Low Light Photography

Hi Everyone,

I just got my new k20d and I have to say, I'm still having troubles shooting in low light. My Pictures either come out blurry since I have to hold the shutter open so long, grainy because I have shoot at a higher ISO, or too dark. I took a few pics of my wife, dog and myself infront of the X-mas tree for holiday cards and they all came our blurry since I had to hold the shutter open so long (and I was using a Tripod and an external off camera flash).

I'm just more or less frustrated and don't know if I should take the k20d back for a full refund and get a Nikon d300.

Elwood

When using a tripod and long exposure - TURN OFF SR! (On the back) Ideally you should be using the 2 second mirror lock-up too (which automatically disables SR).

When using long exposures - YOU have to keep very, very still too! Any movement from you will cause a blurred image.

Keep the ISO reasonably high (800 or 1600) and the aperture fairly wide (say f/5.6), use a tripod and keep still!

(If the viewfinder figures flash at you then the light metering is out-of-bounds - it's too dark to get an accurate exposure anyway.)

Some sample images would certainly help to identify the exact problem

(And any dSLR will have similar issues - it sounds like you need to gain a bit more understanding of photography in general, rather than get frustrated with the equipment, per se).

Hope that helps!
Matt

Well if you think a Nikon would be netter in low light you should check out this comparison of the D700 and the K20d link

Here is a low light shot 800ISO and no real noise issue I think, as Matt says, check out your technique.