can someone tell me i'm right?

ok so last night i was shooting with the nifty 250 at my sisters prom. (only lens' i have at the moment are the 18-55 and 55-250...) it was a low light situation and was shooting from about 30-40ft away at grand march so my flash was worthless. a couple of the pics of the grand march came out blurry and i told my dad that the pics would have come out better if i had a better lens. to which he replies "you bought this expensive camera and still can't take decent pictures with it? you should have just put it on automatic and let the camera do the thinking for you" we go back and forth a bit i tell him i was shooting on aperature priority mode with the aperature wide open and ISO on 3200 (canon T1i). basically by the end of the conversation he told me to take my camera back because if i can't take the pics i want with the lens' i have then i don't know what i'm doing.

anyone care to help me out on this one?

I find it to be the lens and the operator. Not the camera

Aperture dictates how much light you can let in and more lights means less blur in low light situations. The camera doesn't control the aperture. The lens does

The lens is too slow.

The lens was inappropriate for the situation. Stick to a normal, wide-aperture lens for that kind of situation. You'd take some beautiful pics with the $80 50mm f/1.8...

That really depends. What shutter speeds were you getting at those settings?
If you were all maxed out then you've certainly reached the limits of what your current gear can do. Of course a faster lens would have helped in that it would have given you faster shutter speeds.

Post up some samples with EXIF intact. We would be able to tell you more.

Wide open, no flash, and 3200 iso - There's nothing more you could have done with what you had.

obnoxiousmom wrote in post #9840933
I find it to be the lens and the operator. Not the camera

Aperture dictates how much light you can let in and more lights means less blur in low light situations. The camera doesn't control the aperture. The lens does

Operator error? How so. If he was maxed out, then there's nothing else he could have done. If you are saying he was underprepared for the situation, then yes, I would agree with you.

More light means faster shutter speed, which will aid in stopping subject motion and effects of hand shake.

The camera does control the aperture.

cskorik wrote in post #9840950
The lens was inappropriate for the situation. Stick to a normal, wide-aperture lens for that kind of situation. You'd take some beautiful pics with the $80 50mm f/1.8...

i tried to get ahold of one of these locally. i live in montana so there is only one photog store in town and they sold out of them before they even got them in stock. i'll post pics and let you guys tell me.

cskorik wrote in post #9840950
You'd take some beautiful pics with the $80 50mm f/1.8...

x2. A fast prime would be great in this situation. I only use my 55-250 outside with plenty of light.

ryan-oceros wrote in post #9840978
i tried to get ahold of one of these locally. i live in montana so there is only one photog store in town and they sold out of them before they even got them in stock. i'll post pics and let you guys tell me.

Order it off b&h for right at $100

cskorik wrote in post #9840950
The lens was inappropriate for the situation. Stick to a normal, wide-aperture lens for that kind of situation. You'd take some beautiful pics with the $80 50mm f/1.8...

Wait, so he was 40ft away and you are suggesting that a 50 1.8 is the more appropriate lens?

I would have been using the flash. At about 40', you'd most likely have an add-on flash pointed straight ahead, so using the onboard flash wouldn't have detracted from the quality.

In that specific situation (without playing the game of "you could have bought so and so if you knew you were going to be there), that is the only other thing (apparently) you could do.

not sure how effective even a 580EXII is at 40 feet... but I suppose at ISO 1600 or so,it would have been better than nothing.

Your dad sounds like a real pleasure to be around . Tell him to pony up the dough for a 70-200 f/2.8 and you'll get the shots he expects.

Sounds like your dad is a jerk.

tongsy wrote in post #9841076
Sounds like your dad is a jerk.

Sounds like his dad knows nothing about photography.