Shooting in LOW Light

OK, let's get this EV and low light problem resolved.

I did post this as a comment to an earlier post in this blog, but thought it is important enough to put it out here as well. Hopefully it will be more visible and help you all!

Sam is right in saying that in low light we often have to select a higher ISO if we want to maintain a fast shutter speed. A tripod is of little help as well, as it only helps you to reduce camera shake but does not help you to freeze subject movement (VR or IS lenses have the same limitations).

So far so good, but let's talk about EV. What Sam refers to is actually not called EV, but exposure compensation. EV simply stands for exposure value, i.e. a specific shutter speed and aperture. Exposure compensation is available by a +- button on most cameras. This will adjust your exposures to look either brighter (+) or darker (-), but in order to do this it has to adjust either shutter speed, aperture or ISO. If all of those variable are maxed out already, exposure compensation will NOT work. Your image will look the same.

When shooting in low light, the most effective 'weapon' really is a 'fast' lens, meaning a lens that is able to give you a wider maximum aperture (i.e. F1.8). This will allow you to work with a reasonable ISO while still maintaining a fast enough shutter speed.

Finally, in really dark situations, you may want to resort to using a flash (when even the fastest lens and highest ISO does not help anymore).