What settings to apply in order to take low ISO photos in low light with D3200?

D3200

New member
Question:How to take the below staged photo DSC_0282.jpg in low light with low ISO? Is it possible? What am I doing wrong?

Image has exif. The condition is light 2 meters above the newspaper and night time. It is just to illustrate the fact that the image comes dark.The second photo is to illustrate high ISO during daytime /3600/.

I appologise for starting this thread but I was advised to do so because the old thread that I have previously started was closed becouse I have not uploaded any photos in 1 and a half day and or because someone very politely started speaking in capital letters to me but when received the same type of answer /just the word no to be precise/ did't like it and started writing in capitals.

The questions are at the beginning.
 

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Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
OK, I'll try to answer but it could be difficult since I don't know exactly what your camera settings are.

First, in your camera shooting menu, "iso settings", is auto iso enabled? I suspect this could be the problem with the bird picture. If you go into iso settings menu, you'll find that you can specify up to what iso your camera will automatically go to in order to maintain a minimum shutter speed. So, if you are shooting in aperture mode and you specify f8, the camera will automatically set the iso up to (what is specified in the iso setting menu) in order to maintain a faster shutter speed. You could turn this option off to gain more control, but be aware that in low light situations, you could end up with blurred shots because of too slow shutter speeds.

For the newspaper picture, I think this is only a case of incorrect metering. Whenever shooting a white subject (newspaper), you have to adjust exposure compensation since the meter is trying to make the white grey. Same thing for a snowy scene or a beach.

Hope this helps.
 

D3200

New member
OK, I'll try to answer but it could be difficult since I don't know exactly what your camera settings are.

First, in your camera shooting menu, "iso settings", is auto iso enabled? I suspect this could be the problem with the bird picture. If you go into iso settings menu, you'll find that you can specify up to what iso your camera will automatically go to in order to maintain a minimum shutter speed. So, if you are shooting in aperture mode and you specify f8, the camera will automatically set the iso up to (what is specified in the iso setting menu) in order to maintain a faster shutter speed. You could turn this option off to gain more control, but be aware that in low light situations, you could end up with blurred shots because of too slow shutter speeds.

For the newspaper picture, I think this is only a case of incorrect metering. Whenever shooting a white subject (newspaper), you have to adjust exposure compensation since the meter is trying to make the white grey. Same thing for a snowy scene or a beach.

Hope this helps.

In the bird photo the ISO was set on auto with a limit set to 6400 /which means that the camera will choose the ISO but will not exceed the limit of 6400. For information only the limit can be set to a different setting/. This was because I was testing the camera abilities and wanted to know how it will behave. The noise levels were also good for me. F8 is set because it seems to be the best for this lens /similar opinions can be seen in internet with some people claiming even that F9 is better/. The shutter speed is 1/200 at 3600 ISO, the light was not that bad, I might be wrong but is it possible to go down to ISO 100 with no less than 1/30?

The newspaper photo is in Manual mode with speed set by me as minimum desirable, aperture 8 for the above explained reasons.

I have taken two more photos in similar /I believe the light is better as there is still some outside/ conditions but set on Aperture priority. The result is a calculated speed of 1/4 and 1 blurry photo /red hat/. Obviously my hands are shaking and I can not take decent photos in this condition unless I use a tripod. DSC_0288.jpgDSC_0289.jpg

What is wrong or am I expecting too much?
 

eurotrash

Senior Member
It would only be possible to do as you discribed in your initial question with faster glass. With a 1.4, you could shoot that shot at at least 1/60th of a second and be fine. My guess is that you're using the lens that came with your camera? The EXIF data isn't present in the pictures that I can see..

EDIT: I see why. The way they embed on the site, you must first click image to see EXIF.

Here's his settings on the newspaper shot:

Exposure Time1/30
F Numberf / 8
Exposure ProgramManual
ISO Speed Ratings1600
Max Aperture Value3.60
Metering ModePattern
FlashFlash did not fire
Focal Length18mm
 
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Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
What is really difficult to know is how much light there actually was when you took the shot.

Do you have another digital camera? Could you take the same shot, same f-stop, iso, aperture with both cameras and see if the results are similar? Or, borrow a light meter and measure the amount of light coming in (incident reading). A reflective light measure is ALWAYS subjective unless you are measuring an 18% grey card.

You say your photo was made outside, but I see a yellow cast that suggest it might have been dark outside when you took it. Was this the case?
 

eurotrash

Senior Member
The newspaper photo is in Manual mode with speed set by me as minimum desirable, aperture 8 for the above explained reasons.

Here's your first problem. At f8 in low light conditions, your ISO would have to be up in the higher regions of your camera's capability. If you capped it at 6400, then it may not have enough headroom to take a properly exposed picture. I would have shot that newspaper at near the lowest aperture possible to increase the shutter speed to a desirable amount. See: Aperture Priority Mode


The other thing that happened, is that the ISO of 1600 (combined with your particular lens, anyway) is quite low for this environment. Add to that, the high f number and it's no wonder it is underexposed. If your camera chose this ISO on it's own, that's the second problem. Take it out of AUTO ISO.


am I expecting too much?

No, your camera is simply making the wrong choices! You're not truly shooting manual until you control that third piece of the exposure triangle. ISO.
 
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Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
One more question, why would you be shooting at f8 when there is not enough light?

The ultimate test would be to take a picture in the sunlight, iso 100 and see what the settings would be. Normally, you should get 1/500 @ f-8. If it's very different, then maybe your sensor is defective. This is all I can think of for now.

Hope it helps a little.
 

eurotrash

Senior Member
Ok, I understand. OP is under the impression that f8 is the sharpest setting for the lens which is why he chose it.

Just as an FYI, the sharpest stop is actually f5.6 or therearound. But I digress.
The point here is, that f8 is absolutely not appropriate for night photography. You'll want to be using lower f stops for lower light conditions as well as a moderate ISO. With that lens, start at your lowest f stop and select and iso of 800, see if that merits you a better image. Don't worry so much about shutter speed when doing night photography, it really doesn't matter too much as long as the other pieces of the exposure triangle are in place.
 

pedroj

Senior Member
question:how to take the below staged photo dsc_0282.jpg in low light with low iso? Is it possible? What am i doing wrong?

Image has exif. The condition is light 2 meters above the newspaper and night time. It is just to illustrate the fact that the image comes dark.the second photo is to illustrate high iso during daytime /3600/.

I appologise for starting this thread but i was advised to do so because the old thread that i have previously started was closed becouse i have not uploaded any photos in 1 and a half day and or because someone very politely started speaking in capital letters to me but when received the same type of answer /just the word no to be precise/ did't like it and started writing in capitals.

The questions are at the beginning.

if an image is under exposed "like the first" it will have noise...you need to expose the image more or add better lighting....

If the light is inadequate try a tripod...
 
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D3200

New member
D3200, what lens are you using for your shots?

Nikkor 18-200 VR DX

It would only be possible to do as you discribed in your initial question with faster glass. With a 1.4, you could shoot that shot at at least 1/60th of a second and be fine. My guess is that you're using the lens that came with your camera? The EXIF data isn't present in the pictures that I can see..

EDIT: I see why. The way they embed on the site, you must first click image to see EXIF.

Here's his settings on the newspaper shot:

Exposure Time1/30
F Numberf / 8
Exposure ProgramManual
ISO Speed Ratings1600
Max Aperture Value3.60
Metering ModePattern
FlashFlash did not fire
Focal Length18mm

I am using Nikkor 18-200 VR DX .
My idea is to have one lens for everything. I am aware that some may call it jack of all trades but it was important for me not to have to change the lens. I do not have kit lens. I believe that a prime will do better but I as I said it is more important for me to not change the lens.

What is really difficult to know is how much light there actually was when you took the shot.

Do you have another digital camera? Could you take the same shot, same f-stop, iso, aperture with both cameras and see if the results are similar? Or, borrow a light meter and measure the amount of light coming in (incident reading). A reflective light measure is ALWAYS subjective unless you are measuring an 18% grey card.

You say your photo was made outside, but I see a yellow cast that suggest it might have been dark outside when you took it. Was this the case?

Starting backwards - it was taken in a typical cloudy London day one of many similar that we have here. Sometimes sun shows up from the sky through the clouds and dissapears quickly. That is one of the reasons why I need a camera that can take outdoor photos in cloudy conditions as I take photos mostly outside.


I do not have a light meter but have another digital camera. I have taken the photos and the results are a little bit different. The pictires were taken from a tripod in order to eliminate the human factor. I do not want to be blamed for my opinion you can see the results from the exifs. Below are the images with exif from aperture 3.5 at 100, 800 and 1600 ISO and from aperture 8 at 100, 800 and 1600 ISO from Nikon and the other camera /Please ignore the first photo from the other camera as it doen't have proper EXIF/:

DSC_0290.jpgDSC_0291.jpgDSC_0292.jpgDSC_0293.jpgDSC_0294.jpgDSC_0296.jpgIMGP7286.jpgIMGP7298.JPGIMGP7299.JPGIMGP7300.JPGIMGP7301.JPGIMGP7302.JPGIMGP7303.JPG
 
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D3200

New member
I am starting a second post to continue because the previous became too long. The photos look good from tripod but some can not be repeated properly handheld because of the long exposure time.


Here's your first problem. At f8 in low light conditions, your ISO would have to be up in the higher regions of your camera's capability. If you capped it at 6400, then it may not have enough headroom to take a properly exposed picture. I would have shot that newspaper at near the lowest aperture possible to increase the shutter speed to a desirable amount. See: Aperture Priority Mode


The other thing that happened, is that the ISO of 1600 (combined with your particular lens, anyway) is quite low for this environment. Add to that, the high f number and it's no wonder it is underexposed. If your camera chose this ISO on it's own, that's the second problem. Take it out of AUTO ISO.




No, your camera is simply making the wrong choices! You're not truly shooting manual until you control that third piece of the exposure triangle. ISO.

I am sorry, maybe because I did not explain my lens details you may think that I am with the kit lens. I am with 18-200 VR DX. I am not aware of the full capabilities of this lens but expected it to be the same or a little better than kit lens.


I have used the auto ISO in the initial test /not in the last photos/ just to see the camera capabilities and get some first impressions. Now in the last photos I am using the Fn button and the dial to set it manually and have disabled Auto mode in the menu.

That third piece of the exposure triangle is causing me headaches.

One more question, why would you be shooting at f8 when there is not enough light?

The ultimate test would be to take a picture in the sunlight, iso 100 and see what the settings would be. Normally, you should get 1/500 @ f-8. If it's very different, then maybe your sensor is defective. This is all I can think of for now.

Hope it helps a little.

I am using F8 because I want prefer wider depth of field. The newspaper photos and the big set of photos is just for illustration of the low speeds. I take photos mostly outdoors.

When there is enought light /I have not had a good opportunity with this camera yet/ I would expect it to perform excellent / it is quite a decent camera for its money and I kind of like the comparatively low noise level that it produces up to ISO 1600 with so many megapixels/ and that is why I am trying to improve low light ISO or to find what is the problem.


Ok, I understand. OP is under the impression that f8 is the sharpest setting for the lens which is why he chose it.

Just as an FYI, the sharpest stop is actually f5.6 or therearound. But I digress.
The point here is, that f8 is absolutely not appropriate for night photography. You'll want to be using lower f stops for lower light conditions as well as a moderate ISO. With that lens, start at your lowest f stop and select and iso of 800, see if that merits you a better image. Don't worry so much about shutter speed when doing night photography, it really doesn't matter too much as long as the other pieces of the exposure triangle are in place.

I will have to research the aperture size additionally, maybe I am missing something with this lens.

I am mostly interested to improve ISO in low light condition /if it is possible/ during daytime when there is not enough light for example foggy weather, rain, cloudy, etc. The photos I am presenting were to show my point about the speed. The thing is that I am thinking that it starts increasing exposure so steep that I have to apply ISO above 3200 which I believe starts introducing more noise. And the thing is that I would like to take handheld photos /sometimes you don't have time to set a tripod, it is not convenient, etc./.
 
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Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Nikkor 18-200 VR DX



I am using Nikkor 18-200 VR DX .
My idea is to have one lens for everything. I am aware that some may call it jack of all trades but it was important for me not to have to change the lens. I do not have kit lens. I believe that a prime will do better but I as I said it is more important for me to not change the lens.



Starting backwards - it was taken in a typical cloudy London day one of many similar that we have here. Sometimes sun shows up from the sky through the clouds and dissapears quickly. That is one of the reasons why I need a camera that can take outdoor photos in cloudy conditions as I take photos mostly outside.


I do not have a light meter but have another digital camera. I have taken the photos and the results are a little bit different. The pictires were taken from a tripod in order to eliminate the human factor. I do not want to be blamed for my opinion you can see the results from the exifs. Below are the images with exif from aperture 3.5 at 100, 800 and 1600 ISO and from aperture 8 at 100, 800 and 1600 ISO from Nikon and the other camera:

View attachment 22241View attachment 22242View attachment 22243View attachment 22244View attachment 22245View attachment 22246View attachment 22247View attachment 22248View attachment 22249View attachment 22250View attachment 22251View attachment 22252View attachment 22253


I am really sorry, but there is something that I don't understand. What is your question exactly? I can't see the exposure time for the pentax shots.
What could I do to help you?
 
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D3200

New member
I am really sorry, but there is something that I don't understand. What is your question exactly? I can't see the exposure time for the pentax shots.
What could I do to help you?
I believe that I have a little bit longer exposure with D3200 than with the other camera. The question is what am I doing wrong? Is it that I am expecting something that is not based on a proper conclusion or is it a lens, sensor, settings or something else that causes the difference. Eventually /more theoretically than practically now, but anyway/ will a higher class body like D5100 or D7000 provide faster exposure with this lens?

I have done something wrong with one of the Pentax photos and it doesn't show EXIF data properly. The rest should be OK - exposure time is just below DateTimeOriginal in the EXIF table /but may be on different place depending on the viewer, anyway it should be somewhere in the EXIF as I just checked and I can see it/. If it is still unreadable I can upload them somewhere else because the raw files are around 12 megabytes.
 
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eurotrash

Senior Member
OK, so you've disabled AUTO ISO.


NOW

Go outside, and shoot a picture of a fence/car/something static on a tripod. Use manual mode, and use ISO 800, F3.5 and whatever shutter speed it tells you is correct to make the exposure proper.

THEN

Do the same exact same shot with your Pentax.

Then we can tell if your lens has a problem, or which body has a problem, or if it's operator error.

EDIT: please take a photo not of hats.
 
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pedroj

Senior Member
When comparing you HAVE to use the same aperture and shutter speed settings...With the Nikon you've used F8 and the Pentax F3.5...
 
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