Question about street photography in low light

[elbirth]

My 20D is FINALLY arriving tomorrow, and I have a question regarding doing street photography in the evening and early night.
What sort of settings do you guys suggest I use for this time of day? I would imagine using a higher ISO and wider aperture would be in there, but for just handheld stuff, what would be the best way to go about getting my photos as sharp as I can?

The 20D I ordered came in a package with 2 lenses:
- Sigma 100-300mm F4.5-6.7 DL AF Zoom Telephoto Lens
- Sigma 28-80mm F3.5-5.6 HF AF Mini Zoom Lens


Any tips on getting decently sharp images, preferably without a flash, would be greatly appreciated.


edit:
oh yeah, also another question I had.... is there a way to stop the flash from automatically popping up when the camera detects that there's not enough light and it needs it? My friend's 300D is constantly doing that, and the only way we've seen to definitely stop it from doing that is to put it in "no flash" mode.

[neutral]

oh yeah, also another question I had.... is there a way to stop the flash from automatically popping up when the camera detects that there's not enough light and it needs it? My friend's 300D is constantly doing that, and the only way we've seen to definitely stop it from doing that is to put it in "no flash" mode.

Manual mode should prevent this as well. I believe it's covered in the manual.

[elbirth]

Ok, thanks, that sounds good. I definitely plan on reading through the manual anyway... I think I'll look over this area as one of my first, though.

Any other tips?

[robertwgross]

... but for just handheld stuff, what would be the best way to go about getting my photos as sharp as I can?

The 20D I ordered came in a package with 2 lenses:
- Sigma 100-300mm F4.5-6.7 DL AF Zoom Telephoto Lens
- Sigma 28-80mm F3.5-5.6 HF AF Mini Zoom Lens


(1) Don't handhold a slow shutter shot and expect anything. Any decent tripod will help.
(2) Don't expect to get super shots with mediocre lenses.
(3) Night photography without flash suggests very slow shutter speeds or else extremely fast lenses, or both. You will be forced into apertures that may not give much depth of field, so it depends on which way you are oriented with the street whether depth of field will work for you or against you.

---Bob Gross---

[elbirth]

Good points, thanks for the input.
The street lights and lights from stores and restaurants on the street I have in particular (the hot spot right next to campus) should provide a decent amount of light so I shouldn't have to go for overly long exposures, but I guess I'll see once I get my camera.

Also, I know it's been discussed before, but any recommendations for a good first lens for me to look into buying that's of a better quality? I'm definitely not financially able to afford any L glass yet, but something for more general purpose photography (maybe anywhere in the appropriate ranges from 24mm-135mm, good quality/speed for a somewhat reasonable price.

[DocFrankenstein]

Also, I know it's been discussed before, but any recommendations for a good first lens for me to look into buying that's of a better quality? I'm definitely not financially able to afford any L glass yet, but something for more general purpose photography (maybe anywhere in the appropriate ranges from 24mm-135mm, good quality/speed for a somewhat reasonable price.
50mm f/1.8

Best piece of optics you're gonna find for 70 bucks.

[robertwgross]

Yes, the Canon 50mm 1.8 would be the cheapest way to get into dim light photography. But then, its fixed focal length isn't flexible.

I find the best flexibility in the medium zooms, but they are not necessarily fast for dim light. A good general purpose lens would be the Canon 28-135mm IS, which is not particularly fast, either.

---Bob Gross---

[elbirth]

A couple to start with in my search, thanks for the suggestions

[Illegally_Alive]

A tripod is a must. With the 20d you can have exposures that last up 30 sec. without a shutter release cable. The more you can stop your lens down the better, preferably f6-f11 for better DOF.
If you put the camera in AV mode (aperture priority) you can set the aperture and the camera will set the shutter speed. This is what I've done, and never had a problem with the flash popping up.
Another thing that you may want to try is the long exposure noise reduction, but I can't comment on that, because I haven't used it yet.

Anyway good luck!

[redbutt]

My 20D is FINALLY arriving tomorrow, and I have a question regarding doing street photography in the evening and early night. ...
oh yeah, also another question I had.... is there a way to stop the flash from automatically popping up when the camera detects that there's not enough light and it needs it? My friend's 300D is constantly doing that, and the only way we've seen to definitely stop it from doing that is to put it in "no flash" mode.

About the Flash...read the manual is always the answer to this, but the quick answer is, don't use the "green box" mode on the mode dial. Put it on "P". That allows the camera to make all the settings for you EXCEPT the automatic flash.

As for the low light stuff. I like using my 50mm lens as others have suggested, but I also set the iso at 100 when I'm doing long exposures to minimize noise. Someone already said it, but get a tripod...you're gonna need it. If you practice A LOT and get yourself an IS lens, you can get lucky and pull of something like this without a tripod. This was with my 28-135 IS lens 1/10 sec, f/3.5. This was had held and VERY hard to do!

http://www.redbutt.com/bairdphoto/proofs/honeymoon/img_9020_std.jpg[/img]

[elbirth]

Thanks again for the input. I've got a tripod already, so I guess I'll be bringing it out more often than I originally planned.

According to the UPS tracking page my camera is already out for delivery, so I should have it sometime today. Hopefully I'll get it so that I can go try it out some today, and when I do, I'll definitely post some pictures in the photo share forum.