[dogdots]

I feel so stupid. I have a Canon XTI with a 24-105L lens on my camera. I want to take inside pictures and I'm having a heck of a time doing it. I have spent all my time doing outside shots that I didn't even think about doing in---not really smart on my part. Can anyone give me some suggestions. Settings, etc. Figure I will be taking them under all kinds of lighting and I don't want to use a tripod.

[JMitchell]

It will largely depend on your subject, as different subjects reflect different amounts of light, and the camera's shutter speed will therefore have to change accordingly. Without a tripod, you may need to use flash, and an external flash would be advisable if you were going to constantly shoot indoors.
What are your intended subjects?

[Boofers]

You can lower your white balance if you set to custom setting, I like anywhere3500 to 4200, take a shot and adjust, you can also lower the exposure compansation to the dark side and let the camera know that it is darker out there,,,,works for me. or mess with a fill flash setting which your camera has and give a soft flash.

[silkstone]

If you don't want to - or can't - use flash, you may be OK with a high ISO setting. I've managed some reasonable shots inside exhibition halls using ISO 1600 on a 30D, although it's best if you can run these through some noise reduction software (e.g. Noise Ninja) afterwards.

Using the wide end of the focal length range will keep camera shake to a minimum. With care you should get away with about 1/30 sec at between 24 and 30 mm without a tripod. A lens with image stabilisation can really help here. Shooting at maximum aperture isn't usually a good idea, but with the L-series lenses it should be alright as long as you get enough depth of field - again sticking to the wide end of the range will help here.

Try setting the camera to ISO 1600 and f/4 or f/5.6 (using Av mode) and see what shutter speed you get. If it's faster than 1/60 or so you could reduce the ISO a little to avoid noise.

Give it a bash!

[Summerleft]

Really interested in the answers here, My camera max ISO is 400 so getting a bit confused as to how to sort the indoor pics without flash.

Sorry to steal your thread

[silkstone]

Unfortunately most 'compact' cameras with smaller sensors don't do so well at high ISO - there's a lot of noise - and this is one area where DSLRs win out. You may find that the images are fairly noisy even at ISO 200, and barely usable at ISO 400, whereas with the larger sensors on a DSLR the noise doesn't become very noticeable until ISO 800 or above.

There's no way around this really, and it limits the low-light abilities of cameras with smaller sensors. Things are improving on some of the latest models, but if low-light shooting is important then I'd put a DSLR on your Christmas wish-list.

[dogdots]

Thank you everyone for all the information. I will try out everything. The event is a wedding reception--dance--dinner. I have thought of getting another lens to to help with this problem.

[dogdots]

Thank you everyone for all the help. I will try it all. I would be taking pictures at a wedding reception along with the dinner. I have thought of getting another lens.

[Dave]

A 50mm f/1.8 lens is a cheap way to stand a better chance of shooting indoors with no flash

[dogdots]

I"m getting a 50mm lens --your right, it is a lot easier.