Beginner Lighting issues unless using slow shutter

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Fuju

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So I just got a cheap old HS20EXR to play with manual before deciding if I'm really into this as I was using a Nikon L830 which was fun but wanted to do light painting and long exposure stuff.

One thing I'm a little confused with is under exposed images vs. correct exposure but blurry images. I'm getting my head around apature and shutter speed and a lot of the time to get correct light levels I'm having to use slower speeds such as 1/8 or 1/15 etc. I took a picture of my cat on the work surface and the light was great but when he was on the floor and light was slightly less I had slow the speeds and so if my had was steady it would blur. This camera seems a little noisey over 400 iso too.

I'm gonna hazard a guess and shoot when there is sufficient light.
 
Yes what you’re experiencing is the relationship between the exposure triangle; Shutter speed, aperture and ISO. If your shutter speed is too slow, like you’re experiencing, you can either open up the aperture more or increase the ISO (or both)

If you’re already at your widest aperture (smallest number) and maximum ISO then you need to find some more light somewhere so the camera is using a longer shutter speed. You can add additional light, whether it’s ambient or flash to help the situation depending on the look you’re going for, or attempt to move the cat into better light.

Going back to aperture for a second, your lens has a wider aperture when it’s at its widest setting. If you were shooting your photograph zoomed in and were getting a shutter speed of 1/15, you could shoot it wide angle instead and get it at 1/60. Shooting wide angle also helps with motion blur from hands etc. I fully appreciate that wide angle portraits aren’t always the most flattering of photographs!

If you’ve got some sample images of what you’re experiencing we may be able to help some more too :)
 
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This is simple.

Firstly unless you are on a tripod and shooting a static subject, then you need the know what the minimum speed you can handhold is. A lot of people work on the basis of it being a similar speed to a the length of your lens. i.e. for a 200mm lens then 1/200 of a second. Although personally as a newbie I wouldn't advise going slower that 1/125

Assuming that you don't have enough light and need to go slower, you then have a few choices.

1. Use a tripod - Disadvantages. May not help with a moving subject like a model, and of course restriction of fluid movement.
2. Open up the aperture - Disadvantages - shallower depth of field
3. Raise the ISO - Disadvantages - addition of noise, poorer colour rendition.
4. Add light one or another.
5. Use a better quality lens.
6. Use a lens with image stabilisation (will give a little improvement)

You need to decide whats best in your situation. And the answer is often a combination of few of the of the above.
 
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