Indoor shooting woes

[SLR_neophyte]

I've just returned from the Shanghai Expo, and I must say I am quite frustrated with indoor photography. My fiance and I visited several pavilions and quite often her little point-and-shoot (Sony Cybershot) was taking better photos than my Pentax K-x DSLR. I played around with several different settings and experimented with different things but nothing turned out the way I wanted it to. I was in P mode, Auto mode, Manual mode, always trying different things to get an indoor photo to turn out nice, but always frustrated that my fiancé's compact digital did a better job. In many of the buildings the use of flash was prohibited. I also prefer to not use flash because it seems that whenever I do the subject would be too bright and the backgrounds too dark. If however I opted to not use the flash then my shutter speed would always be set too slow so that I'd need a tripod. When you're in crowds of people trying to visit inside different buildings, there's no time to set-up a tripod just for that quick shot you want. I guess my question is what are the best settings for these types of photos to turn out nice? I looked at some of the shots on the compact digital to view the photo information. About the only thing that I could conclude to be different from the settings on my DSLR was that the aperture had a wider opening (max 2.8) whereas on my Pentax the widest setting is 3.5. Is there a way for me to take properly exposed photos in indoor locations without using a flash, and without needing slower shutter speeds where I risk blurring an image because of not holding the camera steady enough? I tried playing around with adjusting the ISO, EV compensation, and several different shooting modes, but could never find one that took as good a photo as the Sony compact - the indoor photos taken on that camera (without flash) are brighter, clearer, and overall look better than the ones taken with my Pentax.

[RichardTaylor]

For shooting in conditions like that I would be using a fast lens (around F2 or faster) wide open at a very high ISO >=1600 for starters.
I would take what ever shutter speed I could get but try to keep it above 1/30 second.
Also shoot RAW so you have more leeway when PPing.

[SLR_neophyte]

What do you mean by a "fast lens?" Do different lenses have different speeds? When you say "around F2 or faster" is this a lens speed, or are you talking about aperture value?

[SLR_neophyte]

Originally Posted by RichardTaylor

For shooting in conditions like that I would be using a fast lens (around F2 or faster) wide open at a very high ISO >=1600 for starters.
I would take what ever shutter speed I could get but try to keep it above 1/30 second.
Also shoot RAW so you have more leeway when PPing.

By "fast lens" are you saying that different lenses have different speeds? You mention "around F2 or faster." Is this a lens speed, or are you referring to aperture value?

[dcclark]

Yes, your problem was basically a slow lens. Indoors, f/3.5 will almost guarantee you a VERY slow shutter speed every single time. Sometimes bumping the ISO up (as Richard noted) will help, other times it's too little, too late.

Your best bet, in such a situation, is to get a faster lens -- for example, a f/1.8 or f/1.4 prime. Those will open up wide enough to at least let you get a sensible shutter speed. For example, with my f/1.8 35mm (Nikon), I can usually get up to 1/20 or 1/30 second in normal (not bright) indoor lighting. Practice holding your camera steady, and that should help a lot.

[RichardTaylor]

The lower the F number(it is a ratio) the more light the lens will gather
For example an F2 lens will gather (in an instant) more than twice the amount of light of your F3.5 lens. A F1.4 lens will gather twice the amount of light an F2 lens does.

Here is a very basic intro to lenses (written by me)
Flickr: Discussing (1) Intro: Lenses: in Richard_Taylor

[SLR_neophyte]

thanks a lot for the replies and information. I guess for now I am bound by my kit lens until I can afford some new gear. I do have one other mode on my camera I was wondering about (SV - sensitivity priority mode)...would you suggest maybe trying that one for low light indoor shooting?

[RichardTaylor]

Not familiar with pentax sensitive priority mode. However if it allows you to select an ISO (maximum) and the camera does the rest then give it a try. Just make sure your shutter speed doesn't drop too low to allow you to hand hold without camera movement.

[Jim Bryant]

Originally Posted by SLR_neophyte

By "fast lens" are you saying that different lenses have different speeds? You mention "around F2 or faster." Is this a lens speed, or are you referring to aperture value?

Fast lenses are with f-stops in the range from f1.2-f2.8.

[sk66]

Keep in mind the P&S probably produced "better" images because they are highly "optimized" by the camera software where your DSLR is doing much less "in camera"...

To use your flash with good results, turn it down...(- exposure compensation)

Use a faster lens or bump the ISO....and you will need to "optimize" in post to get the best results... But an f/3.5 lens is a bit slow for less than optimum light...even f 2.8 won't be that much of an improvement...