D700 indoor/low light settings??

I am new to D700 and I will shoot a bunch of friends having dinner, so it will be low light. What is the optimal setting for this. Currently I have one lens and it's the 50mm f/1.8.

Here is my take on the settings for this dinner

Auto ISO: On
Max Sensitivity: 6400
Min Shutter Speed:1/400
Aperture Priority
AF: Release + Focus
AF-S: Release
Dynamic AF area: 3D 51 points

Please advise.
Thanks

With the 50 you could slow down your minimum shutter speed to about 1/125 and go even lower if things are not moving too fast and you've got a steady hand. For the iso, I'd try to keep it to 3200 if the light permits it. You'll want to play with your aperture to stay within these parameters and you should be fine. Let us know how it went.

chowchow said:

I am new to D700 and I will shoot a bunch of friends having dinner, so it will be low light. What is the optimal setting for this. Currently I have one lens and it's the 50mm f/1.8.

Here is my take on the settings for this dinner

Auto ISO: On
Max Sensitivity: 6400
Min Shutter Speed:1/400
Aperture Priority
AF: Release + Focus
AF-S: Release
Dynamic AF area: 3D 51 points

Please advise.
Thanks

Click to expand...

With those settings and without the use of flash, the output will be really, really dark! You can try it in your dining room with just incandescent lights on and see what you get.

The 50mm might work if you move further back depending on how many people are there in the group.

Here is a sample shot during a dinner with my wife. The restaurant was really dark. You can say candle light but the actual scene was a lot darker. I used the RAW file to increase the brightness a bit. Higher ISO will give you a lot of noise in a dark scene. Better if you use lower shutter or use flash.

1. D700 + Sigma 85mm f1.4 @ f2, 1/25, ISO 2,200

Get a Luna Pro SBC and be done with all the guessing!!!

All right guys, please view my gallery and critique. All these pics are taken in Berkeley, CA. Now I am new to the D700 and still learning how to fine tuned it. So any suggestions will be appreciated. I was using the 50mm f1.8 for these shoots.

You don't need to faff around with light meters..... ramp up the ISO and shoot wide, but bear in mind the shallow dof if shooting a group of people. A f1.4 might be worth an upgrade, that would make a huge difference.

Paul @ White Petal

chowchow said:

All right guys, please view my gallery and critique. All these pics are taken in Berkeley, CA. Now I am new to the D700 and still learning how to fine tuned it. So any suggestions will be appreciated. I was using the 50mm f1.8 for these shoots.

Click to expand...

I had a look at your gallery and think you could bring your iso up to at least 1600. At 1.8, the depth of field is very thin and sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn't. When working in dark environment like the chess games, make sure you expose to get enough details. I find these underexposed (think the lights in the shot fooled your meter). Review your shots and look at the histogram so that you end up with enough exposure to be able to make nice prints.

Best of luck with your project.