MARLON

I’M SHOOTING IN A CHURCH LOW LIGHT CAN’T USE A FLASH AND THERE IS MOVEMENT ENVOLVED.. I HAVE A CANON XSI WITH A 18 TO 270 LENS BECAUSE IT A BIG CHURCH AND I HAVE TO SHOOT FROM A DISTANCE AND UP CLOSE.
WHAT’S A GOOD SETTING –

sarge69 Loc: Ft Myers, FL

Movement = Shutter 1/60th or faster
ISO = Highest you can get

Take practice shots PRIOR to the event.

Sarge

keeper Loc: Franklin, TN

I'd also think about using a tripod if their is room or a monopod it their isn't enough room for a tripod.

steve_stoneblossom Loc: Rhode Island, USA

Good tips from Sarge and Keeper.

If following these does not do the trick, you might consider renting a faster (fixed aperture) zoom. I assume yours is not a fixed 2.8

Roger Hicks Loc: Aquitaine

Or indeed a prime lens, faster than f/2.8.

Cheers,

R.

ole sarg Loc: south florida

If you have time get a niffty fifty with a f1.8 lens about $100. You can hand hold as low as 1/30th of a sec and stop most action. Use at least ISO 800. Use spot metering. Use aperture setting. If the meter says you can stop down either decrease the ISO or stop down the lens. You will have little depth of field at f1.8 but if you are shooting people or rather flat scenes then no problem.

I almost never use a flash and I shoot in nightclubs like Birdland and other dingy places where they play jazz and if you can believe it even consume evil spirits!

GH2man Loc: Portland Oregon

I am getting deeper into PSE-10. It can help a lot with improving low light shots.
Larry

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

PhotoJosh, you are a wealth of good information!

docrob Loc: Durango, Colorado

ANYONE THAT WILL WORK

PNagy Loc: Missouri City, Texas

A very low shutter speed would leave blurring from the slightest movement, yours, or the subjects. Anything around or below 1/100 is for the tripod, not hand held. I presume you are shooting hand held in the church. A shutter speed of 1/125 or 1/160 will avoid blurring from your own movement, as well as the random gestures people make. If you get good results in auto ISO, you should be ready to shoot. If not, try different ISO settings till your image is close to what it should be. If it is only ever so slightly too dark, increase the exposure compensation.

Peter The

Jack Disbrow Loc: Northern New Jersey

I had a similar problem over Christmas and minimized it by using a chain stabilizer from the camera tripod attachment point to the floor, standing on it and leaning against a wall at the same time. Pics came out quite well as long as you did not try to make wall-sized prints. One example follows:

Our little angels, making Xmas even more special

robert-photos Loc: Chicago

Hi,

I take a lot of photos for my church.....over 15,000 on my site....see the link below (my signature).

I carry two cameras, a Canon 5D MII and a 7D. I mount a 24-70 f/2.8 0n the 5D and a 70-200 f/2.8 0n the 7D. I shoot at ISO 1600 and run all photos thru Topaz DeNoise5.

My settings vary as the church lighting varies but generally I'm at f/3.5 to f/5.6 at 1/60 to 1/250 sec. I shoot in auto-spot focus and in manual mode for shutter speed and aperture. My white balance is set at 2900 K and tweeked in Adobe PS RAW.

Hope that helps.

BTW...please turn off your caps lock as it appears you are yelling. Thanks.

MARLON

i have a fi.4 and sigma 18 - 270 mm

melphoto60

I believe that lens is a f3.5-6.3 he is going to be at 1600/3200 iso

Roger Hicks Loc: Aquitaine

From http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/ps%20lowlight.html:

"Low-light shooting is a complex cocktail of equipment, materials, technique and attitude, but it is very much one of those things that has acquired a false mystique. It really isn't difficult. You can produce enjoyable pictures with almost any equipment -- pictures, in other words, that will make you smile and remind you of happy times -- and you can produce pictures to be proud of with the vast majority of half-decent equipment."

There are shots in there with exposures of as much as 1/2 second, and other shots with films as slow as ISO 50 with an f/4 lens in an enclosed circus.

The basic rule is, "If you don't play, you can't win", but also bear in mind the following quote from the same source:

"This is usually a matter of anticipation. In many kinds of movement there is a 'dead point' where the subject reverses direction: the classic example is a high jumper, who is moving at his (or her) slowest at the moment of crossing the bar, but if you closely watch a musician, dancer, tennis player or anyone else you should begin to be able to guess when they will be moving relatively slowly and will therefore be easier to 'freeze' -- though of course, you may well decide that some blur, at least in part of the image, will add to its impact.

In fact, people watching is an invaluable skill here. One thing you can see quite easily in pubs and bars is that most people are tranquillized to some degree by alcohol, and move more slowly; a lawyer after a good dinner with plenty of wine may well move, if at all, with reptilian slowness. But then you remember how suddenly some reptiles can move -- think of lizards -- and that is a cue to keep your wits about you."

Cheers,

R.