A little help re; restricted light.
Discussion
Chaps, I'm off to Top Gear and the Classic show this weekend. I'm still getting used to a digital SLR and so really need some advice. With my old SLR's it was simple, I just fiddled about with aperture/shutter speed etc and could see in the viewfinder what the picture would be like. This DSLR is a different beast so taking pictures of the displays will be easy enough, but in the show itself it will be quite dark and I simply won't have time to mess around getting the settings right (ISO as well as the above) could anyone give me a couple of pointers as to what to start off with? Even just a vague idea so I can at least have a head start would be good.
By the way, it's an Olympus E510 and I'll be using a 150mm zoom.
By the way, it's an Olympus E510 and I'll be using a 150mm zoom.
wijit said:
With my old SLR's it was simple, I just fiddled about with aperture/shutter speed etc and could see in the viewfinder what the picture would be like.
It doesn't quite sound like my experience but maybe I was just crap! 
Anyway, I have no idea how dark it will be (pretty dark, I think), so I'd say highest ISO as possible and largest aperture (preferably at least f2.8?) in Aperture priority. If you still can't get fast enough shutter speed, what I tend to do is to underexpose the image, even by -1/3 or -2/3, in order to squeeze in as fast shutter speed as possible. Hope this helps.
Not familiar with the E510, but you should be able to put it in full manual, fiddle with shutter & aperture as you would anyway - somewhere in the viewfinder you've probably got some sort of exposure meter, if it indicates the middle of the scale the camera thinks the shot will be properly composed - note it might not get it right though! take a shot and see.. in some circumstances I'm not worried if the camera indicates that I'm under exposing by a stop.
By the looks of it the exposure meter is next to the "M" at the top of the screen in the picture here: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympuse510/page6....
As a rough guide, keep the shutter speed above focal length (e.g. focal length of 60mm, use 1/60th or higher). If you run out of aperture you'll have to bump ISO.
By the looks of it the exposure meter is next to the "M" at the top of the screen in the picture here: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympuse510/page6....
As a rough guide, keep the shutter speed above focal length (e.g. focal length of 60mm, use 1/60th or higher). If you run out of aperture you'll have to bump ISO.
wijit said:
Cheers guys. Just to compound this, even in manual the ISO max's at 1600 but the aperture won't go below 4.5, probably due to the lens. I think I'll just have to wing it and see if there's anything I can do as and when.
ISO1600 may be selectable but the image might be so grainy it's horrible; do a test. As mentioned crank the aperture as wide as possible (yes 4.5 is a restriction of the lens) and if the various colour light sources bother you, shoot RAW so you can hammer out white balance later. Before you shoot, check what shutter speed you're getting - if it's 1/60th or lower keep steady and below 1/30th, brace the camera on something. After the photo, check it on the monitor, zoom in and see if it's OK for camera shake/not too grainy.Personally I would have thought that a 150mm lens will be a bit on the long side for use at somewhere like the NEC. Do you not have a shorter lens you could use, that would give you possibly two benefits. Firstly, there's a chance that it will have a wider maximum aperture than the 4.5 your 150mm lens is giving you. Secondly, a shorter lens will allow you to use a slightly slower shutter speed before suffering the effects of camera shake.
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