Focus And Flash Questions

[No Crust Racing]

We've got a D90, I'm using the standard 18-55mm that comes with the camera and I'm finding that one of the things that's catching me out when snapping away is how long the lense takes to focus.

I don't see any specific settings to assist with this beyond selecting centre weighting instead of dynamic focus. Is this just a characteristic of the lens?

Should I be looking for a "faster" lens? (I wouldn't mind an 18-100 (we already have a 55-200)

Regarding flash, is shelling out for a decent flash going to improve my low light shots as much as I think it will in my head, vague question I know. The standard flash seems to lack a bit of depth plus without minutely controlling the intensity for every shot it's easy to end up with hard shadows behind the subject.

I note that wedding photographers and the like use a better quality flash and appear to aim it upwards on an angle more often than aiming it AT the subject.

Some clarification on this would be great.

I'm still coming to terms with controlling all the aspects of the camera to get some good shots but I'm getting there slowly.

I imagine it's just me but it also seems that even people with the same experience as me are getting cleaner shots from similarly priced Canon's...

Anyone else using a D90 and getting great snaps want to make me feel better about ownership? lol

Cheers

[siddr20]

You will find that kit lens will hunt a little bit longer in low light condition. In day light It shouldnt be slow to focus.

Get yourself a nice cheap 50mm prime for low light stuff.

I have no idea about nikons so cant help you with what model flash etc to get. Im sure a few here use nikons..

The point of aiming the flash upwards is to bounce the light of a ceiling. This way its not a direct flash at the subject which is unflattering and creates harsh shadows.

Regarding flash, is shelling out for a decent flash going to improve my low light shots as much as I think it will in my head, vague question I know. The standard flash seems to lack a bit of depth plus without minutely controlling the intensity for every shot it's easy to end up with hard shadows behind the subject.

Yes it will surely help buying a decent flash!!!!

Be sure to read this blog also: http://strobist.blogspot.com/

Edited April 11, 2011 by siddr20

[No Crust Racing]

I've been through very large portions of the manual and it tells you basic things about the feature in itself but not a whole lot in depth about what you should be doing and when, of course that all comes with experience.

As for the focus, I notice sometimes that the lens appears to go through it's entire range of focus before it settles on the right setting.

Something I would like more of is clarity in the shots, especially when shooting a subject from say 2-4m away (usually people at social events). I'm not using a tripod yet and didn't think it 'should' be necessary from this range (the lens is a VR lense so does make some effort to reduce motion blur from instability of the holder).

I also struggle with the seemingly age old issue of blur due to the shutter being open too long in low light conditions, or on the other hand having the iso up and getting too much noise.

[ZENNON]

Lens:

Yeah some lenses are just worse than others.. my 18-70 for example is awesome (when there is light) whereas my 105mm macro lens is actually quite bad - so normally i just manual focus.. that might be something you could try? Also I think the getting a nifty fifty is an awesome idea - would highly suggest this before buying a flash..

Flash:

I'd only suggest getting a flash if you are serious about photography or do a lot of indoor photography (or have money you have to spend)!

They are called SB-XXX, where the higher the number the better the flash: ie SB-400, SB-600, SB-700 (think this one is new as I didn't actually know about it until I just checked DDP), SB-900 (there is to be a SB-800 but I think the 900 replaced it)

Blur vs ISO

Yes know exactly what you mean - I was taking some photo's at work last week and had the same issue (as I didn't want to use the flash) - in this case you have to realise that noisy photo's (high ISO) is always better than a blurry photo. Also the auto iso can be very useful here.. turn it on.. and set the max ISO you wanna go up to eg 1600 and the min shutter speed ie 1/125 or whatever - open the aperture right up and then go from there..

Edited April 11, 2011 by ZENNON

[No Crust Racing]

Excuse my ignorance but what is a nifty fifty/prime 50mm lens?

Is this just a fixed 50mm lens, no adjusting for zoom in or out?

Edited April 11, 2011 by ActionDan

[gr8whiterb26]

Excuse my ignorance but what is a nifty fifty/prime 50mm lens?

Is this just a fixed 50mm lens, no adjusting for zoom in or out?

you just answered your own question mate The 50mm is a nice cheap, fast, sharp lens. Everyone should have this in their camera bag

[bloodsword27]

i like to use external (attachment) flashes also to overcome issues with using wide lenses or when you have big lens hoods. in my case, the canon 24-70 is already a large lens, coupled with the hood its a large potrusion from the body. when using the internal flash, the lens and hood covers a portion of the light flashed and causes a big shadow. using the external flash unit overcomes this issue

also flash can come in handy for outdoors too to light up shadowed sections of the subject or under exposed parts of the image

[No Crust Racing]

I had a play last night taking shots of some autoart disc brake rotors from the couch (about 1.5m away) and used the camera completely on manual mode testing combinations of shutter speeds and aperture (left iso in auto mode with an upper max of 800) using manual focus with no flash in low light and managed to get some really clear shots which really surprised me.

I think I might have a bit more practice using manual focus and the camera in manual mode when next in low light, it's restored my confidence that this camera can take some decent shots straight off the camera (as in no post processing).

[MaTBoY]

In my opinion a flash will open more doors for creativity than an extra lens. Flashes are awesome. it's ok to snap a shot of whats happening, but with light you can create what you want to show and highlight. flashes are awesome. i'd recommend getting a flash or 2 before you get better lenses. I know it's backwards to what everyone says but the sooner you start controlling light the better off you'll be. heaps of my shots are taken on a kit lens, the difference is i place the light where i want/need it. Makes all the difference.

However... using flashes requires patience and persistance. If you just want to run around snapping randomness then perhaps a lens is better.