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Old 02-01-2005, 02:08 PM   #4
Mike McCarty Mike McCarty is offline
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Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Posts: 2,674
Quote:
Just the other day I took a photo in low-light and it took forever to click. It was an 'a-ha' moment for me
That should have been an "a-ha" moment. A tenth of a second is an eternity for the aperture to be open. Much movement can take place in this amount of time.

For hand held operation an experienced photographer on solid footing without any wind can manage as low as 1/30 of a second. Not something you want to strive for. You might shoot for 1/60 as a minimum. For tripod use this would not be a problem. That takes care of your end of the camera.

For the other end of the camera -- an adult can hold steady enough for 1/30 but again, it's not something to strive for. Children are a whole other smoke. I would want to be 1/100 of a second and 1/200 would be better for the little ones.

Remember, additional speed does not add any quality to your image. It only allows you to stop the action, subtle as it may be. In fact, if you are using ISO to gain SS you are arguably loosing quality as you go farther up the speed ladder.

I have on my Nikon a feature called "Auto ISO" which allows me to set a minimum shutter speed (say 1/60). If the available light is such that the SS drops below this number it will automatically bump up the ISO until the SS gets to my target minimum. Pretty handy, I don't know if your camera has this. If it does I would recommend you use it. I am so used to managing this manually from my film days I have a hard time letting go.
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