Beginner What am I doing wrong?

NickTB

NickTB

Messages
3,107
Name
Nick
Edit My Images
Yes
I've just bought a canon 1ds mkii along with a canon 50mm f1.4. When shooting in AV mode all my shots are coming out dark, almost with a heavy vignette. I've uploaded a sample here that I had to bring out in pp as it was so dark. Any ideas?

Edit from Flickr

Aperture 1.4

ISO 320

Shutter speed 1/6400

Focal length 50mm

Auto white balance
 
Last edited:
You can expect some vignetting when the lens is wide open.
I do not understand why you would set the ISO to 320. 100 or 200 would give both sharper and less noisy results.
It would also bring the shutter speed down to a reasonable level.
If they are too dark before pp. You have the exposure wrong.
That can be either how you are using it, or the way it is set up.
 
ISO was set at that level as I neglected to set it. Years of automatic everything will do that to you! I've taken on board the comments and taken a few more. As soon as the kids are in bed I'll post a sample
 
So this has the following information on Flickr

Aperture 1.8

ISO 100

Shutter speed 1/30

Focal length 50mm

Needed the smallest amount of brightening but a big improvement already
 
NickTB said:
So this has the following information on Flickr

Aperture 1.8

ISO 100

Shutter speed 1/30

Focal length 50mm

Needed the smallest amount of brightening but a big improvement already
Click to expand...


It has a bright background so the camera will naturally under-expose the subject a bit. Centre-weighted or spot metering would help.
 
might i suggest to also adjust your f stop a little. 1.8 is very shallow dof and this shows in both your portrait shots where they are slightly out of focus. just becasue you ahve 1.4 doesnt mean you should always use it especially if shooting indoor or overcast days when as much as its nice to get as much light to the sensor you are sacrificing depth of field for that privilege and as such the shots are suffering from it.
i would suggest to adjust to around 2.8- 3.5. if a little dull or indoors you can adjust ISO up to 200 . this will then stll reatin good background blur and boken but give a sharper subject.
also rule of thumb is shutter speed should be equal to or greater than focal length so you want to be looking at 1/60th sec and above handheld on the 50mm lens. If at say f/3.5 you cant achieve that then up the iso a little and try again or consider using some off camera flash for a little fill light to brighten up the shot.
 
I like your new shot. Though it is a little soft it suits the subject.
It take a little experience to hold a camera absolutely steady at 1/30 second even with inbuilt shake control.

Every thing becomes a compromise when you shoot in low light.
I used a monopod for this shot It was 1/8 sec at F3.2 and ISO 400
Even then I had to compromise on depth of field.

 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top