I've been considering a Nikon speedlight flash, will this reduce red-eye? I've got an N50 with built in flash and I get red-eye on nearly every photo.

I have been using fast film, usually Fuji 800 or 1600, but even still I had been setting camera to shutter-priority and the aperture was so large that I didn't have much depth of field or would come out slightly under-exposed. If I stepped up the shutter enough to pretty much stop action,(say around 1/125 to 1/180), I couldn't get enough aperture for good pictures.

This leads me to the final question, which is what I was about to post on photo.net, will a rally wide aperture lens help with existing light photography and allow me to use faster shutter speeds in existing light.

Thanks again for your help.

Kevin Lowman

-- Kevin Lowman (k.lowman@cwix.com), April 05, 1999

Answers

To take decent low light photos you will want a lens that's got a aperture of at least f2.8. Unless you've got $$$ you can pretty well rule out getting a zoom. You can find an AF Nikkor 50 1.8 fairly cheaply, or get a 35 f2 for not too much more.

BTW, try using Fuji NHG II 800 speed film (it's a "pro" film, buy from a dealer who keeps it in a fridge, you probably won't find it a Ritz), you'll be amazed what you can get from it.

-- Geoffrey S. Kane (grendel@pgh.nauticom.net), April 05, 1999.

Kevin: To view many excellent past answers to this often asked question, you should try going to the Q & A forum here, then click on "search". Next, type in "red eye" and hit enter. Read through these questions and click on those that are similar to yours, and you will find a wealth of info addressing your good question. In short, pop up flashes create the most red eye because they sit so close to the axis of the lens. Red eye is the result of a narrow angle of incidence from where the light is emitted vs. where it is reflected back. To avoid or minimize this problem, one solution is to move the flash head further away from the lens' axis, so that the emitted flash pulse is not reflected back from the reflective surface of the red retina into the lens. A hot shoe flash will help accomplish this. If you have a whitish ceiling overhead, an even better solution is to employ "bounce flash" using a hot shoe flash capable of this feat. Try to buy a flash unit capable of moving its head side to side as well as up and down. Another solution is to put the external flash unit on an off camera shoe cord and thus get the flash head even further away from the lens' axis. You might also consider buying a flash diffuser that is a piece of translucent plastic that fits over the external flash head and serves to diffuse and soften the emitted light; this is helpful when bouncing is not an option (like when there's no whitish surface nearby to bounce the flash off of). Of course, you can also avoid flash all together by shooting a faster lens or film, but here, depending on available light, you may not achieve good detail and contrast.

-- kurt heintzelman (heintzelman.1@osu.edu), April 05, 1999.

Okay,

I think I understand about needing a larger aperture lens, or "fast glass", but what about those 28-70, 35-80, 35-105 zoom lenes that have apertures of 2.8-3.5 and 3.0-4.5, etc .... I've seen some fairly inexpensive 50mm f/1.8 and f/2.8 lenes in the back of Shutterbug magazine, but I need a little bit of zoom capability. I'm taking picutes of my daughter's dance competitions and they move back and forth across the stage and sometimes I want to zoom in on just here and sometimes I want to zoom back to frame the whole dance team. I've seen some zooms advertised with just the f/2.8 and not a "range" of apertures, does this mean it's a constant aperture while the f/2.8-4.0 changes? and if so, will they end up stopping down so much that they won't be any good for existing light photography? I'd really like to have some zoom capability, but if I have to settle for a fixed focal length then I will. My main objective is to get as sharp a picture at as fast a shutter speed I can get in dimly lit rooms without using flash.

Kevin Lowman

-- Kevin Lowman (k.lowman@cwix.com), April 06, 1999.

for available light, i consider f2.8 medium to slow. you really need f2 or faster. anything slower then f2.8 is worthless.

i use fuji nhgII 800 and 28 f1.8, 50 f1.8, 85 f1.8, and 135 f2 lenses. if you NEED a zoom you'll have to get one of the constant aperture f2.8 ones and they usually cost over $1000 each.

but... you don't NEED a zoom. photography doesn't need to be like video or movie cameras. you don't need to point your camera at your daughter for the whole recital and follow her around and zoom in and out to keep her framed. what i do is put the 85 on and take some shots. (if the subject moves too close or too far away, i wait for her to come back in frame) then i put on the 50 and take some shots there, then the 135 then the 28, etc. sure... a zoom would be more convient, but noone makes an f1.8 zoom.

-- Sean Hester (seanh@ncfweb.net), April 06, 1999.

Thanks Sean,

So, Ineed f/2.8 or better, but f/1.8 is suggested. I still wish they made f/1.8 zooms. I usually shot a whole roll of 24 or 36 exposure film per 3 minute dance routine. I'm kinda the degsinated photo taker for the group and I try to get 1 good action shot of each kid doing some kind of leap or russian ro something, and then a few of the whole group and a few closeups of my daughter. So, I don't think switching back and forth betweeb lenes would work as the action just moves too fast for that.

I guess I will have to take my zoom lens and compode a frame at 50mm and a frame at 80mm and decide which would be best overall for what I need. I think 80mm would be too much soom to catch a whoel group shot, and 50 may not quite be close enough for closeups of a single person. Do the make 60mm lenes?

Also, and I know most of you are going to fall in the floor and roll with laughter, but I gotta ask this. Can you change lenes mid-roll? won't this let in light and ruin the film, or does the closed shutter block out the light well enough that you can change lenes mid roll?

Kevin Lowman

-- Kevin Lowman (k.lowman@cwix.com), April 06, 1999.

You can change lenses mid-roll. The light entering the body through the lens when you're focusing, metering, etc. doesn't get past the shutter, so neither will the light that enters the body when a lens is detached.

-- Russ Arcuri (arcuri@borg.com), April 06, 1999.

Kevin, there's nothing wrong with asking questions....

The biggest problem with variable aperture zooms is that they're slowest at the long end, and the longer the lens the faster the shutter speed that you need to control camera shake. With Nikon's new AF-S Nikkor 28-70 2.8 D lens on the market, more AF Nikkor 35-70 2.8 lenses should be showing up on the used market. B&H is selling this lens (the 35-70 2.8) new for $529.95 (gray market), so they should be even less used.

My most often used lenses are an AI Nikkor 35 2 and a non-AI Nikkor 105 2.5, I got them both used for $150 each. When one's too wide and the other's too short, I reach for my $50 AI Nikkor 50 1.8.

-- Geoffrey S. Kane (grendel@pgh.nauticom.net), April 06, 1999.

The Nikon N50 does not have (the pre-flash) red-eye control circuitry. All Nikon Speedlights with red-eye curcuitry are controlled by the camera CPU, not the flash. Therefore, spending $300 for a SB-28 Speedlight will not solve your problem. You would have to buy a N70-N90s-F100-F5 to have red-eye reduction circuitry.

-- Charlie Robbins (robbnsc@hotmail.com), April 06, 1999.

As far as the flash question is concerned, the biggest way a camera mounted flash unit would help would be to move the source of the light further away from the lens axis reducing redeye. A flash bracket would help even further. With low indoor light, you may find that your photo's take on a wierd color. Many labs can correct some of this but a flash is the easiest cure. As far as low light with no flash I think you have 2 options. 1)Use a high speed (wide aperture 1.4, 1.7 or 2.8) lens 2) Use higher speed film. Fuji NHGII is excellent and you can even push it from 800 to 1600 by rating it 1600 and telling the lab to "push it one stop." This will cause the pictures to be more grainy if enlarged but is the equivilent of having a one stop faster lens. Have you considered Black and White? With B&W the wierd colors wouldn't be a problem and there are some very fast B&W films like TMAX 3200 and Delta 3200. Grain is also generally more acceptable in Black and White because that's the way most people are used to seeing it. Finally, something to think about: If you use a prime (non-zoom) lens you will have to concentrate much more on your shots and you may see that though quanity decreases that the quality is vastly increased for this reason amoung others. Recommend you stop by your local library and do some reading on these issues. Good Luck and Good Shooting, JLee

-- JLee (jlee@sccoast.net), April 09, 1999.

if you really don't have time to change lenses then i think you only a couple of options.

1. get a 50 f1.8, (~$100) or 50 f1.4 (~$300). for the single person shots (where the 50 might not be close enough) you can always get the shots cropped. (enlarged to 5x7, then cut the edges off to get 4x6 which simulates the longer focal length)

2. get one of the f2.8 zooms (35-70 or 80-200) depending on which range you will use more. if you're pretty close, the 35-70 will be better for group shots and full body shots of a single person, while the 80-200 would be better for single people and face shots. if you're pretty far away get the 80-200. the bummers about these zooms is they are expensive and HEAVY. i'm too lazy to carry then around all day.

3. (this is what i do) get another camera body. put a 50 f1.8 on one and an 85 f1.8 on the other. this way you can switch relatively quickly. having a 2nd body also helps if you want different film in the cameras (black and white in one for instance)

it all depends on how much money you want to spend on this.

P.S. just make sure to use fuji NHGII film. it's worth the extra couple of dollars a roll.

-- Sean Hester (seanh@ncfweb.net), April 12, 1999.

First, as for the red-eye, you'll want to get an accessory flash that'll allow dedication to your N50. Next, you'll want to attach that flash to the N50 with a remote cable or a wireless adapter (the cable is much more affordable!)

Then, you'll want to hold that flash well away from the lense of your N50. The redeye is the result of light bouncing off the back of the eye. When the flash is next to the lens, the light bounces almost directly back, thus red-eye. If the flash is off at an angle, the light bounces at an angle, thus no red-eye.

(Why hasn't anyone mentioned anything about helping ou with red-eye reduction yet?...they want you to buy glass to fix redeye?)

As for a faster lense that'll let you take existing light pics easier..yes... this is true...I'd recomend a 50mmF1.47 or so... and perhaps a 100-135mm F2.8 or so...so you can get a better perspective on people pics, and both of these lenses, combined with a 400 speed film, and the more-powerfull accesory flash (GN100ish for a VIV283, compared to 20ish for the one in your N50) will allow you to take flash pics with less hastle.

-- Roseblood (kyller@annex.com), May 12, 1999.

Hey Roseblood, Kevin asked this question the same time he asked "What's a good Intermediate Nikon camera?". Somehow all the redeye/flash advice ended up there (it's under "Advice for beginners" category).

I guess I was too lazy to answer the same question twice ;-) .

-- Geoffrey S. Kane (grendel@pgh.nauticom.net), May 13, 1999.