D40x,18-55 kit lens and low light photography.

Hi! Everybody,I recently tried photographing a crystal statuette illuminated from the bottom,using the 18-55 kit lens

on my D40X.To avoid camera shake I used a tripod and the timer to click the pictures in the 1/2.5sec to 1/10sec

range at 400 iso.The results were quite dramatic.Here are two examples,I thought I'd share.<div></div>

Very nice!

Why 400 ISO? When using a tripod why not use the lowest ISO possible for the best image quality? I don't see anything from these photos that would make image noise desirable.

Brett, sometimes higher ISO best deliver the best image quality. Nice shots Keerthi!

Hi!Brett,I have experienced higher noise when zoomed to 100%, the aperture is opened up to reduce the DOF, at low shutter speeds.

There is one more advantage to lower ISOs in situations like this. Since your D40 does not have a mirror up feature (I don't think that the time on that camera releases the mirror early) you also have to worry about mirror slap causing camera movement. Most of the studies that I have seen indicate that this problem is maximized around 1/8 to 1/15 of a second. Faster shutterspeeds are able to freeze any camera movement and long ones allow the camera to stop moving for a long enough portion of the exposure that the image produced is still sharp.

 

Using a lower ISO would have allowed longer shutterspeeds and may have produced sharper images. Of course, this also depends on the quality of your tripod and other factors.

 

Just a little more food for thought . . .

 

By the way, I like the images!

 

Ed

By definition, the base ISO should deliver the best image quality.

That's pretty cool. I like how the light glistens on the curves of the crystal haha

I have taken a few snaps at the base ISO with longer exposures.But since the light source I was using has a rotating disc that changes the colour of light,the images turned out to be some what hazy.

Excellent photo.

 

Regarding ISO, lower isn't always better. As Ed pointed out, cameras without mirror lockup have different sweet spots for vibration. In some cases a slightly faster shutter speed will provide sharper results, offsetting the minor increase in noise.

 

In other cases a slower shutter speed, even at lower ISOs, can increase other types of noise. There's no way to generalize so you'll have to experiment to see what works best.

 

But it's moot. The difference between ISO 200 and 400 is negligible. And you got excellent results here.

Keerthi,

 

Thanks for the explanation, that makes sense. The left hand shot looks like it has a muddy green cast that doesn't quite work for me. The right hand shot however appears more natural and the purple highlights fit better with the theme of the figurine. A little more light the of the face would have be nice though.

An old technique that produces nice results. You can, of course, vary the effect with different sized apertures in black matte board, along with coloured plastic gels for a truly cheesy effect. NAI Nikkors like the inexpensive 50/1.4 and 55/3.5 Micro-Nikkor are also worth looking into since your D40x can accept the oldies without damage(or metering).