Help with settings

THeng

I have a Canon 20d with a new lens 28-135usm I'm starting to get better, especially with all the manual shots. I just need some other advice. Inside my house (don't have any flashes or lights other than lights in the house) I try to up the ISO, and lower the aperture and speed b/c the flash washes out what I'm shooting. They're either really grainy or very dark or both. I don't know if this is just how it's going to be, or if there is a way to adjust.

Outside I got advice to use my flash b/c it helps bring out eyes and things, but I rarely get it right. I go through a lot of editing in PS, but I'm still not great at that either.

Any advice would help (do portraits mostly) as a hobbie.
Thanks!

ziggy53

THeng wrote:

I have a Canon 20d with a new lens 28-135usm I'm starting to get better, especially with all the manual shots. I just need some other advice. Inside my house (don't have any flashes or lights other than lights in the house) I try to up the ISO, and lower the aperture and speed b/c the flash washes out what I'm shooting. They're either really grainy or very dark or both. I don't know if this is just how it's going to be, or if there is a way to adjust. ...

Starting with indoor photography, the first recommendation is to get an external flash. Even with fast glass a flash is important unless you have "very" bright lighting. A good flash and a proper modifier can make the difference between "snapshot" and "wow, that's nice" for indoor work.

Generally I'll use either "Manual" mode or "Aperture Priority" mode for best results. Pathfinder has a great primer on Canon flash here:

http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=292152&postcount=7

... and he has posted a bunch of flash links here:

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=70330

You will still want to boost the ISO but you probably won't need as much, ISO 400-800 is usually viable.

A faster lens will also help. I personally think everybody (dSLR owners) should have a 50mm, f1.8 (or f1.7 on some systems.) The "nifty fifty" or "plastic fantastic" is inexpensive and almost all are excellent values, even if they're not perfect.

THeng wrote:

...

Outside I got advice to use my flash b/c it helps bring out eyes and things, but I rarely get it right. I go through a lot of editing in PS, but I'm still not great at that either.

Any advice would help (do portraits mostly) as a hobbie.
Thanks!

Outdoors you can use the onboard flash for fill. Setup your camera for a proper exposure otherwise and then add flash but reduce the output by about 2/3 stop (-2/3 EV).

Again, look in the Pathfinder links for more information on using flash for fill.

Tee Why

Post an example with the shooting settings.
I suspect that the image is dark and noisy b/c of underexposure and high ISO.

If you have a tripod, that would be the way to go as it would let you stop down on the aperture for max sharpness and shoot at a low ISO for min. noise.

Also are you using the IS to allow for a lower handholdable shutter speed?

Scott_Quier

Tee Why has made a very good suggestion - it's a lot easier to help when we see and example of what you are dealing with.

His comment about expsoure issues is also spot on. When you make and image that is "properly" exposed, the 20D performs quite well even at ISO 1600. The issues surface when you under-expose an image and then attempt to push the exposure in post processing. That's when the noise really rears it's ugly head.

And, as always, Ziggy's comments are spot on. You really can't go wrong reading what either he or pathfinder have written.