Adding lights vs. wider aperture lens

bluebird

Senior Member
Having a baby and living in an area with terrible weather is forcing my portrait efforts indoors. Despite a house with lots of natural light, my current setup can't keep up with my wiggling baby and I'm getting a lot of motion blur due to the slow shutter speeds.

The current setup: Nikon D600 in aperture priority mode with 28-300mm f3.5-5.6G VR AF-S lens. An "average" indoor portrait shot ends up at about 50mm, f3.5, ISO 6400, 1/20s.

I'm considering adding a LumoPro LP180 speedlight on a stand with a shoot-through umbrella, slaved to the pop-up flash.

The other option I'm looking at is switching to a 35mm f1.8 to get wider apertures and thus more light, but I'm worried that it won't get enough extra light and that the narrower depth of field will make capturing my subject even harder as she gets more active.

I can't afford to make both upgrades at once, so which is likely to give me more bang for the buck?

Should I be looking at continuous umbrella lighting or softboxes instead?

Thanks in advance!

​Megan
 
Why not go with the Nikon SB-700 and get a fully automatic flash that will work with the commander mode in your camera. use the diffuser that comes with the flash and bounce. Or you can use it off camera with a umbrella if you want. With a baby you are going to want something you can grab a throw on a flash and shoot at a moments notice and a fully manual flash is certainly going to make you miss some great once in a lifetime moments.
 

jwstl

Senior Member
The Nikon 35 1.8 is a DX lens so are you planning to use the D600 in DX mode? If your typical shot is at 50mm why aren't you considering the 50 1.8? But I agree with Don, a flash is probably the best option.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 

bluebird

Senior Member
What initially led me to the LP180 was the recommendation from Strobist (and the fact that I generally hate flash, so I didn't think I would want to throw it on the camera and go). Good point about the Nikon SB-700 as a grab-and-go, though! I may not feel like I need that functionality right now, but I probably will when she gets bigger.

Will bouncing the flash get me enough light, or do I need the umbrellas and stands to go with it?

I'm not trying to cheap out, but after spending a lot on my body and primary lens, I'm trying to spread out the remaining gear purchases if I can!
 

John P

Senior Member
Rather than an umbrella. I would bounce off a white ceiling or wall. This will give more pleasing even light throughout the entire room.
 

Bill16

Senior Member
Though I have no experience using external flashes, I agree with Don. It makes better sense to me, and I was planning for getting this flash for similar reasons minus the child anyway! Lol Weather often puts a crimp in outdoor shooting for me too! Lol :D
 
What initially led me to the LP180 was the recommendation from Strobist (and the fact that I generally hate flash, so I didn't think I would want to throw it on the camera and go). Good point about the Nikon SB-700 as a grab-and-go, though! I may not feel like I need that functionality right now, but I probably will when she gets bigger.

Will bouncing the flash get me enough light, or do I need the umbrellas and stands to go with it?

I'm not trying to cheap out, but after spending a lot on my body and primary lens, I'm trying to spread out the remaining gear purchases if I can!

It does a great job. Probably enough light to do what you want. I don't really like flash that much either but if used correctly it can look quite nice. And bounced with the diffuser it look pretty good and with your camera you can move it off camera and still bounce it and get really good results. here is a funny photo I took with the SB-700 bounced with diffuser. It will give you an idea of what it can do in a grab and go shot.

dsc_6245.jpg



Using the flash as fill light in bright sun.

dsc_5455.jpg
 

bluebird

Senior Member
Good catch, jwstl! Because I'm an idiot - what I meant to say was that I am considering the 50mm f1.8.

I'll have to play with bouncing the light. The room that I use has peach-colored walls and a white ceiling, and I have been using a black background.

Don, thanks so much for the examples!
 
Good catch, jwstl! Because I'm an idiot - what I meant to say was that I am considering the 50mm f1.8.

I'll have to play with bouncing the light. The room that I use has peach-colored walls and a white ceiling, and I have been using a black background.

Don, thanks so much for the examples!

I originally got into photography when my wife was pregnant with our first child. That child it now 34 years old. She was my model for the first 10 years of her life till she decided she did not like to have her picture taken anymore. I used everything from single flash to full studio lighting with umbrellas. That was with 35mm and medium format film. The Nikon CLS Speedlights are so much better and easier.
 

bluebird

Senior Member
I'm glad technology has moved forward! My first attempts at flash were with my old OM-1 and an early manual on-camera sport flash. The results weren't fantastic, and the frustration of trying to write down every setting on every photo so you can sort it all out when you get your pictures back from the photo place (at which point it's too late to fix anything) wasn't my cup of tea. Then I moved to sunny California and put my flash in the bottom of a drawer for the next decade :)

I can't wait to see the new tech!
 
I still have my OM2n and three of the T20 flash units with all the wiring that tied them all together with TTL metering. Was a pretty good system for the time. Even worked with umbrellas.
 

gqtuazon

Gear Head
Both speedlight and 50mm f1.8G will be able to address your concerns which is typical when using a lens with a f3.5-5.6 aperture. The lens needs a lot of light indoor. Bounce lighting will offer a more pleasant image, lowers your ISO, minimizes motion blur, and minimizes red eye. If the price of a Nikon SB 700 is too much, look for used items on craig's list including a Nikon SB 800.

There is a a newly released SB 300 that can be bounced except in portrait mode but you can get a cord to address that issue.

Nikon SB-300 AF Speedlight4810 B&H Photo Video

Vello TTL-Off-Camera Flash Cord for Nikon SLR - 3' (1 m)OCS-N3

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G Lens2199 B&H Photo Video

or the older version Nikon 50mm f1.8D lens

Nikon Normal AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D Autofocus Lens2137 B&H Photo
 

Ijustwant1

Senior Member
Ah yes the good old 50mm 1.8G ! I love mine and will be doing much the same as you but with my granddaughter and mounted on a D5100 , no I am not going to put my granddaughter on the camera :rolleyes:
 

bluebird

Senior Member
I'm having a hard time picturing the end result of switching to the 50mm 1.8G vs adding a speedlight. Would someone who has both setups be willing to take the same picture with both of these setups? I would really, really appreciate it!

I know I'll need to start adding flash soon, but if I can put off the flash photography learning curve until I get some vacation time to figure it out, that would be awesome!
 

bluebird

Senior Member
Speaking of craigslist, I just looked and found a "Nikon F 50mm 1.4" lens being sold as part of a kit with an old Nikon F2 35mm film camera. I'm guessing that this is probably the manual-focus version (which is fine with me), but as an F mount lens it should be compatible, right? It's an amazing price!
 
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