haloween frustration...

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patrick in memphis

Senior Member
my camera kept telling me not enough light....even in night mode...why have a good camera if it wont let me take pics . how do i fix this from happening in the future i was only trying to get pics of kids in halloween costumes 5-10 feet from me
 
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Eye-level

Banned
Patrick I suspect you have a kit lens that is slower than dog sh!t...

That is the best I can come up with from your post...were the children in black? How dark was it exactly? What was your light source? Flash? Night mode - WTF is that? You should be shooting aperture priority and have that lens wide open and your ISO up at 800 or better if your rig can do it. White balance set up for cold or hot...etc.

I need some information man and maybe I can help. :)
 
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patrick in memphis

Senior Member
yea night mode on the dial up top on camera like portrait mode etc..it was just ticking me off i couldnt get the picsi tried the ones i shoot moon photos with but obviously it is wrong combo lol but did get good light trails...i have no expierience with a,s,or p modes yet.as im still learning.
 
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Eye-level

Banned
Use the spot metering and meter the half tones in the room...that is not the tv screen and not the black wall but the in between area...lock it in at that value.

Keep the lens wide open and at about 24-28mm for halloween kiddoes. Remember to crouch down and get them from slightly below eye-level and at eye-level.

A faster lens would help...set your ISO high!

Camera is telling you that you need flash...but I think you could probably still get it to do it without the flash...may need a tripod though.
 
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patrick in memphis

Senior Member
as far as af ill do u mean the light that comes in before pics to aid focus right?lock in a value...how do you do that...the more i try the more i realize i need a class on this camera..lol
 
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E

Eye-level

Banned
I'm sorry you missed your halloween snaps sir...you better get your crap together because Thanksgiving is just around the corner! Keep playing with it...I know I like to use the on board flash on the D5000 sometimes but I don't really like flash...it is hard to do the dark though unless you have a fast lens and a camera that will perform decent at high ISO. You have the camera now you need the lens...I would say 28 G or 35G or maybe even 50G...
 
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madcapmagishion

Banned
Eye-level said:
I'm sorry you missed your halloween snaps sir...you better get your crap together because Thanksgiving is just around the corner! Keep playing with it...I know I like to use the on board flash on the D5000 sometimes but I don't really like flash...it is hard to do the dark though unless you have a fast lens and a camera that will perform decent at high ISO. You have the camera now you need the lens...I would say 28 G or 35G or maybe even 50G...
Click to expand...

I agree but would suggest the 50mm f/1.8G AF-S lens, because it's a nice portrait lens. And it AF & Meters with the D5000 perfectly.
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
patrick in memphis said:
in aperture mode doesn't the cam adjust lens i.e. wide open and ok on depth and mid tones
Click to expand...

Sorry about the missed pics Patrick. In aperture mode, it's quite the contrary; you decide on the aperture and the camera then decides on the shutter speed. So maybe your aperture was just set too small.
 
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patrick in memphis

Senior Member
lol i dont see play money coming my way till christmas so i will just have to work with what i have for now so d3100 and the two kit lenses 18-55 & 55-300 af vr lenses....thanks for all your time ...its frustrating now getting the shots
 
AC016

AC016

Senior Member
Last night, i used my D80 with the 18-55 lens from my D5100 - D5100 battery was about to die. Went out on Aperture mode, F11 to start with, went down to around F6.3 by the end of the night. ISO was 400-640 <have to check my pics to give you an accurate number> and used normal flash function and AF-A. The AF illuminator helps in dark situations or else your lens will hunt, so good idea to turn it on. With the built in flash, you have to be quite close to the subject. Don't mean to rub it in, but my pics turned out fine. I would have taken my 50 out with me - 1.8 - but i thought the 18-55 would be more flexible. Sure, you can have a fast lens, but that also means you you have to boost up your ISO - grainy photos depending on camera and how high you go in ISO. You also have to hold the camera rock steady if there is no VR on the lens. From 5ft away, you should be able to get great shots with your camera and built in flash. ANy further away, you risk the flash being eaten up by the night and you will get dark photos. It can be done, do not give up. Keep experimenting with your camera, it is very capable.

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Photowyzard

Photowyzard

Senior Member
I don't know the 3100, but if you can set AUTO ISO, try this:

Set your camera to MANUAL
Shutter 1/125
F8
Set your ISO to Auto (I have a D800, I can set it to auto up to a very high value and the situation dictates the right amount to use automatically)

Assuming you don't reach the ISO limit, you should always get a picture.
 
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