Low light performance help - dlux 4

[h00ligan]

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Again I return from a low light shooting situation - not wanting to use the flash. I just can't seem to wrap my head around indoor low light shooting with incandescent. Figuring in blur from a long shutter speed and no tripod - can someone please help me with settings for better results in low light? Low aperture (numberwise)? 800 iso seems WAY too noisy, 1/25 shutter speed (lest the subject or my hand move at slower)? This is a real source of frustration. I'm sorry for such a basic question but i could really use a helping hand on this, because frankly - it's greatly disheartening.

 

Cheers for any advice.

[simfan]

Low light photography with the D-Lux 4 is IMHO amazing ... for a digicam.

I even never go past ISO 200 (most even in low light is ISO 80).

I used a tripod and in that case it is what you expect.

Without flash & tripod it is still hit'n miss ... even F2.0 is not always/often enough.

I take *several* pics of each scene (bracketing etc.) if I want to be (almost) sure I have the shot in low light (sometimes even in good light !).

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Personally I think that if I want (mostly) shooting in very low light something like an F700 or S2 or anything with a big(ger) sensor is advisable. But for my type of use that meaned overkill and losing the many advantages of a cam like the D-LUX 4.

[farnz]

There's a few things you haven't mentioned so apologies if I'm covering stuff that you are already doing or already know.

 

I presume that you're using anti-shake? I normally leave anti-shake on 2 unless I'm using the DL4 on a tripod when I turn it off.

 

A shutter speed of 1/25th should be fine at the wide end of your zoom but at the longer end you'll need to be aware of the 'reciprocal of focal length' rule. So if you're right up at the long end your focal length will be 60 mm so your shutter speed shouldn't be lower than 1/60th.

 

You haven't mentioned what aperture your using but to increase the shutter speed you should open up your aperture. In low light I rarely move from wide open (f/2 at wide-angle and f/2.8 at telephoto) unless I'm using a tripod or other support.

 

You've assumed that the blurring is caused by camera shake at low shutter speeds but could it be caused by something else or a combination of things? For example, autofocus can experience difficulty in finding focus in low light because it uses differences in micro-contrast to find the point of sharpest focus but contrast deteriorates rapidly as light levels fall. Moving subjects can cause blur at slow shutter speeds of course. Finger marks on your lens can cause blurred images although I suspect that this is unlikely in this instance.

 

My advice would be to do some practice to really get to know your DL4. By this I mean pick a time when there's no worries about getting a particular shot in low light, find a spot where there's reasonably constant low light, say, in a bar, a restaurant, or around home and find a combination of ISO, shutter speed and aperture that you can confirm gives you unblurry pictures. It may not be enough just to check them on the LCD you should look at them on your pc screen to make sure that they're not blurry.

 

When you've found that combination and are confident that you can regularly take sharp shots in that lighting situation then then you can start experimenting by changing one thing at a time and see how it affects blurriness etc. Don't be tempted to change more than 1 variable at a time or you may not know what's made the difference. After awhile you'll be much more familiar with your DL4 and more confident.

 

There a number of techniques for steadier shooting in low light and most of them involve bracing the camera against convenient objects but it also helps to get your breathing right in the same way as for shooting a rifle (so I'm told ). Breath out, hold, take the shot by pressing the shutter release slowly and smoothly. Cameras without viewfinders force you to hold your arms in front of you so you can see the screen but this is a fairly unstable pose and leads to wobble. I often do one of two things if there's no wall etc. to brace against: either I frame, choose aperture, shutter speed and ISO, and then move the LCD up to my eye and brace the camera between my forehead and my cheekbone before taking the shot; or I use an external viewfinder that allows me to brace the camera in a similar way.

 

Lastly, if you take a continuous burst of 3 shots you'll normally find that the second and third shot are less blurry than the first.

 

Pete.

[Tenor1]

Pete that is excellent advice and thanks for sharing it.

[regedit]

if you want to make 10x15 cm prints from your low light photos and colors are not so important, you can experiment also a combination of ISO 3200 and Dynamic B&W. Results are quite impressive on paper with some post processing and can get grain film natural effect (let's say comparable with Kodak T400 CN) if you ever took pictures with that film. boosting from 400 to 3200 it will give you a +1EV which is important in low light but only with B&W because color noise seems un-correctable for me at 3200. If you want softer shadows try Smooth B&W.

 

Of course other rules of low light exposure mentioned above are very important.

 

One more thing. Being a small camera I like to use surrounding objects to hold camera and use 2s delay with self timer. You'll be surprised to see that a simple glass can be use instead of a tripod with very good results.

 

Experiment and have fun!

[pop]

if you take a continuous burst of 3 shots you'll normally find that the second and third shot are less blurry than the first.

 

Pete, I think your post offers excellent advice.

 

Getting two out of a series of three sharp would be a clear indicator that your pressing on the shutter release can be improved.

 

Do not volontarily move your finger in order to release the shutter. Slowly increase the pressure (or change the angle of the fingertip on top of the release) until the camera surprises you by going off.

 

Yes, that's advice often given in the shooting range.

[simfan]

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Keeping the cam steady is indeed the #1 best advice as people say.

I've seen pics of Jim a.o. here that show low light/nite scenes that came out OK.

Problem (for me) is that even with a timer (fully agree this might be a good help) it still is a hit-or-miss because at night it is hard to judge a pic's sharpness (what it should be later be 1:1 size).

I tend to try several things at once (all and more covered here by the valuable advice given by the posters above).

[h00ligan]

Thank you for the advice - especially pete. I've been playing around a bit in a curtain drawn room with incandescent on and it seems that the tips provided will help. I'll have to look in the manual to see what the differences are in the anti shake settings. I had previously set to auto.

 

Thanks again for the patience and advice - I was very disheartened last night.

[h00ligan]

Pete, I just wanted to say thank you very much. Your input was extremely helpful. I went back to the exact same environment and convinced my very kind girlfriend to act as a subject. Using the tips you provided I was able to get blur free low light photos that were MUCH improved. One of the big things was, I set it to burst, used my leg (sitting cross legged) to brace, and set it to shake two. I was able to leave the shutter open MUCH longer. Your tip about the lens position and the rule you mentioned were also extremely helpful.

 

Thank you so much!

[farnz]

I'm glad if I've helped and thanks for reporting your experiences back because they might help others.

 

Pete.

[h00ligan]

A foot, which for some reason I like, and my girlfriend becoming exasperated with me... Anyway, much better results as I said (I know these are rookie compared to you guys but leaps and bounds for me) Thanks again!!