Oly E-620 Low light shots Not working so well

[nissanman]

Hi guys,

So ive tried a few low light, night shots this afternoon.

Didnt turn out the best. After some help.

Gear:

Olympus E-620
Lens- Zuiko 14-42mm
2gb CF Card

Setup im trying:

Manual mode
F4.0
+0.7 (??)
3 (this is shutter speed but not sure what is it in x/xth ??)
ISO 1000



Here are the images:







Any help or critiquing is More than welcome.

As you can see the images are dull, blurry and even more blurry in some parts.

Im still reading the Olympus Book

Cheers,

J

[piXelatedEmpire]

I have the same camera (since January this year) and really enjoy it. Admittedly I don't do much night shooting. However, the issues you are experiencing with blur are due to your very slow shutter speed (which reads as 1/3)

Did you have IS turned on? Tripod/Monopod?

[Scotty72]

Hoping not to touch off a war of words here

Agree with the above comment.

This is most likely due to the very slow shutter speed (assuming you are hand holding or have an el-cheapo tripod).

A shutter reading of 3 means 1/3 sec (way too slow for hand holding or on el-cheapo tripods)

The first two shots probably needs a bigger depth of field (bigger F:#) try 7-10 (more for #2) or something similar (depends on the focal length etc).

Also, at ISO 1000, you are seriously pushing the limits of the 4/3 sensor.

Does this mean throw the Oly away? Of course not but, get yourself a sturdy tripod, a remote trigger (even if a cheapy from flea-bay) and then try hard to understand the relationship between ISO, shutter speed and apperture on exposure (and also, the consequences of high ISO and what noise correction will do)

Good luck

Scotty

[piXelatedEmpire]

Also, at ISO 1000, you are seriously pushing the limits of the 4/3 sensor.

I'd respectfully disagree, the E620 is one of the best 4/3rds sensors, and I've shot nice clean images up to ISO 1600 without too much hassle. Admittedly, not at night, however.

[Scotty72]

I'd respectfully disagree, the E620 is one of the best 4/3rds sensors, and I've shot nice clean images up to ISO 1600 without too much hassle. Admittedly, not at night, however.

Can we agree then, that it would be best (regardless of sensor) to get a good tripod thus allowing the ISO to be dialled down, the shutter speed to be dailled up and a crisper image taken?

Scotty

[nissanman]

Great help guys!
Thanks

Scotty72 - I think youve hit the nail on the head, thanks for helping out with my shutter speeds.

I found that when i went to a f10 etc it wouldn't pick up the light, so chucked ISO up, slowed shutter speed and got worse blur.

Ill keep at it and explore how perhaps exposure compensation may help... ?

Thanks to all.

[Scotty72]

Great help guys!
Thanks

Scotty72 - I think youve hit the nail on the head, thanks for helping out with my shutter speeds.

I found that when i went to a f10 etc it wouldn't pick up the light, so chucked ISO up, slowed shutter speed and got worse blur.

Ill keep at it and explore how perhaps exposure compensation may help... ?

Thanks to all.

If you are shooting in MANUAL mode then there is no exposure compensation.

What that is, is the camera (when in one of the priority modes) adjusting the other setting to either allow more / light onto the sensor. When in FULL AUTO, it will adjust both automatically.

Unless I'm missing something, you can't adjust exp comp (unless you are thinking of flash comp). Because, when you do the manual settings, YOU decide how much above or below level exposure you want.

Scotty

[piXelatedEmpire]

Can we agree then, that it would be best (regardless of sensor) to get a good tripod thus allowing the ISO to be dialled down, the shutter speed to be dailled up and a crisper image taken?

Sure, why not, think I might have mentioned similar in my first post

[peterb666]

I do a lot of very long exposures with my E-P1 which uses the same sensors. A sturdy tripod, low ISO and long exposures are the key.

Unless you need to have short exposures, stick to ISO100 and ISO200. I do the occassional ISO400 but don't venture to ISO1600 at night unless I am doing hand-held work (which is very rare).

Also make sure you don't have continuous shooting turned on as that turns off noise processing.

[Rosh]

There is so much to rember with low light. The biggest thing is to turn of IS so the camera does not compensate.

[Rosh]

Oh i forgot to mention, if you have a remote use that or use self timer to take the shot. Then there will be no camera shake as you wont be depressing the camera button.

[swifty]

There's a few issues here. The blur may be due to one or combination of:
1. camera shake 2. subject movement 3. DOF.
To eliminate 1, you either need a faster shutter speed (and upping iso and/or wider aperture to compensate at the expense noise and DOF respectively), or a sturdier support (ie. good tripod).
2. To eliminate subject movement you need a faster shutter speed. In all 3 photos, there are leaves/branches that are very likely to have some movement during the exposure. The more movement, the faster the shutter speed you require. And the faster your shutter speed, the more you'll need to compensate your exposure with ISO and/or aperture.
3. To increase DOF, you need to use a smaller aperture, among things. But now you're letting in less light so you need to compensate by increasing ISO and/or lengthening the shutter speed.

As you can see, there's no hard and fast rule on the perfect setting. Doing one thing will affect something else. You just need to understand what each setting does and select your best compromise.
A quick note on exposure compensation. It biases the camera's meter but in manual mode, it will only indicate (usually in your viewfinder) where your exposure is based on current exposure settings. It will not compensate your settings automatically like in the auto and semi-auto modes eg. Program, Shutter and Aperture.

[nissanman]

I do a lot of very long exposures with my E-P1 which uses the same sensors. A sturdy tripod, low ISO and long exposures are the key.

Unless you need to have short exposures, stick to ISO100 and ISO200. I do the occassional ISO400 but don't venture to ISO1600 at night unless I am doing hand-held work (which is very rare).

Also make sure you don't have continuous shooting turned on as that turns off noise processing.

Thanks mate. Ive done a few more and there getting better

Oh i forgot to mention, if you have a remote use that or use self timer to take the shot. Then there will be no camera shake as you wont be depressing the camera button.

Yea i use a 2 sec delay, cheers

There's a few issues here. The blur may be due to one or combination of:
1. camera shake 2. subject movement 3. DOF.
To eliminate 1, you either need a faster shutter speed (and upping iso and/or wider aperture to compensate at the expense noise and DOF respectively), or a sturdier support (ie. good tripod).
2. To eliminate subject movement you need a faster shutter speed. In all 3 photos, there are leaves/branches that are very likely to have some movement during the exposure. The more movement, the faster the shutter speed you require. And the faster your shutter speed, the more you'll need to compensate your exposure with ISO and/or aperture.
3. To increase DOF, you need to use a smaller aperture, among things. But now you're letting in less light so you need to compensate by increasing ISO and/or lengthening the shutter speed.

As you can see, there's no hard and fast rule on the perfect setting. Doing one thing will affect something else. You just need to understand what each setting does and select your best compromise.
A quick note on exposure compensation. It biases the camera's meter but in manual mode, it will only indicate (usually in your viewfinder) where your exposure is based on current exposure settings. It will not compensate your settings automatically like in the auto and semi-auto modes eg. Program, Shutter and Aperture.

Great help mate, appreciate your time. That's very informative

[peterb666]

Yea i use a 2 sec delay, cheers

I also dial in some "anti-shock", it would be even more important in the E-620 as you have a mirror that needs to be moved out of the way. Try a couple of seconds.

[nissanman]

Anti-shock, i havnt used that yet but seen it in the menu.

Will read up on it

Cheers

[Scotty72]

I just moves the mirror then, waits a second or two (or until you again press remote button) before taking the shot. Believe it or not the movement of the mirror will shake the camera minutely - esp with a long lens attached, this is noticeable.

Scotty

[peterb666]

With Live View, it also closes the shutter curtin too so you don't have the combination shock of both the closing and re-opening of the shutter curtin immediately before the start of the exposure - just the opening.