Using the Canon nifty fifty in low light

M

minimoog

Suspended / Banned
Messages
26
Name
Jordan
Edit My Images
Yes
Beginner alert...

I like taking pics in low light, especially 'people' shots indoors with atmospheric (warm) lighting and no flash. So because everyone mentions its low-light performance I picked up a 50mm f1.8 to see what it could do, seeing as they are pretty cheap.

Now I haven't had chance yet to play much but two things strike me right off the bat:

1) It's an absolute pig to focus, either AF or MF. I'd kind of imagined that the larger aperture would mean quick enough shutter speeds for camera shake / subject movement to be less of an issue than with the 500D's kit lens. Not so far anyway! Presumably the shallow DoF wide open is working against me in this situation. Can this thing be used hand-held indoors with any expectation of a reliable focus?

2) It really is very soft at 1.8. Even on a tripod shooting a still subject it's disappointingly soft. Stop down a few clicks and it sharpens up beautifully. I know these aspects have been mentioned in many pro and user reviews, but I was still surprised by the difference.

I have taken some promising shots in good light that show the renowned sharpness off well, but how can I improve things in low light? Or am I expecting too much from a £80 lens?
 
Last edited:
Off the top of my head..

1) Remember that DoF gets wider the further away the subject is. Shooting something/someone close-up at 1 meter and f/1.8 is going to give you a DoF of 3cm.. which is not a lot. At 5 meters and keeping f/1.8 it's going to be already 67cm which will get your whole subject in focus easily. I learned this fast and the hard way with my 30/1.4 lens!

2) I think you're expecting a bit too much.. I used to shoot mine at f/2.2 most of the time, sometimes pushing it to f/2 but very rarely wide open. Then again a soft picture is often better than a blurred one.

I wish Canon would update the 50/1.4 .. soon please..
 
you could also be having some front or back focus issues
i was getting furtrated with my 50mm (nikon though) until I found that that was the problem - all sorted now and making me very happy.

EDIT - obviously that was on a Nikon so it will be better anyway, obviously ;)
 
1/ make sure you have Af assist enabled in custom functions, I dont have any issue and regularly shoot in low light, including a room lit by just a single 60watt bulb.

2/ not its not really soft @F1.8 but with the depth of field being very shallow it will show up any camera shake from you, or inaccuracy in placing the focal point and more so anyone who is at a slight angle to the film plane will have a face thats only partially in focus.
I routinely stop down to F2 or F2.8 but have shot wide open as well without issue.
Shutter speed wise aim for at least 1/80th second, its no good trying to shoot at 1/30th or 1/40th, so push the ISO until you get a decent shutter speed.
 
Last edited:
minimoog said:
Beginner alert...

<snip>

Or am I expecting too much from a £80 lens?
Click to expand...

In a word, yes. It's eighty quid!

If you like low light, then a low f/number will obviously help with that. But it comes with very shallow depth of field at the same time, which is very often undesirable.

What you need is higher ISO, which is a much better all round solution, but best performance there comes in a full frame camera with a big sensor and high cost. Image stabilisation is also a big help, but again has drawbacks.
 
Here's a couple of snaps from this morning, notice the times on the exif data 9.05 and 9.08, also notice the curtains are drawn ...dim? hell yeah, also notice the effects of the shallow depth of field, not so bad on a flatish item like the curtains but completely different on the pillow case.

It should also be noted the the sun is way off to the left of the curtains and hidden by houses.

Both hand held @ ISO 800

9.08
ex1.jpg


9.05 am
ex2.jpg
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all the observations folks. Clearly I have much to work on but it seems like it's a question of appreciating the limitations and working around or with them. And practicing a lot. I haven't really been pushing the ISO and increasing the shutter speeds as suggested so I'll take those points on board particularly.

If I manage anything half-decent I'll post it up for comments :)
 
iancandler said:
Here's a couple of snaps from this morning, notice the times on the exif data 9.05 and 9.08, also notice the curtains are drawn ...dim? hell yeah, also notice the effects of the shallow depth of field, not so bad on a flatish item like the curtains but completely different on the pillow case.

It should also be noted the the sun is way off to the left of the curtains and hidden by houses.

Both hand held @ ISO 800
Click to expand...

Waw, you take your Canon to bed with you!!! Ewwwwwwww :lol:
 
I think with a bit more time you'll appreciate it more. My top tips are use centre-point focus and make sure you find the area of highest contrast wherever you want to focus. My copy is very sharp at f1.8 so maybe do some tripod tests to see if yours is actually soft or whether it's just the depth of field catching you out.

It's a great lens for the price so have fun with it, and try not to get too cross when it's hunting noisily back and forth for focus :)
 
I borrowed the nifty fifty on tour and thought it a great lens, but bought the f1.4 instead. I didn't have a problem with focusing as such and found it a great lens, although slightly soft as said at f1.8, but at f2.2 it was brilliant.

Stick it at f6.3-f10 and it's a superb portrait lens.

I have to say the f1.4 version is brilliant and well worth the extra cost. I shot a gig really easily last weekend, mostly at iso1600 and f1.4. i.e.
128402259.jpg
 
The focus issues may be the cameras ability to focus, often the af points will struggle in low light regardless of lens speed
 
Had a quick play tonight (all indoor low light, no flash, hand-held) and I have to say as long as the subject isn't moving the results can be very nice with some post processing. The ketchup bottle was shot in RAW at 1/80 f1.8 ISO 800. It was underexposed but I corrected that after, and the pic is actually much brighter than the room was when shot.

The next two are f2.8 ISO 1600 at 1/50 and 1/60 respectively. Again tweaked a touch afterwards.

Obviously the compositions aren't proficient but as these were just tests that's OK :)

x4lzt2.jpg


1z6go42.jpg


3r2hz.jpg
 
Last edited:
Keep it up, you will get there in the end.

I loved my plastic fantastic 50. Used it at f/1.8 - 2.0 , handhold with no probs.

Of course, you need to time it kind of right so the subject isn't moving too much - unless of course you want a bit of 'movement' in the picture.

My favourite picture of my dad (a great subject to photograph) was taken on a 50mm
f/1.8 at f/1.8 indoors.

I will try and upload it onto my flickR account at some stage.

After I saw that shot, I knew that there was a huge scope of potential from this lens and I just needed to channel my skills to get there...
 
Nice ... but I have to admit I'm more impressed that you own a polymoog lol.. my brother was a moog nut, even built a massive .com modular, sadly though his ex nicked and sold his moogs after he died.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top