Key Camera Settings for Low Light

Cameras’ menus vary widely, and use different terminology, but if you have a digital SLR to reasonable specifications, be conscious of all the following settings.

Image quality and format

The arguments for shooting Raw are stronger than ever in low light shooting, not least because it allows some latitude for recovering highlights and shadows, and allows you to defer decisions about color temperature until post-production.

White balance

The importance of this setting depends entirely on whether or not you shoot Raw. If you do, then it hardly matters what you set at the time of shooting, although most people prefer to have the image preview on the camera’s LCD screen looking more or less correct. Opinions vary, ...

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