Best camera for low light pictures?

[deknor]

Hello all.

I have a blog about gastronomy.  I visit a lot of restaurants and take pictures of pretty much everything I eat.  And in most cases, those pictures need to be taken without any kind of flash and at somewhat dark rooms.

Which mode would be best for these conditions?

It is also important to mention that I only have some basic understanding of photography.

Thanks in advance,

Marcus

[ScottyP]

I am assuming you have a Canon Rebel?  What is your budget?

If you are taking photos of plates of food while seated at the table, not drawing attention to yourself by standing up and setting up the shot, you need two things in a lens:

1.)  ability to focus at short range, and

2.)  wide maximum aperature (low f/number).

Probably a prime (fixed-focal length) lens rather than a zoom.  They are smaller, cheaper, and have wider apertures.  Wide apertures let in more light, and that is what you need if flash is not an option.

You want to check the minimum focus distance of the lens, and you might want to get an actual macro lens such as the Canon 50 mm macro or the Canon EF-s 60mm macro.  Macro lenses can focus just a few inches from the subject and are good for taking shots of small things close-up.

[cicopo]

Agree with above but on top of that I highly recommend that you take a bit of time to learn that specific area of photography. A Google search on tips & tricks for natural light photography or something worded similarly should bring lots of sites up with the info you need. It's really not that difficult once you have a grasp on the rules in play. An hour or 2 of reading might make a huge improvement in your results but cost you nothing more than your time.

If on the other hand you don't have the camera (as assumed above) the ideal camera / lens combo will have low noise at high ISO settings and if at all possible Image Stabilizing.

[deknor]

Hi Scott.  Thanks for the reply.

Right now I have a Sony NEX-5N.

As for budget, I could go as high as needed.

I did some research and it seems the EF 100mm f2.8L IS USM Macro lens is what I need.  It has the image stabilizer, which would be very useful.

I just don't know which camera I need.  Rebel T4i?  Something else?

What would you recommend?

[ScottyP]

If you want a Canon camera for use in low light, and your budget can go as high as needed...(a dangerous statement!)... you might want to go full frame.  That would be a 6D ($1,850 or so) or a 5D3 ($3,000 or so). 

Full frame cameras have a sensor that is the same size as an old 35mm film exposure.  So-called "crop-frame" cameras have a sensor that is a bit smaller than that, and they are less expensive (Rebel series bodies, also 60D and 7D).  The drawback that turned me off of my crop body and made me buy full-frame was the superior low-ligiht ability of full-frame.  My old T3i did not give acceptable image quality above ISO 800, and really I didin't like it above ISO 400.  My FF 6D on the other hand looks good to me up to ISO 3200, and even ISO 6400 looks pretty good.  That spread means I am happy shooting in 1/8th or even 1/16th the light I needed before.

For a lens, I would reccomend a prime.  They work better in low light than a zoom, are also smaller, and they are also less expensive and generally have better image quality too.  You would need one of about 50mm, or maybe 85mm, with a minimum focal distance small enough to let you shoot from close to your plate without having to stand up and act conspicuously.  The 100mm macro would make sense too, although you might have to stand a bit back from the table.  A 100mm macro would make a small flower or a beetle fill your frame from short distance.  If you have a camera store that carries a full-frame Canon and a lens that will let you try out 100mm, give it a test run before you buy.

Is FF within your budget, or did I over-sell you?  If so, you could probably do OK with a T4i and a prime lens.  Just make sure you allow for the 1.6x focal length multiplier effect you get with a crop frame.  A 100mm lens on a crop frame works like a 160mm lens, for example, and you would have to stand back a bit to shoot a table setting with that setup.

Does that help at all?

[deknor]

Hi Scott.

Thanks, that helps immensely.

The price is within my budget, yes.  My only concern is being able to take full advantage of the camera.  Are they hard to use?  Can a beginner like me use them properly if I take some time to learn how to use it?  Or would I need to find a professional to teach me?

Finally, if they aren't super hard to use, do you think I should go for the 6D or the 5D3?

Once again, thanks a lot for the help.

Marcus

[cicopo]

Well said Scott, and I agree with what I can since I haven't shot a Canon Macro lens but agree that a small part of the meal would fill the frame since they are designed for the tiny stuff. If you can afford the 5D3 it's the better body based on everything I've read & I have seen some very nice examples of what it can do at ISO 12800. It also does just about everything else a Canon DSLR could do very well BUT it's going to be the very same learning curve until you want to get more serious about your photos. Button lay out may be different between the different bodies but the menu system & what the controls do will be very similar.

[ScottyP]

It is not hard to learn.  I would buy a guide book for your exact camera model.  There are at least 3 publishers that release a book for every Canon camera model.  The user manual that comes with the camera tells you where all the buttons are, but largely presupposes that you know what all the buttons actually do.  The "Dummies" guide, etc., will explain their function and purpose.

I would also use free tutorials on Google Videos.  There are thousands of 3 to 10 minute free videos out there, some professional and some done by amateurs.  Watching something is much easier than reading about it, as far as I am concerned.  You can also buy a complete set of lessons on DVD or download.

Keep the "Exposure Triangle" in mind and it all falls into place.  The camera is just a box letting light in to hit the sensor.  It takes a certain quantity of light to make a good image.  Think of the light as water flowing into the camera, and the sensor as a tray of buckets that need to be filled all the way, but not too little and not too much making them overflow. 

There are 3 ways to control the amount of light flowing into the camera:  Aperture (the size of the opening into the camera), Duration (the length of time the camera (shutter) is open), and Sensitivity (The ISO setting on the sensor, on which you can increase its sensitivity). 

But it is a balancing game.  You can't have the best of all 3 on any one shot.  Kind of like that sign on someone's office at work saying:  "You can have it fast.  You can have it done right.  You can have it cheap.  Pick any two." 

A wide aperture lets in more light, but it narrows your plane of focus so less and less is in focus.  You are also limited in how wide you can go by the maximum aperture of your particular lens.  If you want a narrower aperture so everything is in focus, you have to set a slower shutter.

A slow shutter lets in more light, but too slow and you get a blurry photo.  A fast shutter stops blur, but will require a wider aperture to compensate.

ISO sensitivity lets you shoot in lower light, but only up to the point your particular camera can handle it and still deliver a quality image.  The higher the ISO setting, the more "digital noise" it creates and the less detail you have in your photo.

You can let the camera make all, some, or none of these decisions for you.  In Av (Aperture Value) for example, you set the aperture, and the camera automatically sets a shutter speed to suit that aperture.  In Tv (Time Value) setting, you set the shutter speed you want, and the camera sets the aperture to suit your shutter.

But it is fun.  Not that hard at all once you start messing with it.

[cicopo]

Scott, nicely done again. Having progressed through several bodies over the years I do find that the manuals have got much better in TEACHING more basics but I'm sure many would benefit from a good book which they can attack 1 new step at a time. Having been schooled in the days of film I found the water in the cups to be a pretty nice way to look at exposure.

[deknor]

Scott / Cicopo,

Thanks a lot.  This has been extremely helpful.

I will post again once I had the opportunity to learn a little about the camera.  Hopefully I can make you guys proud 🙂

Cheers!