Help with Light Level and 55-200mm lens

Daisy Kenyon

New member
At home indoors: using 2 300Watt bulbs, 1600 ISO, wide open aperture and slow shutter speed on a tri-pod with the pop-up flash---And this lens will not take the picture! It just auto-focuses again and again! How much light does this lens need indoors?!:eek: I am having NO luck indoors with this lens.

Thank you in advance,

Daisy Kenyon
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
Hi Daisy and welcome to the Nikonites Community. When the camera does not focus lock it's usually a problem with subject contrast. All DSLR cameras depend on having sufficient contrast in the subject to achieve focus. As Jack says give us the information on what camera you are using and a description of the subject. Although it could be the lens it's probably not the case.
 

Daisy Kenyon

New member
Maybe it's not the lens so much as the setting in your camera. What camera are you using, by the way? You didn't say. :)

fotojack:

I have a D40x

Thinking about this over night, If I use this lens for indoor use, it will need (at the very least) the SB-600 or 800 flash. Or I may keep this lens for outdoors only and buy a telephoto for low-light/studio Do you have any suggestions for that lens? Auto-focus preferably.
I am going to have to buy the flash whatever I do.

Thank you for responding:eek:
 

Daisy Kenyon

New member
Hi Daisy and welcome to the Nikonites Community. When the camera does not focus lock it's usually a problem with subject contrast. All DSLR cameras depend on having sufficient contrast in the subject to achieve focus. As Jack says give us the information on what camera you are using and a description of the subject. Although it could be the lens it's probably not the case.

I think it is the subject's lack of contrast. Because I was shooting at my white wall background. Thanks. I still need a low-light lens I think and a flash. Thank you!!
 

fotojack

Senior Member
fotojack:

I have a D40x

Thinking about this over night, If I use this lens for indoor use, it will need (at the very least) the SB-600 or 800 flash. Or I may keep this lens for outdoors only and buy a telephoto for low-light/studio Do you have any suggestions for that lens? Auto-focus preferably.
I am going to have to buy the flash whatever I do.

Thank you for responding:eek:

Daisy, low light lenses, what's known as fast glass, are notoriously expensive. You need something in the range of F1.8 or 2.8 for any kind of indoor shooting without a flash..and even then, a flash will always come in handy as a fill light for those nasty shadowy areas one always seem to encounter. As for getting the SB-600.........may I suggest the SB-700 as an alternative? The 600 is no longer in production, so you would be buying old stock, whereas with the 700, you'd be getting a much better flash for just a little more money. Believe me, the 700 is idiot proof to operate! Much easier than the 600. Plus, it comes with 3 or 4 different flash filters.
Getting back to your D40X.....does it not have something in the menu that allows you to up the ISO settings? Please keep me up to date on what you propose to do. I'm really interested.and curious.....as to how this all turns out for you. :)
 

fotojack

Senior Member
One other thing I forgot to mention; there is one fast glass lens that you might want to look into for indoor portraits....the Nikon 50mm 1.8. And it's cheap!! :) Also the 35mm 1.8..........both great for taking portraits indoors.
 
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Sambr

Senior Member
One other thing I forgot to mention; there is one fast glass lens that you might want to look into for indoor portraits....the Nikon 50mm 1.8. And it's cheap!! :) Also the 35mm 1.8..........both great for taking portraits indoors.

I agree these two lens are awesome inexpensive and great IQ I used a 50 1.8 at a concert in Hawaii. As a result I had a lot of great shots even though the venue was poorly lit.
 
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Joseph Bautsch

New member
Daisy, as has been suggested for low light indoor shooting a 35mm or 50mm, f/1.8 lens can't be beat. Something else you might want to try, and something a lot of photographers forget, is to adjust the power of the popup flash. (See page 48 of your users manuel). Flash units try to emulate daylight and as a result you can get some rather harsh results especially indoor. That may be fine for point and shoot, scrapbook, type of photographs. Most indoor lighting comes from overhead fixtures and often causes unwanted shadows. Turn down the pop up flash power so that it is a fill to the indoor light and you will find your indoor shots to have a more pleasing look.
 

Daisy Kenyon

New member
One other thing I forgot to mention; there is one fast glass lens that you might want to look into for indoor portraits....the Nikon 50mm 1.8. And it's cheap!! :) Also the 35mm 1.8..........both great for taking portraits indoors.

Hi fotojack!

I have the 50mm lens and I love it! I get a beautiful image and it seems to magically work in the lowest of light situations. I love it so much that the 50-200mm has been sitting in my bag basically untouched. Soooooooo, I signed up for a meetup.com fashion shoot and thought I better bring that lens out. It picked up nothing with the continuous light set up, and of course I didn't have a strobe for the strobe set up. Luckily, some nice person lent me a lens and an SB-600 flash so the day wasn't a waste!
Thanks for the tip on the SB-700! My goal is the short term (first off camera flash) and the long term (being able to use that flash in the future for a complete strobe set up.

sure appreciate the help :)
 

Daisy Kenyon

New member
Most indoor lighting comes from overhead fixtures and often causes unwanted shadows. Turn down the pop up flash power so that it is a fill to the indoor light and you will find your indoor shots to have a more pleasing look.

Thank you Joseph! I will need to look up how to turn up or down the flash power!
 

Daisy Kenyon

New member
I agree these two lens are awesome inexpensive and great IQ I used a 50 1.8 at a concert in Hawaii. As a result I had a lot of great shots even though the venue was poorly lit.

Love my 50mm also! I am thinking about the 35mm too and now Nikon is coming out with a 40mm and I think (not sure) it is auto-focus. I should go to that forum.
 

fotojack

Senior Member
Love my 50mm also! I am thinking about the 35mm too and now Nikon is coming out with a 40mm and I think (not sure) it is auto-focus. I should go to that forum.

Ummm...save your money and don't buy the 40mm. Not worth it. It doesn't have the best reviews out there. You have the 50....stickwith that. You'll be much happier. :)
 

fotojack

Senior Member
Hi fotojack!

I have the 50mm lens and I love it! I get a beautiful image and it seems to magically work in the lowest of light situations. I love it so much that the 50-200mm has been sitting in my bag basically untouched. Soooooooo, I signed up for a meetup.com fashion shoot and thought I better bring that lens out. It picked up nothing with the continuous light set up, and of course I didn't have a strobe for the strobe set up. Luckily, some nice person lent me a lens and an SB-600 flash so the day wasn't a waste!
Thanks for the tip on the SB-700! My goal is the short term (first off camera flash) and the long term (being able to use that flash in the future for a complete strobe set up.

sure appreciate the help :)

Well, this is where the SB-700 will shine. It has the Commander Mode built into it and....................you know what? Google the SB-700, or go to the Nikon web site and read up on what it can do. You'll be amazed. :) It will explain it much better than I can.
I hate to see people waste money on stuff they don't need. Better to spend it on something that you'll get full use out of.
 

Daisy Kenyon

New member
Ummm...save your money and don't buy the 40mm. Not worth it. It doesn't have the best reviews out there. You have the 50....stick with that. You'll be much happier. :)
OK. I agree. It's just harder to get a full body shot of someone with that lens. (50mm) The 35mm is so cheap I could really use it for architecture. But I heard it is not good for portraits because it distorts the facial features in a weird way.:confused:
 

fotojack

Senior Member
OK. I agree. It's just harder to get a full body shot of someone with that lens. (50mm) The 35mm is so cheap I could really use it for architecture. But I heard it is not good for portraits because it distorts the facial features in a weird way.:confused:

You can't get a good body shot with the 50??? hmmm.....maybe you're not standing back far enough. :) And the 35mm is awesome for portraits! It was made for portraits! Ask anyone that owns one. :)
For architecture, I'd go for the 11-16 Tokina, or even the 24mm Nikon. Just my opinion, of course. :)
 

Daisy Kenyon

New member
You can't get a good body shot with the 50??? hmmm.....maybe you're not standing back far enough. :) And the 35mm is awesome for portraits! It was made for portraits! Ask anyone that owns one. :)
For architecture, I'd go for the 11-16 Tokina, or even the 24mm Nikon. Just my opinion, of course. :)

You can stand back far enough but I hate losing detail in the model's face when I do that.
Thank you for the flash info above. I will pursue the SB-700! (and the 35mm) Thanks for all the helpful info.! You are marvelous:cool:
 

fotojack

Senior Member
You can stand back far enough but I hate losing detail in the model's face when I do that.
Thank you for the flash info above. I will pursue the SB-700! (and the 35mm) Thanks for all the helpful info.! You are marvelous:cool:

You're most welcome, pretty lady. And stop.........you're making me blush! :)
 

Daisy Kenyon

New member
You're most welcome, pretty lady. And stop.........you're making me blush! :)

Do you have any idea why the lady who lent me a lens and sb-600 flash stopped me from taking a vertical shot? Shouldn't the flash head swivel or turn? don't tell me you are stuck with a horizontal shot!

No you are marvelous, helping all these people.
 

fotojack

Senior Member
Why she stopped you, I have no idea! You certainly can take a vertical shot with the flash on. She obviously doesn't know what she's talking about.

And thank you for the kind compliment. :) I'm still blushing. :)
 
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