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Shooting in low light

braveheart
06/14/05 2:46 AM GMT
I notice when shooting in low light ie. indoors, cloudy day etc, i lose detail on my images. whats the best solution for this problem?
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+Samatar
06/14/05 3:29 AM GMT
Your photos may be blurring due to the fact that the shutter is having to stay open longer to allow enough light through. If you use a tripod you will get sharper detail.
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-Everyone is entitled to my opinion- Visit the new improved rescope.com.au
stuffnstuff
06/24/05 6:05 AM GMT
What kind of camera are you using?

The current one that I am shooting with has a little chip that makes it nearly impossible to not get enough light. Apart from the shutter, it tends to destroy the images through ISO and probably just adds a brightness filter too. Working around it is a challenege that can even be fun, but my worst fear is that I have learned to use it as a crutch. Keeping those "smart" cameras on a leash is important. If you do have a tripod set up, try to adjust your ISO lower and set the shutter to be open even longer. If not, just shoot like normal and be motion-conscious.

Let me know if this helped at all.
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-those who hit rock bottom are too concerned with self pity to realize that they are lying on an anvil- Psalm 66:10, Job 10:8
+ppigeon
06/29/05 6:38 AM GMT
Agree with stuffnstuff. Many "bridges" (not SLR cams) get many 'noise' when you are working with high iso (400 iso or higher) adjustment. You've to fix a lower iso (if you can: 100 or 200 max) and to use a tripod.
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-Pierre-
stuffnstuff
06/29/05 3:20 PM GMT
I know it is cheap sounding, but my camera has internal filters for monochrome and sepia. Sometimes they just look all-around improved when I am trying to capture lighting conditions because you don't have to worry about color as much. Also, next time you are using a tripod, play around with the depth of field. Yesterday, I took the same shot at f/1.8 and f/10, and it was fun to see the differences.
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-those who hit rock bottom are too concerned with self pity to realize that they are lying on an anvil- Psalm 66:10, Job 10:8
NeseWolfChild
07/27/05 3:33 AM GMT
I need a tripod. gah you all are right. thanks good reading material. I will check back often. Thanks Braveheart.
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stuffnstuff
07/27/05 6:48 PM GMT
My mom's camera, an average point-and-shoot that has aged a couple of years, has an A/S/M mode. When I turn that on, it makes 100 ISO the priority (reducing noise as much as possible). On the other hand, the camera's biggest feature is what they call a super bright lens. Rating in at f/1.8-2.6, I agree. It may be harder getting enough light in on different cameras. Just make sure that you are zoomed all the way wide when shooting in these conditions.

On the other hand, some time set those built in filters to black-and-white and turn the ISO as high as it can go. Take pictures of people you know outdoors at night in low level lighting (sitting beside a pool, getting into a car in a parking lot, just palces where there is light, but it isn't day). This combination provides an interesting illusion for a type of old fashion portrait, but make sure that the camera knows the light level should be low. Adjusting the EV (or the equivalent in stops) down a notch or three should make these pictures just peachy. Just remember that by creating this filter-liek effect straight from your camera, you can't undo it in photo editing later.
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-those who hit rock bottom are too concerned with self pity to realize that they are lying on an anvil- Psalm 66:10, Job 10:8
Godschild
08/11/05 12:35 AM GMT
i know that what i am about to post is kinda offsubject, but since your talking about cameras here i go. i have a pocket DV camera/camcorder/mp3 player/audio recorder that i can hook up to a tv or computer. anyway, how can i take good pictures that won't get all pixely when i enlarge them?
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::stuffnstuff
08/11/05 1:57 PM GMT
Enlarging is always tough, and low light makes that worse. I don't know a lot about that particular type of camera, but if it has an ISO setting, keep it as low as you can bear. Also, use as much optical zoom as you have. It is tough to enlarge a picture already stretched by digital zoom and expect good results. Get closer to your subject instead of using digital zoom. Anything I missed?
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-those who hit rock bottom are too concerned with self pity to realize that they are lying on an anvil- Psalm 66:10, Job 10:8
Godschild
08/11/05 5:13 PM GMT
thankyou so much. what is ISO? yeah i know, i'm slow. i've only had this camera for a little over a month
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MiLo_Anderson
08/11/05 5:31 PM GMT
It is a rating that dates back to film. It is basicly how sensitive the film was to light, so translated to digital it is how sensitive your sensor is to light. What this does is if there is alittle bit of light a high iso will bring that out and make the picture brighter. By doing this you are going to get noise, esspecally in the dark spots. I'm not sure if you are going to have the option of controlling it or not with your camera, but if you do it would probably be in the menu someplace. Check out your manual to see if you can find anything there.
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"A piece of toast with butter always lands butter side down, and a cat always lands on its feet. What happens if a piece of toast is tied butter side down to the back of falling cat? Does it hover above the ground in perpetual indecision?"
Godschild
08/11/05 9:46 PM GMT
thankyou!
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prismmagic
08/12/05 5:03 AM GMT
I found this a while back while researching info for a site that I plan on building for graphics artist and photographers to sell their work on. I will be including self help topics like this one for people who need a little advice. I re-structured it a little for my uses.

So here's ISO in a nut shell.

The acronym ISO refers to the International Standards Organization, which among other functions sets some standards for photography. When we talk about a camera's ISO settings, we're talking about ways to adjust how sensitive the camera is to light.

A digital camera's ISO rating corresponds to the speed ratings for 35mm film: A low number, such as ISO 100, is "slow," or relatively insensitive to light; a high number, such as ISO 400, is fairly sensitive. Every time you double the ISO, you halve the amount of light needed to properly expose a picture--and vice versa.

Unlike film cameras in which you must set the camera to correspond with the film's rating, the ISO of digital cameras is adjustable on the fly. To ensure plenty of flexibility, shop for a camera that has a good range: ISO 100 to 400 is typical in an affordable point-and shoot, and more expensive cameras allow you to use higher settings. Generally, you want to shoot with a low ISO because it results in a sharper picture with less digital noise; but a high ISO is handy for taking pictures at night and in the dark. If you want to do a lot of low-light photography, it's a good idea to look for a camera that has a wider ISO range. But as I mentioned, expect a significant amount of digital noise at ISO settings above 400.



The specified process conditions for determining ISO speed are defined for repeatability and standardization, but may not be representative of the process conditions commonly used in the trade. This is especially true of black-and-white films because of the diversity of developers available.


Standard film speed determination is usually based upon a set of specifically defined criteria. Those criteria may not always be consistent with optimum quality or best practices for a given photographic system or common application. There are several circumstances where this may apply:


Some color negative films with soft tones may meet the defined criteria of beginning to record detail at a given ISO rating. However, because of the lower contrast associated with the soft tone, many customers may prefer a lower speed rating to move exposures up off the tone. An example of this is that many photographers choose to expose KODAK VERICOLOR III Professional Film, Type S, at an EI of 125 rather than the ISO rating of 160.


With some consumer color negative films, the speed rating is adjusted to maximize picture yield. Many films for consumer use have extensive overexposure latitude and more limited underexposure latitude. Some applications, such as with KODAK One-Time-Use Cameras may make use of EI to bias exposures in the overexposure direction to give more protection from underexposure and enable capturing a wider variety of scenes.


With color reversal films, the situation is more complex. Because the exposure latitude for these films is relatively narrow, exposure factors such as scene content, lighting, accuracy of shutters, and apertures, etc., make testing under specific conditions of use desirable to establish an Exposure Index that provides the most accurate exposures under those conditions. Also, scene content and personal preference may result in adjustment of the EI. A photographer may prefer the density and color saturation produced with slight underexposure. Conversely, there may be a preference for slight overexposure to produce the brightest and cleanest highlights in a scene.
Kodak color reversal films may have either an ISO rating or an EI rating. Usually the latter is used where an adjusted speed better reflects the prevailing use of the product.

With black-and-white films there is a wide range of possible film and developer combinations. The choice of developers can be a significant factor in what film rating should be used. Accordingly, an EI is used to reflect the speed obtained with that developer.
As with other film types, EIs are used for push processing. Sometimes photographers may change speed ratings for part of a roll due to changing working conditions. Under such practices, the film would usually be processed for the highest EI used.

With more specialized products, there may also be additional reasons to adjust film speed as an EI rather than ISO. With infrared film, for instance, there is a very poor correlation between the visible light metered and the infrared being recorded, so a wide variety of EI speeds might apply depending upon working circumstances. More commonly, variable speed products or products designed to be push processed to a specific speed will also bear an EI speed rather than an ISO speed.


Some lab films and other specialty products may not be given an ISO or EI speed. This can be due to a number of circumstances. For instance, lab film exposures are usually determined through testing and not metered by "speed." In fact, other criteria are more important than speed, so speed may be allowed to vary more than would be the case for a normal camera film. Similarly, the conditions of use for some more specialized products make testing highly desirable rather than reliance on a film speed determined under a specific set of conditions. For example, the relative levels or Red, Green, and Blue light output or the specific wavelengths of light used may define the real working speed for a specific film writer with KODAK Electronic Output Film.
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+ppigeon
08/12/05 5:56 AM GMT
Wow! Thanks Professor Prismmagic! ;-)
Excellent explanations.
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-pierre-

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