Tips on Low Light?

rateeg · Jan 6, 2011

I went to an huge aquarium here in melbourne and it was really dark inside and only the aquariums are lit.
The problem was every photo i took was low in ISO and very dark, im using a 50mm 1.8 and 18-55mm kit lens.

I used M setting tried adjusting everything from apperture, shutter speed, ISO, exposure etc.

Any tips on low light environment?

Rob1n · Jan 6, 2011

Use your 50 1.8 near the f2 which allows much more light to enter the camera. Push your iso to a higher number, this will reduce quality but will allow you to use faster shutter speeds. Use aperture priority to keep things simple and remember to shoot raw so you can correct colour in your raw conversion software. Never shoot jpg in an aquarium the colour of light changes so dramatically you will never get it right. good luck

Rob1n · Jan 6, 2011

p.s sorry about the cricket

rateeg · Jan 6, 2011

Thanks for the tip.

Isn't it that if you put your ISO into a higher number the photo will become grainy?

Rob1n · Jan 6, 2011

It is true but its better to have some grain than blurred images due to a slow shutter speed. Good photography is about balancing all these things to create to feel you want. It is possible to use flash but it gets tricky trying to avoid reflections on the glass.

Boomn4x4 · Jan 6, 2011

rateeg said:
Isn't it that if you put your ISO into a higher number the photo will become grainy?

Grain can be fixed in a computer, motion blur cannot. There are a multitude of software programs available that can considerably correct for image noise (grain). As mentioned, shooting in RAW will be your best friend. Focus on getting a good exposure, then fix the minor flaws once you get home on your computer.