People in candle light :)

[sultan_saleem]

Hi folks, This is my first post on photo.net, interesting place and good

people :)

 

Professionaly i make films for weddings/parties. I got this project to film and

foto homes for real-estate biz. For this I just bought canon eos30d with 17-85

f4-5.6 and im happy it do job well.

 

Yesterday at neighbours party i tried to capture people dancing in room lit

with candles. Rooms shots were perfect, wideangle! candles herenthere, good. I

was not able to capture people, all got motion blurred. If Im not wrong that is

because longer shutter time. Is this the limitation of lens ? How can I capture

people in candle light :)

 

Also Im about to buy ef50 f1.4 to try portratures. Many many people are

addicted to this i read. Im gussing there will be many similarities in the end

results. if theres anyother better option please advise.

[rainer_t]

-- "Yesterday at neighbours party i tried to capture people dancing in room lit with candles. Rooms shots were perfect, wideangle!"

 

Since the 17-85 is an IS lens, we can assume, that these shots were at 17mm f/4 with up to 1/4sec.

 

-- "I was not able to capture people, all got motion blurred. If Im not wrong that is because longer shutter time. Is this the limitation of lens ?"

 

Yes, I also assume, shutter speed was too slow. The lens is f/4 at the wide end, so it's not exactly a fast lens. You can help by bumping up the iso setting, and by using a lens with a larger aperture. Also, a flash helps a lot. (But its not easy to mix flash and ambient light, if the lightlevel of ambient light is very low).

 

Check the pictures you took ... the ones which show motion blur. The embedded exif data has recorded shutterspeed, aperture, iso settings and focal length. If you're missing a suitable shutterspeed just by one or two stops, a f/2.8 zoom (like the Tamron 17-50/2.8 or the Canon 17-55/2.8 IS) might help. If it takes more than two stops, you need a fast prime. In that case, you should decide which focal length is suitable for you.

 

For portraits with the 30D, the 50/1.4 (that you mentioned) or the inexpensive 50/1.8 and the 85/1.8 are very nice.

[jobo1]

The 50/1.4 should help a lot with your problem. Just make sure to choose a high enough ISO to keep your shutter speed above 1/100 or so (or lower if you have a steady hand or some camera support).

[peterlyons]

Don't hesitate to bump your ISO all the way up to 1600. (I think that's the maximum on

the 30D.)

 

All of these dim lighting shots will get still better with a tripod. And you can even start

having fun with on-camera flash, set to about 2/3 stop underexposure, while still "dragging

the shutter"--that is, setting the exposure for the ambient light in the room, so you'll get the

glow of the candles, but adding a dimmed burst of flash to freeze a moment of detail in your

subjects.

[sultan_saleem]

thankyou!

 

- Yes, I also assume, shutter speed was too slow. The lens is f/4 at the wide end, so it's not exactly a fast lens. You can help by bumping up the iso setting, and by using a lens with a larger aperture. Also, a flash helps a lot. (But its not easy to mix flash and ambient light, if the lightlevel of ambient light is very low).

 

Yes sir you are right aperture F4 shutter 1/4sec focal 17mm exposure time 1/4 and Iso speed 1000.

 

I understand bigger aperture n higher speed is for candle light. But can ef50 f1.4 shot dancing ppl in candle light? without flash! Or are there other lens which are more fast ?

[mark u]

If you are going to use flash in candlelight, then use a full CTO gel filter on the flash, or perhaps a Stofen Gold Omnibounce to match the colour temperature of the flash more closely to the candlelight. Even stronger filtration is not a bad idea - perhaps even a double or triple layer of CTO gel.

[sultan_saleem]

Sorry Mark you understood incorrectly. Flash is not an option, cant use flash :)

[mike_earussi1]

If you shot at f1.4 at 1600 then, compared to your original shutter speed of 1/4 sec, you could shoot at aprox. 1/50 sec, fast enough to freeze some slower motion, but at the expense of depth of field. There is always a tradeoff, you can't have both dof and high shutter speed.

[rainer_t]

What mike said. f/1.4 and usage of iso 1600 instead of 1000 would bring you up to 1/50 sec (instead of 1/4) which isn't bad.

 

The remaining question is, what focal length would be best. Browse your pictures again. Decide which would have been a suitable focal length for most shoots. If in doubt ... wider can be cropped a bit, too long and you don't get the shoot.

 

Some lenses that might be worth consideration ...

 

... EF 24/1.4L

 

... EF 28/1.8

 

... Sigma 30/1.4 EX DC

 

... EF 35/1.4L or EF 30/2

 

... EF 50/1.8 or EF 50/1.4 or EF 50/1.2L

 

You could also simulate iso 3200 by shooting raw, underexposing one stop and push one stop when developing the raw ... this introduces additional noise into the image. (Parts of which can be removed in postprocessing).

[mark u]

If your reason for not using flash is that you don't wish to alert your subjects to your picture taking, then fair enough. However, flash IS an option provided you take care to filter the flash so that its output produces a warm light similar in colour temperature to the candles - then the shots will not appear to have mixed lighting, especially if you follow Peter Lyons' advice to set the flash to underexpose. Bouncing the flash will also make it less obvious.

[andykowalczyk]

Fuji Natura 1600 with a 50mm f/1.2 lens

[sultan_saleem]

Thankyou Rainer & Mark your help is very much appreciated. After spending wholeday serching and now unwillingly I orderd 50 f1.4

 

Btw how can I calibrate my pc display moniter, with 30d colors. and along with my prixma5000. At moment wht i get from camera is different than my pc screen, and get printed is again different.

I knew film making is easy job! ;)

 

thanks again for you help.

[roger_smith4]

Try PrintFixPro suite which will let you calibrate/profile your printer and monitor. I got mine at buy.com

 

At the very least, calibrate your monitor with a Spyder 2 or Eye-One Display or Eye-One Display 2.

[sultan_saleem]

Thankyou Roger!

[sultan_saleem]

Mark!

If you are going to use flash in candlelight, then use a full CTO gel filter on the flash, or perhaps a Stofen Gold Omnibounce to match the colour temperature of the flash more closely to the candlelight. Even stronger filtration is not a bad idea - perhaps even a double or triple layer of CTO gel.

 

What is CTO gel and where do i get it. Can you brief me about flash in low light, and what options are there at affordable price.

 

I tried alot to find how to shot all times without flash but seems its not possible. Have to be tricky :)

[mark u]

CTO stands for Colour Temperature-Orange, which is shorthand for a warming filter. This is probably as cheap a way as any to get one:

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/166181-REG/Gam_GC1543_Full_CTO_Gamcolor.html

 

Simply cut up and tape over the flash - you'll have plenty to spare. A double thickness of this one will cut the colour temperature by 2x 146 or 292 Mired - so a flash at 5600K produces light at

 

1,000,000/(1,000,000/5,600 + 292) or 2125 K, which is getting quite close to a typical value for candlelight. You might consider adding a layer of 1/2 CTO to drop the colour temperature down to about 1800K. If you want a yellower light, use CTS (Straw) instead of CTO (Orange) filters - look at the Roscoe range, including the Cinegel swatchbook or Color Correction kit.

 

If you don't have one, a Canon 430EX is a good choice of shoe mount flash. There are cheaper options, but they can require more work on your part to use to best effect.

 

With strongly adjusted light and candlelight you are going to need to consider and experiment with white balance settings. Pictures may seem too yellowy orange when viewed in daylight, so I'd try using the K setting starting at about 3200K (a fairly typical value for tungsten), and adjusting to taste.