What ISO setting to use indoors?

[Z-man]

I am a novice to the Digital SLR world. I have been expierementing with different things and have a few questions.

Although I have an SB800, it can be a pain to get out and use to take a couple of snap shots of family indoors. What kind of tricks can I use to make the onboard flash work better?

What about not using a flash? if I change the ISO setting to a higher sensitivity, say 320, can I get by without a flash? Or, if I use the onboard flash, does a higher setting improve the performance or simply allow me to shoot a faster shutter speed. Right now I am using just the Auto and Program modes until I learn more.

According to a digital SLR book I am reading, digital SLR are supposed to do better in low light than standard point and shoot digitals. I am seeing a different result. The digital SLR seems to be less forgiving in low light that say a point and shoot Olympus C50 camera. Is this due to the fact the Olympus is shooting at a much higher ISO sensitivity?

[Greg B]

z-man

Firstly, you need to be getting that SB800 out. No point spending all that money and not using it. (Sorry to sound like your wife )

Secondly, ISO is a trade off, higher ISO = more sensitivity + lower light photography, but you get more noise (the grainy look, particularly noticeable on areas without much detail). You can reduce noise in PP, but the less noise you have the better.

Thirdly, low light can also mean low contrast (not always, but sometimes) which can lead to flat images unkless you are specifically aiming for a certain effect.

Fourthly, see firstly. Get that SB800 out!!!

[birddog114]

z-man,
Please check its expiry date our use by date stamp/ sticker outside the original carton.

[the foto fanatic]

Although I have an SB800, it can be a pain to get out and use to take a couple of snap shots of family indoors. What kind of tricks can I use to make the onboard flash work better?

What about not using a flash? if I change the ISO setting to a higher sensitivity, say 320, can I get by without a flash? Or, if I use the onboard flash, does a higher setting improve the performance or simply allow me to shoot a faster shutter speed. Right now I am using just the Auto and Program modes until I learn more.

According to a digital SLR book I am reading, digital SLR are supposed to do better in low light than standard point and shoot digitals. I am seeing a different result. The digital SLR seems to be less forgiving in low light that say a point and shoot Olympus C50 camera. Is this due to the fact the Olympus is shooting at a much higher ISO sensitivity?

Well, there are a few questions, so here goes.

For snapshots of family indoors, I think flash gives better results. Try bouncing the flash off a white ceiling or wall if possible. This reduces those harsh shadows you see from direct flash. I used P mode for my Christmas family snaps so that I could concentrate on Christmas, rather than camera technique. I was rapt with the results. You only have to think about framing.

Not using flash is OK if you can pre-set White Balance for whatever conditions are occurring. If you are using the kit lens, it may be a little slow for these shots without ramping up ISO. It is certainly possible to take reasonable pix with a higher ISO, but you will need to be careful of noise. You will have to experiment to see whether you can live with the results. If you have a faster lens (like 50mm f1.8 or f1.4), you can take pix indoors in most conditions.

My DSLR gives better indoor shots than my Sony P&S. I suspect it is because the D70 offers more flexibility. I do have a 50mm f1.4, and it is wonderful indoors. I think you might be seeing better results from your Olympus because of what the camera does to the image. Your Nikon does not do as much sharpening or increasing of saturation unless you deliberately set it that way.

HTH

[W00DY]

Z-Man,

As Greg sad, get that flash out....

Here is an example of a shot I took last night in pitch black (I couldn't even see my son through the viewfinder) with the ISO set to 400 (this could have been put up more) and the SB-800 flash bouncing off the roof.



Not the best shot but great for the family album.

I would never had gotten this result without the SB-800 (or any other flash gun). Not even by pumping the ISO up higher.

Play around with the flash and the settings, it doens't cost you anything

W00DY

[Onyx]

Feel free to whip the ISO all the way to 1600. It's there as it's meant to be used. If you expose correctly, the noise is minimal.
Example of ISO1600

If you use too low an ISO, you're restricted by your lens' max aperture and end up with a slow a shutter speed (potential for blur), which causes bad images. Most P&S cams to some extend limit this by not allowing shutter speeds slower than the programmed preset no matter what (the D70 also does this to some extent), so that may account for the perceived better images. But on the whole, P&S cameras' range of light sensitivities are lower than that of DSLRs.

I find higher than base ISO also tends to take the edge off colour saturation, which can be a useful trick for daytime shots when that is desired, along with the film-like grain that can be used creatively.

[ru32day]

I had the same idea as you when I photographed my son's primary (indoor) graduation - I thought if I whacked the ISO up I'd be able to reduce my flash usage and cause less intrusion.

I ran some test shots before the action started and decided that unless I wanted to shoot slowly all afternoon and put the ISO up a fair bit higher I was not going to be successful (even though the room was pretty well lit from skylights).

To help with the light, I shot at ISO350 all afternoon and used a monopod to reduce shake. The flash (SB600) illuminated the front parts of the action, but there are some shots further back on the stage, and these were pretty much universally terrible - even though the stage had natural lighting from high windows all around, where the flash didn't reach the shots were very very grainy and lacking in contrast. I think the fact that these were all of moving subjects (eg dancing children) didn't help.

The shots that were reasonably well lit (including outdoors in shade with no flash) I found pretty much indistinguishable from ISO200. PS: Of course, there's also the person behind the camera to consider - I'm by no means an expert and this probably adversely affected the outcome as well

[W00DY]

but there are some shots further back on the stage, and these were pretty much universally terrible - even though the stage had natural lighting from high windows all around, where the flash didn't reach the shots were very very grainy and lacking in contrast.

Forgive me if I get this wrong as I am still learning the SB-800 and not even sure if the SB-600 has this function but on the SB-800 there is a mode called TTL BL (I think) and this illuminates the background as well as the foreground.

The more I type the less confidence I have that this info is correct. Maybe someone can clarify?

W00DY

[MattC]

Gidday Woody,

TTL-BL indicates Balanced Fill Flash. It is used in high contrast situations (outdoors) for illuminating (and filling shadows in) your foreground subject against a bright background. It is generally the mode of choice outdoors.

Cheers

Matt

[Greg B]

..... but on the SB-800 there is a mode called TTL BL (I think) and this illuminates the background as well as the foreground.

The more I type the less confidence I have that this info is correct. Maybe someone can clarify?

W00DY

Woody, I think Thom says that there can only be one distance from the camera where the amount of light coming from the flash is "correct" for the exposure. With iTTL BL, it is not so much that the flash illuminates background and subject, but that the exposure takes into account other light and adjusts the amount of flash accordingly to attempt a balance. I am not explaining this very well, because I am on the learning curve too.