Best settings for poorly lit/dark house

[CharmCityRob]

So we will be headed to my in-laws this weekend for our holiday celebration. Their house is fairly old, wood paneling all around and generally dark in all areas of the house. I want to try and get some good pictures and wondering what settings I might look at changing to get optimal quality considering the conditions.

I have a D90 with only the built-in flash right now and am using the kit lens (18-105mm).


what ISO should I start out at? use flash or no? if using flash, what setting (rear?) White Balance? or is it going to be just a matter of firing off some test shots and changing it up until they look decent?

Thanks all

[jbnery6465]

Although I shoot with a Canon, these tips are very general and not camera specific.

The best scenario would be to purchase an external flash unit and bounce the flash off of the ceiling

The 2nd best scenario would to NOT use the pop-up flash (depends on indoor lighting):
- Set ISO at it's highest it'll go without producing noise (for Canon 40D that would be 800, not sure for D90)
- For shots with 1-3 people, use f/2.5 - 4.0
- For group shots, use f/6.3 - 11
- Shutter speed should be between 80-160 to let in enough light but should be enough to not cause camera shake
- Set White Balance to Auto

The last resort is to use the pop-up flash:
- still shoot in manual
- start ISO at 200
- manually decrease the power of the pop-up flash (if possible on D90)

But you are correct, firing some test shots will help you determine which route you need to take.

Hope this helps.