best way to take high speed photography - low light

[Jejunum]

I would like to be able to take some high speed photography tomorrow in low light conditions. If anyone has some feedback on how to improve my chances of getting a nice shot please jump in.

Current settings:

manual focus @ 7.1 feet (hyper focal length calculated using http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html-> everything past this point should be clear)

ISO 400 (pictures will be shrunk later so extra noise is ok)

high speed continuous selected

no flash (my thought is that the camera will have to wait to recharge in between shots)

tripod available...

please jump in if you have further / better settings.

BTW: I will be taking pictures of a tae kwon do demonstration - concrete breaking and such.

 

[radioouman]

Don't zoom in, and use the highest ISO setting possible and it might work.

 

[Jejunum]

Originally posted by: radioouman
Don't zoom in, and use the highest ISO setting possible and it might work.

stuck with iso 400...

ahh and yes, not zoomed in at all.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Jejunum

Originally posted by: radioouman
Don't zoom in, and use the highest ISO setting possible and it might work.

stuck with iso 400...

ahh and yes, not zoomed in at all.

How dark are we talking here?

Edit-You'd really need the versatility of a DSLR and a fast lens for that kind of thing.

 

[GoSharks]

actually he does have relativly fast lens already - the g3 has a f2 lens at full wide. a dslr will give higher usable ISO speeds though.

to the OP, there isnt much more that you can do. perhaps a tripod to help with the background, but that wont help much with the action. also, you could try locking the exposure so that the reaction time of the camera is perhaps a little quicker.

 

[Jejunum]

not sure how dark...saying use a dslr is not so helpfuL should be outdoor lighting and the sun setting...

edit: so you saying i should lock @ f2 ? and let camera decide on speed?

 

[vi edit]

Any ISO above 100 was pretty much unuseable on my G3. It just didn't have the power in the sensor to pull it off.

That's where the DSLR's an a fast lens really make up ground.

 

[Jejunum]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Any ISO above 100 was pretty much unuseable on my G3. It just didn't have the power in the sensor to pull it off.

That's where the DSLR's an a fast lens really make up ground.

use say unuseable because too noisy? Im not super concerned if this pictures are somewhat grainy...like I said they are going to be shrunk down to websize anyways...

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Jejunum

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Any ISO above 100 was pretty much unuseable on my G3. It just didn't have the power in the sensor to pull it off.

That's where the DSLR's an a fast lens really make up ground.

use say unuseable because too noisy? Im not super concerned if this pictures are somewhat grainy...like I said they are going to be shrunk down to websize anyways...

Yeh. The noise was terrible on them. But if you are really shrinking them down and can run them through neat image/noise ninja before processing that would probably help.

 

[Paul Ma]

It really makes sense to use flash. You can get a couple of sharp shots rather than a whole bunch of blurred ones.

 

[Zenmervolt]

I took a bunch of shots at ISO 50 with my Olympus C-8080 the other night at sunset and had no trouble finding enough light. How far past sunset are you talking?

ZV

 

[FP]

Originally posted by: Jejunum
I would like to be able to take some high speed photography tomorrow in low light conditions. If anyone has some feedback on how to improve my chances of getting a nice shot please jump in.

Current settings:

manual focus @ 7.1 feet (hyper focal length calculated using http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html-> everything past this point should be clear)

ISO 400 (pictures will be shrunk later so extra noise is ok)

high speed continuous selected

no flash (my thought is that the camera will have to wait to recharge in between shots)

tripod available...

please jump in if you have further / better settings.

BTW: I will be taking pictures of a tae kwon do demonstration - concrete breaking and such.

Technically everything from 1/2 the hyperfocal distance to infinity is in "focus."

I would go early and take some sample shots and manually set both the f-stop and the shutter speed. I would bring a flash and take a handful of single high speed shots with the flash. Picture quality will be much better and you may come back with a jewel in the rough.

 

[screw3d]

Get an external flash like the 420.. you won't get much coverage from the built-in flash

 

[Jejunum]

Originally posted by: binister

Originally posted by: Jejunum
I would like to be able to take some high speed photography tomorrow in low light conditions. If anyone has some feedback on how to improve my chances of getting a nice shot please jump in.

Current settings:

manual focus @ 7.1 feet (hyper focal length calculated using http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html-> everything past this point should be clear)

ISO 400 (pictures will be shrunk later so extra noise is ok)

high speed continuous selected

no flash (my thought is that the camera will have to wait to recharge in between shots)

tripod available...

please jump in if you have further / better settings.

BTW: I will be taking pictures of a tae kwon do demonstration - concrete breaking and such.

Technically everything from 1/2 the hyperfocal distance to infinity is in "focus."

I would go early and take some sample shots and manually set both the f-stop and the shutter speed. I would bring a flash and take a handful of single high speed shots with the flash. Picture quality will be much better and you may come back with a jewel in the rough.

err yes thats what i meant - i divided the # i posted above by 2. i guess ill turn the flash on and hope for the best.

lol: just realized i cant turn flash on-> dont wanna distract people.

 

[GoSharks]

Originally posted by: Jejunum
so you saying i should lock @ f2 ? and let camera decide on speed?

doesnt really matter - it will automatically put it to the largest aperture in order to get the fastest shutter speed possible (unless you are in tv and there is plenty of light, then it might close down)