What ISO to use while shooting indoors under low lighting

[flying]

I'm using a D70s..

But I'm curious to find out what ISO you usually use to shoot indoors with low light conditions e.g clubs, ballrooms

 

[Splutter]

As a general rule of thumb, I shoot from iso400 onwards once indoor (with no natural lighting). However, for clubs, sometimes lighting conditions are so bad that you are forced to use iso1600 even at f2.8.

 

[doug3fflux]

familiarize with the place one is shooting in, say a ballroom. move around the ambient lights, take a few shots at varying ISOs, use the smallest ISO that can give one sufficient enough shutter speed..unless you like grain.

regards
Doug

 

[dragos]

i try not to go beyond 1600..

 

[n0d3]

i try not to go beyond 1600..

My max is 1600. :embrass:

So yeah, it depends on what the lighting/situation is, whether you have a flash on etc. ISO 400 is a good start though.

 

[taiwanapurasteve]

As a general rule of thumb, I shoot from iso400 onwards once indoor (with no natural lighting). However, for clubs, sometimes lighting conditions are so bad that you are forced to use iso1600 even at f2.8.

If you find it necessary to shoot at 1600 or 3200, you can always employ the help of Noise Ninja or Neat Image. Take your pick of noise reduction programs, they are all pretty competent programs. Generally most of the recent batch of DSLR's can produce a good looking 800 ISO image that doesn't require the use of a noise reduction program.

 

[ortega]

my max is ISO800 but only as a last resort. normally it is up to ISO640

 

[Witness]

doesnt this really depend on how low the lighting conditions are and how far u are to the subjects u wanna shoot even with flash.....

do ya calculations...or juz agar lo.....

cheers...

 

[obewan]

Shoot with a shuttle speed of 1/60s and try with ISO 400.
If it is too dark then adjust accordingly.
That's normally what I do.
And not forgetting, if can used flash, use flash loh... :bsmilie:

 

[flying]

i use a D70s and i try not to use the flash.

at shutter speed of 1/15-1/30 and ISO of 800, the pictures are actually quite grainy.. hmm.. any other settings that i should take note? hmm

 

[taiwanapurasteve]

i use a D70s and i try not to use the flash.

at shutter speed of 1/15-1/30 and ISO of 800, the pictures are actually quite grainy.. hmm.. any other settings that i should take note? hmm

If you can shoot in a raw mode, that may help as well.

 

[rebbot]

If you can shoot in a raw mode, that may help as well.

:think: hmmm does raw helps in reducing the noise compared to shooting jpeg at the same iso

 

[obewan]

i use a D70s and i try not to use the flash.

at shutter speed of 1/15-1/30 and ISO of 800, the pictures are actually quite grainy.. hmm.. any other settings that i should take note? hmm

Is your subject moving or static??
Since you can't up the ISO more than 800, your only choice is to shoot with a f2.8 or faster lens. But they don't come cheap, unless is the 50mm f1.8 prime lens. :bsmilie:

Other option is to use a noise reduction software such as Noise Ninja.

 

[Wai]

doesnt this really depend on how low the lighting conditions are and how far u are to the subjects u wanna shoot even with flash.....

do ya calculations...or juz agar lo.....

cheers...

also depends on the camera and how much ambient u want to capture...

 

[ckiang]

I used to limit myself to ISO 800. Now I use all the way up to ISO 1600 as I found that the noise is not objectionable. Coupled with a 50/1.4 or other fast lens, you can really do wonders.

Regards
CK

 

[+evenstar]

ISO 320 in hall with bounce flash, ISO 1000 without flash

 

[dawgbyte77]

:think: hmmm does raw helps in reducing the noise compared to shooting jpeg at the same iso

It can help lower noise indirectly by allowing you to shoot at lower ISO and then adjust the EV up to 2 stops using Nikon Capture. Although the workflow is discouraging.

 

[destiny_star]

i use a D70s and i try not to use the flash.

at shutter speed of 1/15-1/30 and ISO of 800, the pictures are actually quite grainy.. hmm.. any other settings that i should take note? hmm

Turn off ur NR, it'll make it slightly faster but on the expense of juz slightly more grains.. but if u're juz producing 4R size photos.. shooting at ISO 800 or ISO 1000 is certainly not a prob.. i've been there done that and it turns out very acceptable.. if u are still not satisfied with the output.. use neat image like one of the CSer mentioned..

Try using fast lens.. say f1.4, f1.8 or f2.8 if possible.. go borrow from frenz or watsoever esp if u're shooting a paid job coz u dun have much choices.. it certainly has a significant difference..

worse come to worse.. juz bring along a monopod if u dun feel comfortable shooting under low lighting... for ballrooms still ok.. but not for clubs... dun think there'll be enuf spaces for u..

 

[+evenstar]

Turn off ur NR, it'll make it slightly faster but on the expense of juz slightly more grains.. but if u're juz producing 4R size photos.. shooting at ISO 800 or ISO 1000 is certainly not a prob.. i've been there done that and it turns out very acceptable.. if u are still not satisfied with the output.. use neat image like one of the CSer mentioned..

Try using fast lens.. say f1.4, f1.8 or f2.8 if possible.. go borrow from frenz or watsoever esp if u're shooting a paid job coz u dun have much choices.. it certainly has a significant difference..

worse come to worse.. juz bring along a monopod if u dun feel comfortable shooting under low lighting... for ballrooms still ok.. but not for clubs... dun think there'll be enuf spaces for u..

NR function is only activated at shutter speeds <1/2s IIRC...

 

[destiny_star]

NR function is only activated at shutter speeds <1/2s IIRC...

ya i think u're right.. juz checked with frenz too.. Apology everyone.. :sweat:

But i ever shot a max of 3 sec in an indoor environment before.. but NR during then wasn't quite impt coz was playing with shutter speed for motion effect... ;p