Canon 60d and lighting issue

[xstarx]

Hi guys, im not sure what im doing wrong or if its just how it is...
Anyway when i set my 60D with a 18-135mm lens to M mode and have the exp at 1/250 and iso raised ive noticed my pictures come out Really dark even in light that isnt excessively dim. The photos below are an example (excuse the bad shots i was just taking some quickly for an example. If the lighting id a little low the pictures often come up black!
After looking at the canon ixus exposure i can see its alot different, but with the 60D theres no way thats possible if i want a sharp image also, im just confused!!
P.S The lighting with the Canon IXUS is more how it looked when i took the shots
probably a very beginner problem lol

Photo 1
Canon 60D
f: 3.5
Exp: 1/250
Iso: 800
Exp bias: 0 step
Focal Length: 18mm
Metering mode: Partial


Photo 2
Canon ixus 125
F: 2.7
Exp 1/30
Iso: 300
Exp bias: 0 step
Focal length 4mm
Metering mode: Pattern

 

[o hey tyler]

Your point and shoot probably did everything for you. You'll notice in the shot data, that the exposure for the point and shoot is much different. There is a 5 stop difference in terms of light coming in through the lens. That's why the exposure is better on the point and shoot photo. If you set your camera to 1/100, f/3.5, ISO 1600, the photo should look better, and still be relatively sharp.

I can pretty much definitively say that the lighting conditions when you took the point and shoot photo, and when you took the photo with the 60D were entirely different as well.

1/250s is pretty fast for shooting indoors without flash. You are also limited by your f/3.5 maximum aperture. The other camera you had was equipped with a f/2.8 max aperture. I would suggest getting a 50mm f/1.4 if you're looking to shoot indoors regularly. Or a 35mm f/2 Non-IS (on the cheaps.)

 

[xstarx]

Heya thanks heaps, ile try to lower the shutter and see if ital still be sharp, im just glad theres nothing wrong with the camera as it just didnt make sense my cheap but still great IXUS could light things and still be super sharp when my 60D couldnt. The lighting though was very similar as taken in exactly the same spot probably a min between shots, the only difference is i may have been blocking some of the light when i leaned in with the 60D. Ile try the lower Exp tomorrow and will have a look for that lens =)

 

[pgriz]

You have a very sophisticated instrument in your hands. Let's use it. For starters, set a baseline: ISO 100, metering mode Evaluative. Next, put your camera in "P" mode. Aim your camera at the dog and half-press the shutter. Take a note at what the camera gave you as an exposure. It could have been f/3.5 and 1 sec. That tells you the light level is very low, it opened up your lens aperture to the max (f/3.5 in your case) to get as much light as possible, and it figured out that it would take 1 second to give you an adequate exposure. Now, 1 second is too slow for hand-held, and at f/3.5 you'll have a very "thin" DOF (Depth-of-field). So you have several choices: increase the amount of light (say, go to a brighter room), use supplemental light (pop up the flash), or change your camera settings to give you a decent exposure under the circumstances.

Let's assume you do the last. First, you don't want to allow motion blur to smear out the detail. The guideline is to use a shutter speed that is not less than the reciprocal of your focal length. If your focal lenth is 18mm, then the reciprocal is 1/18. The closest shutter speed to that is 1/20 sec. Since your camera is a crop camera, and the rule is for 35mm cameras, you adjust the focal length by the crop factor (1.6 in your case), and you have 28.8 (18mm x 1.6 crop factor). This is the equivalent angle of view your lens would have if it was mounted on a 35mm camera. The reciprocal shutter speed is therefore 1/30 (30 being the closest to 28.8). This little exercise told you that the slowest shutter speed you can use with 18mm focal length is 1/30 sec.

Now, 1/30sec. is 5 stops of light faster (dimmer) than 1 sec (1->1/2->1/4->1/8->1/15->1/30). So normally you'd open up your aperture by 5 stops to compensate. But you can't since your camera is already wide open. The only thing you can do is raise your ISO. Raising it 5 stops will get it to 3200 (100->200->400->800->1600->3200). This will give you an adequate exposure, but at the cost of high levels of noise in the image (compared to the ISO 100 noise levels).

What that is telling you is that the amount of light you have to work with is too low, and you need to get to a brighter area. So le't say you go to a room with a large window, and the dog is now in the sunbeam of the noon sun. Take a reading with your camera in P mode, and the exposure will look something like 1/500 at f/8 (ISO 100). OK, so now your shutter speed is much above 1/30 sec, and your aperture is f/8, giving you pretty good depth of field. Excellent! But maybe the light looks too harsh (direct sunlight makes very hard shadows), and you want to have a more pleasing appearance - so move the dog to the back of the room away from the direct sunlight. If you take an exposure reading, it may work out to something like 1/30 at f/8 (ISO 100). OK, the shutter speed is at the minimum for hand-held at 18mm, so we're still OK, and the f/8 aperture gives you some good depth of field. The ISO 100 setting will give you the least amount of noise in the image. So, assuming you're focusing carefully, and you hold the camera very still, you'll get a sharp, well-exposed, low-noise image.

The lesson here is to choose a location with "good" light - where there is enough of it, and the overall light distribution is pleasing. Then your camera can produce good images. If you're shooting under dim light, you can still get good exposures, but the camera (or you) will have to make compromises to get the exposure.

 

[curtyoungblood]

It sounds like you are just now making the transition to a DSLR and that is awesome. Congrats. However it is a much more complicated tool than your point and shoot. Are you aware that your 60D has a light meter built in to help you with exposure? Your other camera isn't sharp because the shutter speed is too low (sounds like you figured that out already), but you can't just set your shutter speed wherever you want it and have the photos come out right. Shutter speed, aperture and iso are functions of how much light is available and that is measured with the in camera meter. There's a line of bars on the bottom or side of the view finder, and one bar blinks and moves around. Change your settings until it is in the middle and the take a photo.

 

[bigal1000]

Put the 60d in P mode and pop the flash up till you learn more about the camera and how it works.

 

[o hey tyler]

Heya thanks heaps, ile try to lower the shutter and see if ital still be sharp, im just glad theres nothing wrong with the camera as it just didnt make sense my cheap but still great IXUS could light things and still be super sharp when my 60D couldnt. The lighting though was very similar as taken in exactly the same spot probably a min between shots, the only difference is i may have been blocking some of the light when i leaned in with the 60D. Ile try the lower Exp tomorrow and will have a look for that lens =)

the IXUS and the 60D do not "light" anything. They expose. You had two drastically different exposures, to the tune of five stops total. That's a HUGE difference in terms of image output.

YOU need to see the light when taking photos and create additional light if you can't expose the image properly. The camera will not do that for you unless you use flash.