With RAW your able to correct things like incorrect exposure, white balance, not to mention the fact that its lossless. I understand that its a more "advanced" process to edit them but with programs like adobe lightroom and even mac's iphoto you can edit the exposure and white balance very easily. Its kinda like never taking your camera off of "auto" sure it works ok but in other modes you get so much more
wow so many people recommend changing the iso settings and that i would not do . . . . . that's just my opinion. There are other ways to compensate for lower light settings like Longer Exposure. Messing with the iso should be a last resort type thing as that will introduce noise (grainy look) to your photos.
It depends on the camera. Some have issues off the minimum, others do well even at 1600 dpi. Although I do not shoot raw much, worse comes to worse if you do not have sufficient light set for worst case iso (what you think your camera can do with objectiional noise, my D90 can do 1600 in a pinch), shoot raw, underexposure, and fix in post processing. There is a lot of detail in an underexposed image (you lose information on over exposure) and can be tweaked. With slow shutter speeds you risk camera shake without a tripod and sometimes you need a small f stop to get the focus correct. Lenses are also usually softer wide open,
I try to minimize the adjustment to a higher ISO but if you don't have a tripod and are given poor light conditions, you don't really have much else to change especially if you're trying to retain a great depth of field. IME, even at 1600 my pictures come out really nice and not as grainy as most DSLR's.
That's my belief too. If you have a tripod, you can leave it at a lower ISO setting. vtec92civic: Tell me how you can do a 1 or 2 second exposure while holding the camera. Unless you have hands like a freaking BRAIN SURGEON, your photo will be blurry as isht from hand shake. A higher ISO setting is a better trade off. DISCLAIMER: I am by no means a professional. In fact, quite the opposite. I only speak from my personal experience. always looking forward to learning new things if you've got something else.
I agree with you there. Over exposed images do lose out on some information. Some cases you want a over exposed photo and sometimes not . . . . depends on what you are shooting and your style of shooting but i do agree with ya. Denzil that also true . . . . there are only so many things that you can really adjust especially when you are in a pinch without a tripod etc . . . . maybe we should start a photo thread and post up some random pics. Pektel . . . . . i wasn't saying for him to try and take a photo like that. I am not a professional but i am into photography and recently got really into it. At certain times i can take a 1-2 second exposure shot and have it come out fairly clear but not every single time. I finally broke out my tripod that i got for christmas and have been using that a lot lately especially on details. I still would like to go out and experiment with some different iso's. My buddy's camera was able to take some very clean pictures with hardly any noise at 3200 iso. I was pretty amazed by that but anyways . . . . only thing to really tell the original poster is take everything said into consideration and slowly start to just mess with the settings. Pictures are free so might as well get a feel for it. Start off shooting in: P (Program mode and see how the camera works) TV (Shutter Priority mode) you choose the shutter speed for your shot and the camera will adjust your aperture for you to match the shot. AV (Aperture Mode) You will choose your depth of field better known as what you want in focus distance wise and what you don't want to be in focus. The Smaller the F-Stop (The Larger the number that is such as F18) the more you will have in focus in your picture. The Larger the F-Stop (The smaller number that is such as F3.5) will have way less in focus and more blurred. M (Manual Mode) this is when you have to set everything for your shot. Remember this though everything goes hand in hand: If you choose to have a Smaller F-Stop such as F18 that closes the hole on the lens so you will need to compensate that with a slower shutter speed to get the proper amount of light into the camera Higher F-Stop like F3.5 will result in a wider opening meaning you can speed up the shutter speed. Hope that helps.
Nice post outlining the basics. DSLR can be very confusing at first! I feel I need to upgrade my camera body (Rebel XT). It does get very grainy at 1600. My biggest subject of learning recently is taking photos of moving subjects in very low light conditions, specifically outdoor music festivals. I think I only have 2 lenses that will work. My 50mm 1.8 and sigma 17-70 f2.8-4.5.
Something that i seem to not understand is this: Say for example you listed a 50mm 1.8 . . . . i have seen some really crisp scenic pictures taken with lenses like that but if it's a 1.8 being that it blurs the background pretty good how can you take scenic shots and have it all crisp and in focus. I still have a lot to learn.
If you focus on infinity then everything from some distance (as what happens in distant scenics) will be in focus so you can shoot wide open. However, most lenses tend to be softer wide open and especially in corners but it depends.
