Prime Lens Indoors (Wedding)
Discussion
Morning all,
I am off to a wedding tomorrow and keen to take my recently purchased 35mm prime. I dont want to be lugging around a lot of lenses and keen to try it out.
Any tips on how is best to get some nice portrait shots in darkish rooms?
I have read a few guides online but in worried about having too low an f stop (1.8) in case of too narrow a focus band, or too high an ISO, for the noise.
I am using a d40x which I appreciate is not the latest of cameras but it is more than capable than I am!
Any advice/examples would be greatly appreciated
I am off to a wedding tomorrow and keen to take my recently purchased 35mm prime. I dont want to be lugging around a lot of lenses and keen to try it out.
Any tips on how is best to get some nice portrait shots in darkish rooms?
I have read a few guides online but in worried about having too low an f stop (1.8) in case of too narrow a focus band, or too high an ISO, for the noise.
I am using a d40x which I appreciate is not the latest of cameras but it is more than capable than I am!
Any advice/examples would be greatly appreciated
It might be worth adding, I so far have found results with the lens a bit hit or miss. Either brilliantly sharp or totally out of focus.
I realise this is a common problem with prime in low light as there are so many similar posts online, but also realise it is the photographer at fault, not the lens!
I realise this is a common problem with prime in low light as there are so many similar posts online, but also realise it is the photographer at fault, not the lens!
All, thanks a lot for the replies, much appreciated.
I'm still a beginner in relative terms, tend to mostly use auto but have tinkered with the other settings, mainly shutter speed for nighttime pictures.
I bought the 35mm for these type of pictures and due to all the rave reviews. I read 50mm would be too long on the d40x. As long as my pictures are sharp I'll be happy. I'm not expecting miracles overnight.
I have never updated the software, must admit I didn't realise it was an option? I'll go have a look .
I'm still a beginner in relative terms, tend to mostly use auto but have tinkered with the other settings, mainly shutter speed for nighttime pictures.
I bought the 35mm for these type of pictures and due to all the rave reviews. I read 50mm would be too long on the d40x. As long as my pictures are sharp I'll be happy. I'm not expecting miracles overnight.
I have never updated the software, must admit I didn't realise it was an option? I'll go have a look .
I have also tried manual focus many times but I find it quite difficult to see how well focused the subject is through the view finder. A friend has live view on his camera and usually his pics are extremely sharp.
I'll have a good play around and see how it goes. Any higher than 800 iso And the outcome is very grainy
I'll have a good play around and see how it goes. Any higher than 800 iso And the outcome is very grainy
All, thanks again. All brilliant stuff.
Tony - apologies, yes manual setting I get you know.. Like the black and white idea!
K12 - yeah the nikon has the focus light, I don't find it overly brilliant though if I'm honest. It blinks, but never stays constant? Is that right.. Never realised such an adaptor existed so thanks for the tip! I'll have a look now.. Not keen on renting, the wedding is tomorrow and keen to learn my own camera.
Expat - that is just what I am hoping to achieve. Great shots!
Simpo - your first point is exactly why I'm finding it a bit hit and miss.. Hopefully it'll be a sunny day. And I'll get a good few shots outdoors
Thanks all
Tony - apologies, yes manual setting I get you know.. Like the black and white idea!
K12 - yeah the nikon has the focus light, I don't find it overly brilliant though if I'm honest. It blinks, but never stays constant? Is that right.. Never realised such an adaptor existed so thanks for the tip! I'll have a look now.. Not keen on renting, the wedding is tomorrow and keen to learn my own camera.
Expat - that is just what I am hoping to achieve. Great shots!
Simpo - your first point is exactly why I'm finding it a bit hit and miss.. Hopefully it'll be a sunny day. And I'll get a good few shots outdoors
Thanks all
akirk said:
Sadly you are not starting from a good place in terms of camera.
The lens is fine - there are plenty of pros who could use a 35mm very easily, no issues with that - and with the crop nature of the camera you have effectively the focal length roughly equivalent to normal eyesight, it will be fine, esp. for contextual / photo journalistic type shots...
The problem is the sensor quality of the camera, it is simply a bit old / poor for wedding photography. Whether in a church / reception, low light tends to be the norm and that sensor will not cope with it. if you can get hold of a flash then you can transform your abilities in the reception (flash in church not so ideal!)
most wedding pros now will deliberately shoot high iso - in the weddings / events I have done I have happily gone up to over 100,000 ISO in the right context - better to have a high ISO and a reasonable shutter speed, rather than out of focus images from a shutter speed that is too low...
to get the right image you need the right light level coming into the camera and in low light it is difficult to do that (even if shooting at 1.2 / 1.8 / 2.8) unless you can increase ISO... and the D40 is too old / poor - it also has the old style sensor before Nikon changed it, and it didn't cope with low light.
If you have any chance of borrowing a newer camera I would really recommend it / borrow a flash (read up on how to use it!) otherwise, still crank up the ISO - low quality from high iso is better than low quality from low shutter speed...
ref. flash - I mean separate flashgun - not the built in flash which is useless
Sorry I must have missed this earlier when typing a reply. Appreciate what you are saying. I'm reluctant to upgrade the body just yet as I still feel its way ahead of me, I'd like to gain a few more skills before laying out more money. The lens is fine - there are plenty of pros who could use a 35mm very easily, no issues with that - and with the crop nature of the camera you have effectively the focal length roughly equivalent to normal eyesight, it will be fine, esp. for contextual / photo journalistic type shots...
The problem is the sensor quality of the camera, it is simply a bit old / poor for wedding photography. Whether in a church / reception, low light tends to be the norm and that sensor will not cope with it. if you can get hold of a flash then you can transform your abilities in the reception (flash in church not so ideal!)
most wedding pros now will deliberately shoot high iso - in the weddings / events I have done I have happily gone up to over 100,000 ISO in the right context - better to have a high ISO and a reasonable shutter speed, rather than out of focus images from a shutter speed that is too low...
to get the right image you need the right light level coming into the camera and in low light it is difficult to do that (even if shooting at 1.2 / 1.8 / 2.8) unless you can increase ISO... and the D40 is too old / poor - it also has the old style sensor before Nikon changed it, and it didn't cope with low light.
If you have any chance of borrowing a newer camera I would really recommend it / borrow a flash (read up on how to use it!) otherwise, still crank up the ISO - low quality from high iso is better than low quality from low shutter speed...
ref. flash - I mean separate flashgun - not the built in flash which is useless
If it genuinely won't get any good pictures then fair enough, I will just plod away until I feel an upgrade is justifiable.
If I manage any good ones I'll post them up
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