camera set up question

[Gunnyart]

Wife is brand new to the DSLR camera world and spent hours last night trying to get familiar with her new D3300.

This afternoon we are going to be attending our daughter's high school theater production and my wife wants to take a bunch of stills (I'll use the camcorder for the video).

So the question is as a newby should she just let the auto features take control or should she set the camera up manually for the environment of a dark theater with stage lights.

If manual what would you suggest? It has the stock lens (18-55) only.

Thanks in advance.

[Shane]

The kit lens will likely struggle in a dark theater, unless she uses a flash. The built-in flash leaves a lot to be desired, but it will throw some light. Of course, they probably don't want anyone to use a flash during the show, so you'll have to go without it. She will probably need to set the ISO to 3200 or 6400 (or higher, if it's really dark). Set the camera on aperture priority mode (A on the Nikon dial, I believe), and set the f/stop to the lowest number (f/3.5 on the kit lens) in order to get the largest aperture opening the lens can muster so you can gather as much light as possible. If you have access to a lens with a larger aperture (lower f/stop number), try to borrow one. F/2.8 or lower would be better than f/3.5.

With those settings, the camera will decide on the shutter speed for each shot. If the shots are coming out blurry, then that means the shutter speeds are too slow because there isn't enough light to get a good exposure with a faster shutter. If that is the case, then bump the ISO setting up to a higher number if you have any room left to do that. She should probably get a cheap monopod and use that in order to make sure she can hold the camera really still while taking pictures. That will help to reduce motion blur on slow shutter speeds. You can get probably a monopod for $30 or less at BestBuy or Walmart or wherever.

[Gunnyart]

The kit lens will likely struggle in a dark theater, unless she uses a flash. The built-in flash leaves a lot to be desired, but it will throw some light. Of course, they probably don't want anyone to use a flash during the show, so you'll have to go without it. She will probably need to set the ISO to 3200 or 6400 (or higher, if it's really dark). Set the camera on aperture priority mode (A on the Nikon dial, I believe), and set the f/stop to the lowest number (f/3.5 on the kit lens) in order to get the largest aperture opening the lens can muster so you can gather as much light as possible. If you have access to a lens with a larger aperture (lower f/stop number), try to borrow one. F/2.8 or lower would be better than f/3.5.

With those settings, the camera will decide on the shutter speed for each shot. If the shots are coming out blurry, then that means the shutter speeds are too slow because there isn't enough light to get a good exposure with a faster shutter. If that is the case, then bump the ISO setting up to a higher number if you have any room left to do that. She should probably get a cheap monopod and use that in order to make sure she can hold the camera really still while taking pictures. That will help to reduce motion blur on slow shutter speeds. You can get probably a monopod for $30 or less at BestBuy or Walmart or wherever.

Thanks so much that's exactly the type advice I needed.

[yaqui]

All of what he said above. The lighting varies greatly from stage to stage and from section to section. You might be okay at 1600. At our kids school 800 ISO was fine and wide open at 2.8 the shutter was around 1/60th. If there is a chance to rent a longer faster lens go for it. A 2.8 70-200 Vibration Reduction lens might be a good choice. Arlington Cam may still rent.

[yaqui]

Just checked the Arlington Cam website 70-200 VR is $35.00 per day.

[Shane]

That would be a great lens^

Use the lowest ISO setting you can with whatever lens you have that will get you photos that don't have motion blur due to shutter speed being too slow.

[Abcdj]

Not to high jack the OP'S thread. Shane you need to bring your equipment out to our lease when it gets going good and take some pictures. We can share some food and a fire!

[Shane]

Not to high jack the OP'S thread. Shane you need to bring your equipment out to our lease when it gets going good and take some pictures. We can share some food and a fire!

I'm in.

[Maui-diver]

Great advice....I took my camera out tonight which I haven't used in about 7 months to try and shoot some pictures at my sons indoor basketball game...the lighting is horrible and I had a hard time with the setting. I'll try some of your recommendations...thanks for the info. Sorry to take off tooic

[Gunnyart]

She will probably need to set the ISO to 3200 or 6400 (or higher, if it's really dark). Set the camera on aperture priority mode (A on the Nikon dial, I believe), and set the f/stop to the lowest number (f/3.5 on the kit lens) in order to get the largest aperture opening the lens can muster so you can gather as much light as possible. If you have access to a lens with a larger aperture (lower f/stop number), try to borrow one. F/2.8 or lower would be better than f/3.5.

We were too late to rent a lens but she did okay. While we were waiting for the show to start she experimented with shooting auto and with your recommended settings.

She ended up running the camera in auto because she wasn't confident in her ability yet.

We hooked it up to our 52" Plasma TV and blew some up. They stayed pretty crisp. I think she ran into a few problems with where it was focusing at times, but overall she's happy with the results.

She really needs to take a crash course in photography to get up to speed.

[Bill M]

Get her this. Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson.

[Gunnyart]

Get her this. Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson.

Thanks I'll look into that.

[dcbrown]

Gunny, UT Arlington has a Digital Photography program at nights. You can go as far as you want. They have two basic classes that must be done before any of the other classes. Look it up on line, UTA Continuing Education. I have run through much of the program to the point that I am putting my final portfolio together for a Digital Photography Certification.