Camera Labs

hi im a new beginner here,.taking the first steps with my first DSLR, Nikon D5000-18-55mm VR, so i had my first challenge at my sisters wedding, an my photos were a mess, most of them , all the others with point and shoot cameras didnt have any problems so i asume is my lack of experiense, the problems i had, 1) photos out of focus it was very dificult to focus the situation: people dancing indoors low light, typical nightclub ambient..lol

2) even photos that went well, when i get it at 100% in my PC, the photos lose sharpenes and get noise, grainy, for everyone in the forum, any advise? proper settings? bad SD card? bad lense? thanks in advance

ps: can i upload images for example? may be tha way will be easier to se what im doing wrong

The first issue
I think would come from it being a slow lens.
The second is probably due to high Iso.

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Check out: http://www.eagle1337.deviantart.com/
Camera: Canon Rebel T1i
Lens: Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8, Sigma 17-70mm OS DC HSM f/2.8-4, ef-s 18-55mm IS, ef-s 55-250mm IS. EF 50mm F/1.8
Tripod: Giottos MTL9351B with a MH 5001 head.
Bag: lowepro Slingshot 202 AW. Cards: Sandisk Ultra 2, Lexar MicroSDHC.

Hi DX, welcome to the forum. Cameras like yours work extremely well on Auto or Program mode in daylight and the 18-55mm VR lens should not give you any camera shake. Inside and low light shooting is a little different but is not rocket science once you had a bit of practice, without any samples it’s difficult for anyone here to give you advice, it would help if your included the EXIF with you shots.

Post your photos on Flicker or the like and link them to the forum.

Starbug posted this info for posting from Flicker, if you don’t have a Flicker account, just sign up and it’s free.

http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtop ... ht=starbug


Cheers

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Nikon D7000, D40X, Nikkor 18- 200 VR II, f3.5-5.6, 70-300 AF non VR, Kit Lenses.

thanks for your reply¡¡, iso 800, 1600, and 200 were used in my photos, i know high ISO brings the noise, but would someone recomend an specific ISO level for photos with flash (built in) at night party..? and sd cards 15Mb/s 4GB are good enough? about the lense i thinking in get the nikkor 35mm 1.8

Not sure where you are DX but that was pretty fast, as I said, post a few shots so members can advise, I’m not sure of what is considered high ISO on your camera.

Use the search function or browse the sections here, there is heaps of information on fast lenses. The tutorials are also good for beginners, (like me).

Cheers

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Nikon D7000, D40X, Nikkor 18- 200 VR II, f3.5-5.6, 70-300 AF non VR, Kit Lenses.

Hey DX kiha, welcome to the Cameralabs forums!

First of all, since you were using the kit lens, you probably won't get the best results. Most professional wedding photographers use super expensive cameras and lenses, and not usually a kit lens. The kit lens works most of the time, but it's a bit slow (Meaning that the aperture or F stop doesn't go very low). For indoors, try using a faster lens, one with F2.4 or something around there.

The D5000 has a very good sensor, but you can't expect images at very high ISO (800 and above) to be noise free. Shooting at 200 indoors would get pretty good results, but you'd need a slow shutter speed. 800 would be fine, but still a bit noisy. 1600 is alright i guess, but there's still a fair amount of noise. Here you can find a D5000 noise test by Gordon:

http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Nikon ... oise.shtml

If you want to keep the noise low, use a low ISO number and use a flash, like the SB-400 from Nikon. It's a great little flash from Nikon, about $150. Small, a fast recycle time and battery life is great. It's a little gem!

Were you using a tri-pod at the wedding? If so, you could've used slightly longer shutter speeds. Also, on tri-pods, make sure that you turn VR off!

For a night party, ISO 400 with built in flash should be fine, but once again, I'd recommend using the SB-400 external flash. built in flash isn't very good.

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-Evan

Gear: 7 Nikon Nikkor AI-S and AF-S lenses, SB-700 flash, Nikon D7000, Nikon FM, variety of accessories

"There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs."
- Ansel Adams

EvanK, thank you so much for your advice, im begining to get much better results on my indoor night photos, inexperience is my main problem..lol, and im planning to get the sb400, thanks again im here to learn

Glad that I could help!

There are 2 main reasons that I recommend an external flash like the SB-400: One, because you can take advantage of something called bounce flash. Bounce flash is when you angle the camera flash towards the ceiling or a bounce card (A card that you angle the flash to, here's a picture of one with a flash: http://www.blainekendall.com/uploads/blog/IMG_1366.jpg). Bounce flash is good for many reasons: You don't get a harsh or reflective light on your subject that you'd jet with direct flash. Here's a picture that I found on Flickr demonstrating the effects of bounce flash: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbrane/299849887/.

As you can see, the bounce flash one looks natural, and the lighting is even. With the direct flash, the background is under exposed because the camera flash is only strong enough to illuminate the subject. Also, the lighting is harsh and the colours are off. That's why I like bounce flash.

Also, getting an external flash would increase your lighting range with direct flash. Now, it still wouldn't work if you were taking pictures of a musician at a concert, but for subjects a few meters away or so, it would probably work.

Here's an article about the SB-400 by a well known fellow named Ken Rockwell: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/sb400.htm

There's lots of information there, plus some pictures that if you mouse over, will compare the built in flash to the SB-400, or the bounce flash compared to the direct flash.

Hope I heped!

_________________
-Evan

Gear: 7 Nikon Nikkor AI-S and AF-S lenses, SB-700 flash, Nikon D7000, Nikon FM, variety of accessories

"There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs."
- Ansel Adams