low light question AGAIN :)

[jake]

ive posted on this forum mostly on questions regarding low light, i missed a picture of a BIG!!! buck because of it, but i was also totally ill prepared, no tripod. i seem to have the major problem of trying to adjust the shutter speed to get the low light pictures i am looking for, and not all of them are at dusk or right when the sun comes up, but lets say a really overcast day, all my pictures or most i should say either look way over exposed and bright or  WAY WAY under exposed and really dark, i guess i have two questions, one: is there anything i can do to make this less of a guessing game, or just stick with taking 5-10 pictures until i like the way they look, OR question 2: just get light room and do it all after the fact? mind you i really dont have a fantastic camera, it is a cannon rebel XTI, im saveing all my pennis for a new cannon d40 but have a lot of pennies to go

[popeshawnpaul]

First, you need to set your camera to Av or aperture priority.  You should shoot 90% of your shots in this mode.  If shooting deer or moving animals, shoot with the lens wide open or at the lowest aperture.  F2.8 is good, F5.6 is useable.  It depends on the lens you have.  The camera will automatically select the fastest shutter speed for you.  If you find that your speed is getting below 1/125 or 1/250, bump up your ISO to 400 or higher until your shutter speed gets above 1/250.  If you have IS, you can shoot at slightly slower speeds.

Next, make sure your camera does not have exposure compensation set. 

Next, you want full matrix for your exposure meter.  You want the camera to evaluate the whole picture area and compensate exposure based on the area as a whole.  No spot or center weighted metering.  These just are rarely eneded anymore. 

Do not shoot .jpg in contrasty and tough lighting conditions.  You have to be perfect with your exposure.  While I can give you some tips on exposure, the plain fact is it's easier to shoot raw and adjust exposure in Canon Raw or Lightroom.

Next, shoot one picture and check the exposure on the back of your camera.  Adjust as necessary.  If under overcase skys or situations where there isn't a lot of dynamic range or contrast, your meter should be right on.  Usually it will be backlit situations that throw the meter off on my Canon 40D.

By the way, the camera you have is fine.  It will take just as good of photos as the 40D.  Spend that money on a lens.  Preferably one with a red L on the lens...

Let me know if you need any other advise.  Also, you could post one of these pictures and it might help me evaluate if your meter is off or not...

[yajsab]

Dito what just said.

Also, your camera have the same sensor as the 40D and higher resolution than my 20D.  So I don't think the 40D will take any better pictures.  Like the post above, just spend your $ on good lens (with the "L").

[jake]

some examples of what im dealing with all of these were taken around mid day this fall/winter with tripod

[jake]

and for the record these were all taken with the rebel XTI and 75-300, with out IS and no "L" ha, need the IS and L i guess lol

[popeshawnpaul]

You have some serious issues going there.  Those underexposures are 2 stops at least.  The overexposure is about 1 stop.  I would go in and reset your menu and settings to default.  Then, watch where your exposure lock button is.  My best guess is you are hitting the exposure lock button before you take these pictures so your camera metered on another scene you were pointing at.  I don't know, just a guess.

Either you are doing something wrong your your camera meter is broken.  Does it do this everytime?  Occasionally?  Are you in Av mode?  How do you expose for your photographs?

[jake]

it doesnt do this all the time its just sometimes if the light is being really difficult it gets crazy but i think i was making the mistake of messing around with the iso rather that the aperture, so that is one thing i am going to try differently, i have also defaulted all the settings in my camera i think they were close to that anyway but i think like to said it might be better to start fresh, i noticed that my camera in Av mode will not go down to F2.8 so i'll have to setting with 5.6, which just snapping a few pictures around the hows make a real difference. tomorrow if i happen to get off work when its light outside i'll mess around with it a little to see what happens i really do appricaite you time and input, thanks

[yajsab]

Yeah, those seemed under exposed and over exposed.  For mid-day with good light, I would just keep my iso at 100.  I only bump up the iso in low light if I can't get good exposure.  You can go down to f2.8 if your lens is a 2.8.  Otherwise, you can only go as fast as what the lens is capable of.  I think your lens is an f/4-5.6 depends on what focal length you're at. 

Like Pope said, reset everything to default and try again.  Are you shooting Av mode, Tv mode, or manual?  Perhaps try P mode.  Also, set your metering to evaluate mode instead, if you happened to change it.

Without properly setting your camera, an "L" lens won't help anything.   

[popeshawnpaul]

Yeah, I'm not quite sure you are ready for an L lens yet.  You don't buy your 16 year old daughter a Ferrari...  Not to say you're a kid, but you are fairly new at this type of photography.

Just learn the interplay between ISO, lens speed/aperture, and shutter speed.  All three of these work together to determine your exposure.  Once you got that down, you are good.  Yajsab said it all, you can only shoot as fast as your lens is.  F5.6 probably with your lens.  I try and shoot ISO 100 whenever possible, however, for just a tad more speed the ISO 400 is almost as good of quality on these Canon DSLR's.

[Smokepole]

Not sure why you want to upgrade to a canon 40d.  You have an awesome camera in the xti.  That camera is capable of incredibly sharp photos - high enough quality for nearly any use.  Plenty of pros have cameras way less sophisticated.  Spend your hard-earned money on glass and learn how to use that great camera.  Get an f4 zoom or better a f2.8 is lens, for that type of shot.  I bought a canon 70-200 f4.  It's a great crisp lens, but limited because it's still a tad slow for wildlife shots.  Canon f2.8 70-200 IS with a 2x tele extender is what you need - and a sturdy tripod in dim light.

Snow is tricky.  The camera wants to expose to the snow.  It makes snow gray.  Your can use your exposure compensation to trick the camera into correct exposure.  You want to go over by about 1/2 to a full stop to get it close.  To get it perfect you have to learn photoshop.

Pope has it figured out.  Raw gives you all kinds of flexibility - but it takes a while to master the software.

My best advice is to read the manual of your camera, and get faster glass.  Your camera is a hotrod, so learn to drive it!

Good luck!