Low light party with no flash? Your thoughts needed..

[MLeeK]

You can push your ISO further. NEVER underexpose in order to use a low ISO. You will have more noise issues than if you had properly exposed at the higher ISO. If you SLIGHTLY overexpose and reduce in post you will make noise in a high ISO image start to go away or disappear entirely. Expose to the point JUST before you would have a blow out that is unacceptable. Usually it's the point just before skin blows out, but if everyone is wearing white it's not so much...

 

[Nikon_Josh]

You can push your ISO further. NEVER underexpose in order to use a low ISO. You will have more noise issues than if you had properly exposed at the higher ISO. If you SLIGHTLY overexpose and reduce in post you will make noise in a high ISO image start to go away or disappear entirely. Expose to the point JUST before you would have a blow out that is unacceptable. Usually it's the point just before skin blows out, but if everyone is wearing white it's not so much...

Thank you very much for this advice, its very helpful!

I have noticed this at times, I can take a photo at ISO 200 and if it's underexposed alot of noise will be present. So this makes alot of sense! So going to ISO 3200 won't be a huge problem with my D90 if I expose slightly to the right?

 

[Derrel]

Shoot at f/2.5 to f/2.8, and in Continuous advance mode. If the speeds are slow, like 1/15 second or so, there will be motion blur on moving hands, faces,etc. One of the bigger sources of camera shake can be pressing the shutter, so shooting in Continuous advance allows you to shoot two, or three frames, with only one press of the shutter release. With lower image magnification, blur is not all that noticeable,so on shorter focal length lens shots from farther away, blur tends to be minimized, as compared with close-up, high-magnification shots.

 

[MLeeK]

You can push your ISO further. NEVER underexpose in order to use a low ISO. You will have more noise issues than if you had properly exposed at the higher ISO. If you SLIGHTLY overexpose and reduce in post you will make noise in a high ISO image start to go away or disappear entirely. Expose to the point JUST before you would have a blow out that is unacceptable. Usually it's the point just before skin blows out, but if everyone is wearing white it's not so much...

Thank you very much for this advice, its very helpful!

I have noticed this at times, I can take a photo at ISO 200 and if it's underexposed alot of noise will be present. So this makes alot of sense! So going to ISO 3200 won't be a huge problem with my D90 if I expose slightly to the right?

There will probably be SOME noise, but very easily removable in adobe camera raw or lightroom. Is that where the D90 maxes out? Play with it today. Shoot at your max ISO and overexpose a little. It doesn't have to be anything pretty or interesting. Just something to help you learn how to expose properly AND max your ISO.

 

[Nikon_Josh]

Well you can push it to emergency setting of ISO 6400. But yes, hopefullyu lightroom will clean the files up nicely!

Cheers Derrel, this is yet another extremely good bit of advice that I hadn;t even thought of. I now know how I need to go about this... thanks to all...

Wish me luck! :thumbup: