Lower Aperture with Primes
If it's late and the sun is down, or you're in a room with little available light, your best bet is to shoot with a prime lens with a low aperture. Prime lens? Low aperture you say? Yes, the reason why these two factors matter so much in low light, for your mirrorless or DSLR camera, is that prime lenses often have a lower aperture than compared to a zoom lens. The primary reason for this is a prime lens only has one available focal length, thus requiring less glass. In contrast, a zoom lens, adjusts between several different focal lengths, which usually means a higher aperture and more glass.
Picture shot in China Town Toronto. Low Aperture.
Prime lenses allow for lower apertures, such as an f/1.8 or lower. Combined with this, prime lenses often also produces a sharper image, which also provides for a more detailed video and an easier time focusing on the subject in low light.
In short, it's all about the amount of light that hits the sensor. So with less glass, more light hits the sensor, which exposes the image more. In darker conditions, you need all the light you can get if you want a cinematic image. Thus, a prime lens is the way to go when shooting in darker conditions.
The Sony a7R II with a 55mm Prime (1.8 Aperture) Lens
What I Use to Get the Best Low Light Performance
I often shoot with my 55mm f/1.8 ZEISS Prime lens on my Sony A7 RII. My 'nifty 50' lens allows me to get an overall better image, as more light can reach the sensor. As an example, see the video I shot with my 55mm f/1.8 ZEISS Prime lens. I created this video in Kensington Market at the Grey Gardens, one of my favourite restaurants in Toronto:
I shot this video at Grey Gardens in Kensington Market at night last October 2019.
Using ISO as An Option
Upping the ISO is also a way of getting a brighter image. ISO adjusts the sensitivity of the sensor (for more details on the basics of exposure, see the 'Exposure Triangle'). However, a video shooter has to be careful. Upping the ISO too high, i.e. higher than say 3200 ISO, will result in a grainer/ noisier image, which isn't pleasing to the eye. Sure, you can fix some of this noise/ grain in 'post', but this will only work to a degree. Your best bet is to get it right in the settings and captialize on your camera's features you have 'in-camera.'
Nuit Blanche Toronto, shot in 4K, 23fps and 1/50 shutter speed.
As a general rule of thumb, you want to lower the aperture first and keep to shutter speed at 1/50, that is, double the frame rate of shooting in 23 frames per second. I would recommend shooting with these settings in darker conditions because they allow the most light to hit the sensor (see below for my ideal settings when shooting in the Dark). I will be writing more about the topic of how to get the best results for video in dark conditions in my next blog post, so make sure to check back in.
So if you want to shoot in darker settings, at least get better footage in low light situations, then consider purchasing a prime lens with a lower aperture. You won't regret it!
Shot from Bathurst Bridge, Toronto
Pro Tip:
With the Sony Full Frame Alpha Series Cameras, you can shoot in APS-C/ Super 35mm crop mode. The APC-mode allows you to get even better low light performance for your video, as demonstrated in this video by DPReview.
My Low Light Settings:
Ideal Shooting Settings in Low Light:
- 1.8 apeture or lower
- 23 frames per second
- 4K
- APS-C/ Super 35mm crop mode
- 1/50 shutter speed
- ISO 1600 or lower
- Using avaliable light or your own personal light