Low light - large DOF - low noise - no flash: I am sure many of you will have an opinion on this. What settings and PP approaches do you use to get low noise images with a large...

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

I am sure many of you will have an opinion on this. What settings and PP approaches do you use to get low noise images with a large depth-of-field in a low light environment, say, at a dinner party? People moving about etc so combining multiple shots is not an option. Oh and no flash.

Wall-E Loc: Phoenix, AZ

dsmeltz wrote:

I am sure many of you will have an opinion on this. What settings and PP approaches do you use to get low noise images with a large depth-of-field in a low light environment, say, at a dinner party? People moving about etc so combining multiple shots is not an option. Oh and no flash.

You're asking for the impossible.

Low light shooting requires;
Low numerical aperture settings (which limit DOF)
Or, High ISO (which increases noise)
Or add additional light (flash, or???)

You're going to have to compromise something to get the results you want.

And you're going to have to shoot at 1/125th or faster to freeze the motion of the people (unless you use flash).

About the only suggestion *I* have is, shoot in RAW and use the noise reduction function in your PP software.

ptcanon3ti Loc: NJ

Canon 6D.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Wall-E wrote:

You're asking for the impossible. br br Low light... (show quote)

You are right. I guess I should be asking what trade offs you would make to achieve the best result?

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

dsmeltz wrote:

I am sure many of you will have an opinion on this. What settings and PP approaches do you use to get low noise images with a large depth-of-field in a low light environment, say, at a dinner party? People moving about etc so combining multiple shots is not an option. Oh and no flash.

It can't be done, unless you use your phone.
SS

Wall-E Loc: Phoenix, AZ

dsmeltz wrote:

You are right. I guess I should be asking what trade offs you would make to achieve the best result?

That really depends on your body/lenses/software.

What do you have?

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Wall-E wrote:

That really depends on your body/lenses/software.

What do you have?

t3i, sigma 18-35 1.8, canon 55 1.4, LR5, PSE12

Blaster6 Loc: Central PA

Your best chance of success is going to be a hardware solution. You are going to need a camera with good low light performance, probably full frame and a fast prime lens. Something like a Canon 6D and something like a EF 50mm 1.8 or even the 40mm 2.8.

You can set your shutter to the slowest speed that doesn't give you blur, set your aperture to the DOF you need and increase the ISO for exposure (in Manual). The 6D will give you very good results at pretty high ISO and is the best I know of. It is the camera I would recommend for this type of shooting. There should not be much need for cleaning up noise in post with this equipment. If equipment changes are not an option then use your settings the same way on any camera and clean up noise in lightroom.

Blaster6 Loc: Central PA

OK, I was typing while you were posting what you had.
If you don't want to buy new equipment just shoot manual and adjust the settings for your minimums to the limits of your camera like I described above.
Make sure you shoot RAW and adjust in LR.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

dsmeltz wrote:

t3i, sigma 18-35 1.8, canon 55 1.4, LR5, PSE12

Are you sure about the specs on the Canon lens? At f/1.8 the Sigma should work well in low light and no flash and may be the best option. How much DOF do you expect to need? You'll have to experiment in the actual conditions to see how dark the pictures become if you go above the range of say f/2.8 thru f/4. If that's actually a 50mm f/1.4 prime, that too will work well in a low light situation.

If you can limit the max ISO on a T3i (check the manual), try using auto ISO with the max set no higher than 3200. You can use LR5 or PSE to clean up the relatively mild amount of noise to be expected at ISO-3200 from this model. RAW will give the most flexibility to increase the exposure in PP on the initial results that are clear and useful but only a little too dark.

Wall-E Loc: Phoenix, AZ

dsmeltz wrote:

t3i, sigma 18-35 1.8, canon 55 1.4, LR5, PSE12

Canon 50mm 1.4 or a Zeiss 55mm 1.4?
The price changes by a factor of 10.

There was recently a discussion about the depth of field taking exactly the kind of shots you're talking about.

There's an online DOF calculator here;
http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

If you focus on the tip of the nose, you're going to need a DOF of at least 12" (+6, -6) to keep the back of the ear in focus. If you focus on the eye, you can get away with a little less.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

LIGHTS

dsmeltz wrote:

I am sure many of you will have an opinion on this. What settings and PP approaches do you use to get low noise images with a large depth-of-field in a low light environment, say, at a dinner party? People moving about etc so combining multiple shots is not an option. Oh and no flash.

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

Who is paying you to achieve this? Or do you set your own (improbable) tasks?

Wellhiem Loc: Sunny England.

dsmeltz wrote:

I am sure many of you will have an opinion on this. What settings and PP approaches do you use to get low noise images with a large depth-of-field in a low light environment, say, at a dinner party? People moving about etc so combining multiple shots is not an option. Oh and no flash.

The only way I know of achieving all this is with focus stacking software. But if people are moving about a lot, even that won't work. You could try manualy stacking and erasing any out of focus parts on each layer, but it would be very time consumming and you would need a good tripod in the first place.

Honeybee Loc: Freeland Michigan

Wall-E wrote:

Canon 50mm 1.4 or a Zeiss 55mm 1.4?
The price changes by a factor of 10.

There was recently a discussion about the depth of field taking exactly the kind of shots you're talking about.

There's an online DOF calculator here;
http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

If you focus on the tip of the nose, you're going to need a DOF of at least 12" (+6, -6) to keep the back of the ear in focus. If you focus on the eye, you can get away with a little less.

Hey Wall-E I checked out the depth of field calculator, looks pretty interesting for a "new bee"... the only thing is I cant really understand it! #thank you for sharing it :)