hopefully someones still up

were the photos better sparkie or the same sparkie. i really tried to use your advice of zoom in lock on and then zoom out frame shot and take it. im going to try the lock in exposure thing tomorrow and zoom out and take the shot.

They are better but like Don said you have some blown highlights.You need to compensate using the Av button to increase or decrease the exposure.

Frank

Millz ... on this ISO question ... think of your camera's sensor like it was film. Back in the good ol' days, ASA-400 film was typically the film people used for indoor shooting. Slower speed film, like ASA-100 was used outdoors, where the light was obviously brighter.

ISO works like that ... it basically tells your camera's sensor how hard to work to gather light by electronically charging up the CMOS or CCD. The higher the ISO ... the more the charge, until the camera is, literally, "cooking" at ISO-6400. It'll take ANYTHING as light, hence the electronic noise that gets created at these higher ISOs.

Anyway ... a good, average setting for ISO is around 400. The camera basically works just fine in this region, given typical daylight, outdoors ... if you sense you are fighting the light a little too much with tight aperture or higher speeds, drop it down to ISO 100.

You really don't mess with the ISO ... until light gets really hard too find. Them, you ramp it up accordingly. The better idea, is to use a flash device, but you don't always have that option.

Once you get past the ISO-1600 setting ... you are inviting degraded images to be created. The electronic sensor noise starts to creep in, in an effort to gain more light, where there usually is none, and begins to "fleckle" (my own word) your images. You will see this noise as purple, green, yellow flecks and clumps in your darker areas. The sensor is trying desperately to "fill-in" these voids of light. You will also see it in expanses of uniform color, like a wall. Believe me, it is rarely pretty.

The best way to see this for yourself is to turn on the light, in a room, then:

1. set the camera to manual mode
2. wide open aperture of the lens (f/2.8 or f/4 or whatever)
3. shutter speed to a reasonable 1/15
4. ISO set to 400
5. take an image of the wall
6. ISO set to 800
7. take an image of the wall
8. ISO set to 1600
9. take an image of the wall
10. ISO set to 3200
11. take an image of the wall
12. ISO set to 6400 (if you have it)
13. take an image of the wall

You really should see the wall brightening, but the image getting very "fleckled."

Now, there are times where you will sacrifice IQ (Image Quality) for just getting an image of something. People usually understand this kind of "strained" shot, under less than ideal circumstances. Just remember, if your ISO is higher than 1600 ... you are in crappy territory for proper imaging, despite what anyone thinks. :o

One other aspect of higher ISO, that people tend to overlook ... if you actually have a lot of light, that will reduce the electronic noise on the sensor. It loves to fill in voids, but has difficulty replacing real light. So, there is that, too.

Outdoors, you can set to ISO-3200 ... and get the super fast shutter speeds (1/500 - 1/8000 sec) working for you, which comes in handy with action shots, where you just want to "FREEZE" THE ACTION. Basically, metering is your key. It is based on all three aspects ... Aperture, Shutter-speed & ISO. Get the exposure correct ... and then (everybody ...),

"GET THE SHOT!"

Quote:

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Originally Posted by millz

...this is kinda what i tried to do with the small exception off holding the exposure button. I took sparkies advice and zoomed in on the subject then zoomed out to take the shot ............

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The purpose of zooming in is to fill the frame with the subject and in doing so exclude the background. The meter can now only "see" the subject and the esposure will be correct, but if you don't press the AE lock button before you zoom out the "correct" setting is lost and you are back to square one.

set the camera to manual mode
wide open aperture of the lens (f/2.8 or f/4 or whatever)
shutter speed to a reasonable 1/15
ISO set to 400
take an image of the wall
ISO set to 800
take an image of the wall
ISO set to 1600
take an image of the wall
ISO set to 3200
take an image of the wall
ISO set to 6400 (if you have it)
take an image of the wall

ty all again, Don i did this yesterday, I sat down and took images of a shop at all the different iso numbers once i got to 3200 you couldnt even see the shop just a blob of whight light. im getting this it will just take some time. today i will work on zooming in locking on the shot press the ae button to lock exposure then zoom out and grab ther shot filling the frame. Remember that is why im asking this stuff to learn i just cant think of stuff to ask until I screw up.

ONE OTHER QUESTION. Say im using my 50 mm lens which obviously you cant zoom in or out how do i key on the subject and not blow the exposure....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by millz

ONE OTHER QUESTION. Say im using my 50 mm lens which obviously you cant zoom in or out how do i key on the subject and not blow the exposure....

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Answer: Spot metering. This goes for a certain spot, in the center. The idea being to properly expose "for the subject" and nothing else.


Okay, as far as the ISO goes ... you could now can try a dynamic adjustment, using all three parts of the exposure control ... to main an identical exposure value (EV) with your metering.

Indoors, lights up as bright as it will go, using a tripod (unless you have become very, very good at holding steady) ...

Start off with
Aperture =t f/5.6
Shutter speed = 1 sec
ISO = 400

Next
Aperture = f/8
Shutter speed = 1 sec
ISO = 800

Next
Aperture = f/8
Shutter speed = 0.5 sec
ISO =1600

Next
Aperture = f/11
Shutter speed = 0.5 sec
ISO =3200

By making these setting changes, you have effectively maintained the exposure value (EV), yet have ramped up the ISO. That should depict the change in Image Quality (IQ) pretty well. Inspect the ISO-3200 shot, on the computer ... next to the 400 shot. It should reveal the issue. ;)

I have found that a shutter-speed of 1-second is the most reliable shutter speed to get enough light to have decent indoor image, without a flash. The only problem then is ... keeping the camera steady ...and stopping all the movement. Obviously, most of the time, that is rare ... unless you are doing still shots of inanimate objects.


If you ever have a chance to work with "hot lights", you will find that living under 300 Watts is pretty intense. Unfortunately, with the limitations of a camera ... that is precisely what the Tungsten light intensity would have to be to get the shutter speed up up to a reasonable level to stop motion. "Welcome to my world!" as they say. So, we either have a short duration intense burst of light (aka "flash") or you live with operating under the "hot lights."

The problem is motion. If things didn't move ... well, you can figure it out.

alright Don,,,remember when i first came on here i said treat as if i were an idiot,,lol dont give me to much info lol, i can only digest so much. I will work on the things discussed today. zoom in lock on target hit av exposure button zoom out to frame and GET THE SHOT. of to do my homework will check back in tonight.

Fair enough ... this is a casual observation, anyway ... just shooting and inspecting the results, without the added pressure of a subject waiting on you. You control everything.

If possible, it would be a lot easier if we spoke the same language, which means you need to define a few terms for yourself. Get a copy of Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson (<-click here) and begin to read and understand the terms being used. Call it: "Photography Homework for the unexposed."

Hey Millz, aren't you on vacation? If so, do not forget the first rule, the PRIME OBJECTIVE (planting a seed for a star trek theme) HAVE FUN!!
Lots of good advice in this thread from everyone, I thank you also. Lots of people and forums suggest the exposure book by Peterson, I have been thinking about buying it, has anyone read his newer one on shutter speed? And has anyone seen Light: science and magic, an introduction to photographic lighting?

i will pick up the book when i get home not much interesting shots today just family stuff.so no posts of pics but i will return tomorrow to put more on.