no subject movement and handshake, speed 125s

Don't fool by your eyes that indoor seems bright enough.
 

Juz sensitive to grainy images so I hesitate to increase the ISO. I did not use the inbuilt speedlight because the light bounces back as I was like only few metres away from the subject.

By the way, I read the manual but cannot find how to read the focal length. Is the readings on the lens or inside the viewfinder?
 

catchlights said:
1. Use flash. recommend ISO 400, around f5.6
2. shoot available light, up your ISO to 800 or higher, you want no subject movement and handshake, speed 125s

Don't fool by your eyes that indoor seems bright enough.

Oh I see. I will try with ISO 400 for indoor shots next time so I can use a faster shutter speed. Is the speedlight good enough or need those external flash units?
 

qing02051981 said:
Oh I see. I will try with ISO 400 for indoor shots next time so I can use a faster shutter speed. Is the speedlight good enough or need those external flash units?
Built in flash or hotshoe flash, it depend what are you shooting, of course hotshoe light is more powerful and versatile.


To shoot with indoor available light, grainy or blur picture, which one bother you more? You can only have one.
 

To shoot indoors with ambient light you need fast lenses, with wide apertures starting at f2.8 and below. The kit lens will not do. You'll rarely have enough light to handhold your shots even with all the lights turned on at f4.5 if you want sharp/low noise images.

Using flash helps, but that takes some skill not to get blown out results. Built-in flash is good for fill-flash work outdoors but little else. You're gonna have to compromise if you want to use it indoors.

My advice, if you're serious about low-light photography, get a fast lens. Can start out with a 50mm f/1.8 if $$'s an issue. You can try increasing the ISO but I don't find it particularly helpful unless you have a fast lens to complement it.

And there's nothing wrong with your equipment. Just that you're expecting more than what you current set-up can deliver.
 

qing02051981 said:
Juz sensitive to grainy images so I hesitate to increase the ISO. I did not use the inbuilt speedlight because the light bounces back as I was like only few metres away from the subject.

By the way, I read the manual but cannot find how to read the focal length. Is the readings on the lens or inside the viewfinder?

Hi,

It isnt stated in the manual. Its just a rule. In order not to get blur picture (handshake), your shutter speed should always be 1/focal length.

Just in case you don't understand what focal length is, your kit lens should be 18-70mm. E.g. if you are shooting at full zoom (70mm), 1/focal length means your shutter speed should at least be 1/125 (70 x 1.6 crop factor) in order not to get blurry pix.

Cheers
 

catchlights said:
1. Use flash. recommend ISO 400, around f5.6
2. shoot available light, up your ISO to 800 or higher, you want no subject movement and handshake, speed 125s

Don't fool by your eyes that indoor seems bright enough.

Yup! Don't fool by your eyes. Why? Slide film or CCD can only record 5 stops of toner range ranging from -2.5 stops to + 2.5 stops in exposure value. But a human eye can detects light in almost 20 stops. Don't no true or false?:dunno: Amazing right?:bigeyes:
 

Ambience light has its own special place in photography. If you ae on a tight budget to start with, the 50mm F1.8 is a nobrainer. However, if you could stretch a little, the 35mm F2 is a better choice in a small-to-medium sized apartment.

Having said that, do save up for the SB600/SB800 has it will come in handy someday.

Happy New Year!
 

The bluriness is a result of a combination of factors. I assume you're using the 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens.

This means that if you shoot at the widest end of the lens (ie. 18mm), your maximum (widest) aperture is f/3.5. As you continue to 'zoom in' or move towards the telephoto end (ie. 70mm), your widest aperture is now reduced to f/5.6. As you're zooming from 18mm to 70mm, your aperture gets progressively smaller and limits the amount of light reaching the sensor.


Compounding that issue is the fact that as you zoom in, your focal length is increasing. As mentioned by others, it is recommended to maintain your shutter speed at at least (1/focal length) seconds to avoid camera shake. To find out what focal length you used for your photo, check the EXIF information by going to the 'Properties' of the image, and view the advanced information.

It is possible to train a stable hand, but to start off with, shoot at at least 1/18 seconds when your focal length is 18mm, and at 1/70 seconds at 70mm. If you want to be extra safe, try the 1/(focal length X crop factor) rule instead. The crop factor of the D70 is 1.5. So you will need at least 1/(18mm X 1.5) = 1/27 seconds when shooting at 18mm.

There's a breathing technique which is familiar with rifle firers that's applicable to low-light photography. Do feel free to check my night photography tutorial if interested.

I understand your concern about grain, and even I was once most discerning. But nowadays I will bump the ISO to 400 without thinking, if it is necessary. In most cases I won't even hesitate to use ISO 800. Images are still usable at ISO 1600.

If you want to perform natural light photography handheld, and without buying another lens, higher ISO is a good possibility. Either that, or avoid using longer focal lengths. Instead of zooming in, move closer to the subject. Keep your lens at the widest end (18mm) whenever possible.
 

The focal length is displayed on the lens barrel. 18 24 35 50 etc.

You can't always have everything the way you want it :p
Assuming the lighting is constant, you have the following options:
1. use a larger aperture (either zoom out [kit lens is f/3.5 at 18mm] or get another lens [e.g. the 50/1.8 suggested])
2. use flash

Otherwise, using a tripod or increasing the ISO are the alternatives. Or you can go to a brighter location?
 

use flash for almost all indoor and most outdoor shots.

jack up ur iso to 400, its only a little noiser thn 200 and can be easily cleaned in nikon capture or fotoshop
 

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