low lighting shots

[S2S2S2]

hi all,

visited singapore garden festival yesterday and found out i have very bad shots at low lighting area especially when object is moving.

basically my settings for my cam was f# lowest. ISO set to auto.

Wanted to capture the flower ladies that was moving around the fair..but my pictures always came out with double images or ghosting effect.

i tried both with or without flash..

without flash seems to be nicer IF object is really stationery.

with flash, i often get the ghosting effect.

Need help on this... very disappointed with my pictures lately

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

I guess it was dark. So at high ISO and large aperture, still not bright enough to allow fast shutter speed. You need a big burst of light (eg external flashgun) to provide enough lighting, so you can choose a higher shutter speed to 'freeze the action'.

hope that helps.

 

[S2S2S2]

Another question that pop up my mind.

Do you allow your camera to auto find the ISO or set it according to your experience?

i set it to auto because i do not want to go all the way to 3200 max.
if camera choose it will choose the lowest ISO enough to take the shot? am i right?

 

[arctos]

if camera choose it will choose the lowest ISO enough to take the shot? am i right?

I don't know about other cameras, but that's not true for mine. Ruined an early morning flower macro coz ISO was on auto, Av mode, and it took it at ISO800 (no prizes for guessing which system is noisy at ISO800. :sweat

I think the camera will try to balance aperture, shutter speed, and iso when set to auto, so the iso chosen may not be the "lowest iso enough to take the shot", unless you are in manual mode and fixed both aperture and shutter speed already. :dunno:

 

[mayhemics]

the quick answer is that you should go for a faster shutter, or use a flash if possible.

for iso, i usually set my own, unless it's a situation where i think the iso is gg to change a lot in a quick span of time. even so, i will cap the iso at the level my camera body is comfortable at.

finally, you can always buy a better body and lens, but that may be of limited help if you're still figuring out apert/shutter/iso.

 

[Numnumball]

Another question that pop up my mind.

Do you allow your camera to auto find the ISO or set it according to your experience?

Depends.. on ur workflow and the type of photography u r into..

See this is pretty much common for portraits/walk abt shoot etc..

Def not for macro/landscape work where we yearn for more control

No idea which system u are on.

For Nikon we can set it to ISO-AUTO in which we set the min shutter speed and the maz iso u allows the cam to decide certain parameters for u..

i set it to auto because i do not want to go all the way to 3200 max.
if camera choose it will choose the lowest ISO enough to take the shot? am i right?

U set it to auto, the more it will go to max... depending on the lighting available as well.. If u already max out ur aperture opening, use the lowest shutter speed u are comfortabe handholding..

Camera dun select iso in this manner... basically ur cam inbuilt light meter will determine whether to raise ur iso base on the light available and ur preset cam settings.. (f-stop, shutter duration etc..)

U need to fully understand the relationship between ISO, Aperture, Shutter duration and light intensity (in ur frame)

frame light intensity x aperture size x shutter duration x ISO = ur exposure

(more light in frame x large aperture size x long shutter duration) x high ISO = more exposure
(less light in frame x small aperture size x short shutter duration) x low ISO = less exposure

So meaning to say, u need to compensate one to make way for another (i.e. open up ur aperture, shutter unchanged, u have to pump up ur iso)

Hope that clarifies..

 

[JW73]

For human normal movement- u may need 1/50s to freeze.

So just play with your aperture and iso setting.I never set iso auto. Even the most expensive and advance camera cannot do it for you.You control the photo.

 

[S2S2S2]

mayhemics,

so your usual settings at night is Manual?
when you have high shutter speed, low F# and ISO depending on lighting?

hmmm... mine is always set to AV mode regardless day or night......probably thats why i cant control what i wanto take...
always have problems taking low lighting pictures

 

[S2S2S2]

thanks mate, numnum.

i am using a 500D with 18-55mm. your explaination clarifies alot.

I also realised some times when i shoot.. the F# sometime can go to 3.4 but some times stuck at 5.

Is this a normal?

 

[Numnumball]

I guess it was dark. So at high ISO and large aperture, still not bright enough to allow fast shutter speed. You need a big burst of light (eg external flashgun) to provide enough lighting, so you can choose a higher shutter speed to 'freeze the action'.

hope that helps.

Concur with ZCA here,

TS.. an external flashgun is essential, instaneous burst of light out of it (typically 1/1000-1/2000s) will freeze ur subjects but be mindful of not overdoing it.. and let it take control and kill off ur ambience (overpower), adjust ur shutter duration accordingly to ur light meter and get a gd flash diffuser for even, more flattering lighting on ur subjects

 

[Numnumball]

thanks mate, numnum.

i am using a 500D with 18-55mm. your explaination clarifies alot.

I also realised some times when i shoot.. the F# sometime can go to 3.4 but some times stuck at 5.

Is this a normal?

Yes it is...

Ur using 18-55mm in which i nt mistaken is f3.5-f5.6 in aperture size, meaning to say that its a variable aperture lens where its constructed in such a way that aperture is widest at the widest focal length (i.e.f3.5 @ 18mm) and the max aperture size will get smaller towards the longest focal length (i.e. f5.6 @ 55mm)

 

[aungzawwin]

mayhemics,
.......
hmmm... mine is always set to AV mode regardless day or night......probably thats why i cant control what i wanto take...
always have problems taking low lighting pictures

in Av mode, your flash only acts as a fill flash.. in your case, you might have needed the flash as a primary light source (in order to freeze the motion)..
the shutter speed would have been slower (despite of the flash) thaz why you were having motion blur (you expressed as ghosting effects) in your pictures..
with flash, i used to shoot in M mode when i was using Canon.. or purely "Auto"
by the way, this should be a good to read: http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/#faq7

 

[Diavonex]

hi all,

visited singapore garden festival yesterday and found out i have very bad shots at low lighting area especially when object is moving.

basically my settings for my cam was f# lowest. ISO set to auto.

Wanted to capture the flower ladies that was moving around the fair..but my pictures always came out with double images or ghosting effect.

i tried both with or without flash..

without flash seems to be nicer IF object is really stationery.

with flash, i often get the ghosting effect.

Need help on this... very disappointed with my pictures lately

A fast prime lens will help at the S'pore Garden Festival.

Shooting RAW and deliberately under-exposing will give you higher shutter speed.

 

[Reportage]

Dont worry, will get better with practice. Some pics taken while i was there but take note such events are not my cup of tea.

Singapore Garden Festival

Lv4 is bright enough for most cameras Auto settings but Lv6, need to really know what you want to do and just how well you know your camera settings.

 

[pasay]

thanks mate, numnum.

i am using a 500D with 18-55mm. your explaination clarifies alot.

I also realised some times when i shoot.. the F# sometime can go to 3.4 but some times stuck at 5.

Is this a normal?

you're using the kit lens 18-55mm f3.5-5.6? your f# can't possibly be 3.4 :bsmilie:

f3.5-5.6 means your f# varies with your focal length. at the widest (18mm) your lens can go as low as f3.5, but at its longest (55mm) your minimum goes up to f5.6. that's why those lenses with fixed f#'s like 70-200 f2.8 has such a high price tag.

 

[sherchoo]

I dun know about other cameras, but when mine is set to auto, the max it will go is ISO800. Of cos this can be adjusted in the settings. Just to share.

 

[magicianhisoka]

id recommend using the manual mode as well. aperture priority tends to use lower shutter speed.

 

[S2S2S2]

Thanks all for the advise...

 

[S2S2S2]

id recommend using the manual mode as well. aperture priority tends to use lower shutter speed.

Let say if i set to manual mode, which settings will you start on when adjusting to the situation?

what i mean is.. if its low lighting, do you first check on Aperture/Shutter speed first?
or its a simultaneous relationship..

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

if you need to react fast and you're not terribly confident of yourself, using manual mode can do more harm than good.
It gives you yet another variable to consider.

Why would manual mode be better in low light... ~shrug~
if you use aperture priority f/3.5 (fastest), and camera gives you 1/10s, what good would going to M mode and f/3.5 do?