Will a faster lens help me get sharper indoor ambient-light photos of people?
Asked 12/29/2010
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I shoot a Nikon D7000 with the 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens. In very low indoor light—restaurants, living rooms, or scenes lit mainly by Christmas tree lights—I want to capture the ambient glow on people’s faces without motion blur. Right now the shutter speed gets too slow and people move, so the photos come out blurry.
Am I correct that a lens with a larger maximum aperture would help by allowing faster shutter speeds in the same light? If so, what kind of lens should I be looking at, and are there other settings or gear I should consider for this situation?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
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Unless your subjects are sitting still, slow shutter speeds are just going to have blur. As a general rule of thumb that I use, I tend to be 1/150 of a second or faster for normally moving people, but in indoor ambient light this usually means quite high ISO. Fortunately for you, the D7000 is excellent at high ISO, so the normal concerns with noise is substantially reduced. Because of that, I would suggest setting your camera to shutter priority (Tv), select a shutter speed, and let the camera pick aperture and ISO.
Originally by user472. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user472
15y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes. For moving people in low light, blur is usually caused by shutter speeds that are too slow. A faster lens with a larger maximum aperture lets in more light, so you can use a faster shutter speed and reduce subject motion blur.
For normally moving people, around 1/150s or faster is a reasonable target. Indoors, that often also means raising ISO. The D7000 handles high ISO fairly well, so don’t be afraid to use it.
A good approach is to use shutter priority, choose the minimum shutter speed you need, and let the camera choose aperture and ISO.
A faster prime lens can help a lot; a 35mm f/2 was specifically suggested in the discussion. Compared with your kit lens, it will give you more light to work with in the same scene.
Also consider an external flash if your subjects are family or casual indoor portraits. If ambient light alone isn’t enough, you either need a wider aperture or more light. An external flash can solve situations where even a fast lens still struggles.
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