Beat Dark Pics?

Brinney,
Your Canon XS is very limited in terms of its flexibility and high ISO performance. Thats just reality. You will not be able to Stop action and get low light photos of action such as on a ride no matter what lens you get, your photos wont be good they'd be too grainy.

Personally, I use a 5d Mark II and 1D Mark IV, and those situations are still an issue. However, my guess is your budget is light - i'd look at buying an affordable light weight plastic tripod that you can carry around with you. Use manual settings on your camera and do long exposures at low ISO like 100 or 200 MAX (especially on xs, xsi) you can do up to 30 second exposures with an Xs.

Unfortunately because you have the very base model of the rebel you dont even have an IR sensor so you can not use a remote for a bulb shutter release. Focus on tripod or mounted shots, with extended exposures. i believe this will provide you with your most usable shots.

ALSO!!!! use a canon 430ex II or 580ex II FLASH even if the flash itself is disabled, as it helps you focus in low light situations. which again makes the difference between usable and delete. i have a blog u can learn some lessons on as well learnslr.com related to the XSi and a few years old.
 

britdaw

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Brinney,
Your Canon XS is very limited in terms of its flexibility and high ISO performance. Thats just reality. You will not be able to Stop action and get low light photos of action such as on a ride no matter what lens you get, your photos wont be good they'd be too grainy.

Personally, I use a 5d Mark II and 1D Mark IV, and those situations are still an issue. However, my guess is your budget is light - i'd look at buying an affordable light weight plastic tripod that you can carry around with you. Use manual settings on your camera and do long exposures at low ISO like 100 or 200 MAX (especially on xs, xsi) you can do up to 30 second exposures with an Xs.

Unfortunately because you have the very base model of the rebel you dont even have an IR sensor so you can not use a remote for a bulb shutter release. Focus on tripod or mounted shots, with extended exposures. i believe this will provide you with your most usable shots.

ALSO!!!! use a canon 430ex II or 580ex II FLASH even if the flash itself is disabled, as it helps you focus in low light situations. which again makes the difference between usable and delete. i have a blog u can learn some lessons on as well learnslr.com related to the XSi and a few years old.

Thanks for the link to your blog, and all the helpful info. It's sad to hear I probably won't get many good pics, but I'm a glass-half-full kinda person so I am going to hope for the best anyway. ;) At least with all the info here I know what to expect though, right?
 

NowInc

Well-Known Member
I am going to have to say that it IS possible to get "acceptable" low light shows with a low level DSLR. I have used a Nikon D3100 (their lowest model) many times with moderate success. Granted you won't get ALL your shots to come out..but you can do it. Even "dark rides" have bright spots (lighting) that you can focus on.

My tips are simple: Use a higher ISO. Some noise is ok when it comes down to it. Shoot in SHUTTER PRIORITY mode at about 1/200 max (The Aperture will auto adjust to its most wide setting). Manually focus..since auto may take too long to hone in on a point.

Good luck and remember..have fun!
 

britdaw

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Oh believe me; I don't expect all my pics to come out looking like magazine quality images! I just want a bunch of good ones for the scrapbook and to share with you good people here on WDWMagic. :D Shots I can be proud of, you know? ;)
 

CP_alum08

Well-Known Member
I am going to have to say that it IS possible to get "acceptable" low light shows with a low level DSLR. I have used a Nikon D3100 (their lowest model) many times with moderate success. Granted you won't get ALL your shots to come out..but you can do it. Even "dark rides" have bright spots (lighting) that you can focus on.

My tips are simple: Use a higher ISO. Some noise is ok when it comes down to it. Shoot in SHUTTER PRIORITY mode at about 1/200 max (The Aperture will auto adjust to its most wide setting). Manually focus..since auto may take too long to hone in on a point.

Good luck and remember..have fun!

You're being pretty negative. I got plenty of good results when I had my Nikon D40x (which is/was pretty low on the totem pole) and an f/1.8 lens both on dark rides and just normal low light shots.

A good rule for low light shutter speed is to shoot at 1/focal length. So, if you are using your new 50mm, you should easily be able to shoot as slow as 1/50th. Even lower if you are braced up against something. The biggest trick I have learned with low light (non-tripod) photography is to just take your time. You might have to try 20 times to get a good shot, but if you have the time...and patience, it can be rewarding!

Oh, and yes, turn off auto-focus. Especially on dark rides. Not only is it distracting to people around you but chances are the camera will focus on something NOT what you want it to be focusing on. Plus it will take a lot longer than just doing it yourself.

You don't needs thousands of dollars worth of gear to get good low light shots :brick:
 

nngrendel

Well-Known Member
I also find using Spot or Partial Light Metering to work well in low light depending on what you are focusing on. Also shooting in RAW will help in post processing.

Just keep in mind your Depth of Field will be very very small at a wide open aperture.
 

britdaw

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thank you all for the tips! I'm learning more here than I am on the photography forums I'm on. you guys are so much more willing to help and be nice about it than other photographers; they're so snotty. :(
 

NowInc

Well-Known Member
You're being pretty negative. I got plenty of good results when I had my Nikon D40x (which is/was pretty low on the totem pole) and an f/1.8 lens both on dark rides and just normal low light shots.

A good rule for low light shutter speed is to shoot at 1/focal length. So, if you are using your new 50mm, you should easily be able to shoot as slow as 1/50th. Even lower if you are braced up against something. The biggest trick I have learned with low light (non-tripod) photography is to just take your time. You might have to try 20 times to get a good shot, but if you have the time...and patience, it can be rewarding!

Oh, and yes, turn off auto-focus. Especially on dark rides. Not only is it distracting to people around you but chances are the camera will focus on something NOT what you want it to be focusing on. Plus it will take a lot longer than just doing it yourself.

You don't needs thousands of dollars worth of gear to get good low light shots :brick:

I don't see how I was being negative? LoL. I was pointing out that even with low end gear (such as a D3100) it is possible to get low light shots.
 

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