Trying to capture low-light photos

[davideglasgow]

Just bought the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 for my Rebel XS. I love, love, love the image quality. However, shooting pictures in my house ("normal" lighting), I'm finding that to achieve a shutter speed of 1/60s or so, I still need to be at ISO1600 and f/2.8, which limits quality (noise) and depth of field. This means of course that my subject has to be still or blur occurs, something that can be tough with a 1-year old and 3-year old. Does this sound about right? Would a better body help or is it just a reality of light? If so, would an external flash help the situation (I hate the pop-up flash, hence the f/2.8 lens).

[bob williams]

Does this sound about right? Would a better body help or is it just a reality of light?

This is about right. Even at 2.8, low lighting is tough, IS helps, slow moving subjects helps. An external flash andinexpensive bounce modifier really is needed in many circumstances. One solution is to check out a coulpe of websites on "natural light photography"; there is some really good info out there by photographers who concentrate on low ligh/natural light photography. Maybe you can get some hints from them.


Hope this helps,


Bob

[Trowski]

I'm finding that to achieve a shutter speed of 1/60s or so, I still need to be at ISO1600 and f/2.8, which limits quality (noise) and depth of field.

1/60 @ f/2.8 ISO 1600 sounds about right for indoors with poor lighting (good indoor lighting is sort of an oxymoron). To get action stopping shutter speeds, especially if you want to use smaller apertures, you're probably going to have to use a flash or some other kind of lighting.

Would a better body help or is it just a reality of light?

Some bodies have better ISO performance. The Rebel XS is getting to be an older model, and new models like the Rebel T2i will have better performance at higher ISOs. The full-frame DSLRs are the best in high ISO, but are also quite expensive. In your situation, I think you would still benefit most from a flash. I'd recommend the Canon 430EX II. It's a very capable flash, having a nice set of features for the price. If you upgrade equipment someday, the 430EX II can be used as a slave flash in a multiple flash setup with some of Canon's more expensive flashes or bodies like the 60D or 7D. There's also a small instant rebate on the flash right now, so it's a good time to buy.


I would then recommend some kind of flash modifier as Bob mentioned, such as the Gary Fong collapsable flash diffuser (don't own one but have heard good things) or a small flash softbox to soften the light from the flash. At the very least a Sto-fen Omni-bouce, which will only cost about $10.

[neuroanatomist]

1/60 @ f/2.8 ISO 1600 sounds about right for indoors with poor lighting (good indoor lighting is sort of an oxymoron). To get action stopping shutter speeds, especially if you want to use smaller apertures, you're probably going to have to use a flash or some other kind of lighting.

Agreed - that's about right.IMO, f/2.8 is the about the smallest aperture usable for ambient light indoor photos, and that's on a body where ISO 1600 is acceptable (which it is on my 5DII, but only barely tolerable on my 7D). Realistically, to avoid using flash you need a prime lens - something like the EF 35mm f/1.4L or EF 35mm f/2 would do the trick, although you need to be aware that you're trading shutter speed for DoF (at 35mm f/2 on a crop body and 7.5 feet from your subject, you've got about 12" of DoF, enough for someone's head but maybe not a group portrait).

[neuroanatomist]

ISO1600...which limits quality (noise)

I should also add that post-processing can make a big difference there...I found that DxO does an excellent job at noise reduction, compared to DPP.





This set of shots is from a PowerShot S95, where ISO noise is a bigger problem.<span>This was shot at ISO 640 (the crop factor for the S95 is 4.6, so this is approximately equivalent to ISO 3200 on FF or ISO 2000 on a crop sensor).<span>





The improvement in noise is detectable even when looking at the whole image, and pretty evident when looking at the 100% crop of my daughter making friends with a Madagascar hissing cockroach. Sharpness is better with DxO, too. You can start to see the striations on the cockroach's antenna that are not evident in the DPP image.

[Jon Ruyle]

Would a better body help or is it just a reality of light?

Yes and yes. If you can live with a narrower DOF, a full frame body or a faster lens would allow a faster shutter speed. But if you are at a point where you don't want a narrower DOF and still have too much nose, you're sort of stuck. There do exist cameras with more sensitive CCDs than the rebel XS, but not drastically so- and even a 100% efficent CCD will can only do so much. If you want a large DOF and low noise, you simply need a lot of light. No way around it.

[tkerr]

An alternative to an external flash would be some extra lights. you can get some of those chrome Utility lights real cheap that you can clamp onto almost anything, and then use some of those energy efficient white florescent light bulbs which are rated at 5000k.