Low light issue

What you really need is a zoom. Unfortunately, even the best zooms don't get faster than f/2.8. However, the D80 is probably the best high ISO camera that Nikon has ever produced, film or digital.

I wouldn't hesitate shooting at ISO 1600 in your situation. That combined with a wide aperture setting like f/2.8 on say a 70-200VR should do the trick in daylight.

 

i always heard that the D50 was the high iso king......different strokes for different folks i guess.

 

try the 85mm 1.8 I use this one often by concerts

 

I think it used to be, From what I've seen of the D80 it's high ISO pics at medium Noise Reduction are not only sharper but less noisy than the D50. Also because of the higher MP count it should be more susceptable to noise. (so even tying the D50 on 100% crop comparisons would be an improvement)

 

d50 is still the king of high iso, from what i can see anyway
 

 

I thought the D40 was the best at high ISOs ...
It has the same 6mp chip as the D50 but newer/better processing.

Getting back to the original question... if you feel 50mm is about the right focal length for most shots, but you need a zoom, maybe a standard zoom would suit you better than a tele zoom. The Tamron 28-75/2.8 covers a good range and gets good reviews. The Sigma 50-150/2.8 or Tokina 50-135/2.8 might be good options if you need more reach, without getting too big or expensive.

 

The 18-135 is a little too slow for indoor shots without flash. Even using high ISO will prove to be a challenge.

If you have a tripod that you can setup in the church, you can use slower shutter speeds along with higher ISO settings.

Shooting indoors under low (poor) lighting requires a combination of fast glass, slow shutter speeds (on a tripod) and higher ISO settings.

Don't give up....indoor architectural photography is very demanding.

It's also very rewarding.

 

Interesting statement.
recently, under controlled settings, I have compared 11 Nikon bodies at all available ISO settings. One run with out of the camera created JPEG files and a second run with RAW files generated.

The out of camera JPEGS are located here - please look at the orginal file sizes for assessments. www.pbase.com/andrease/noisetest.

Generally speaking, there is a strong affinity between product release date and ISO noise performance. The latter the camera was introduced, the better Nikon engineers understood how to control noise.

On JPEG:
The D40X is better at ISO 1600 than any Nikon body since the D1
The D40X is significantly better than the D50, D70, D200
The D40X is marginally better then the D80
The D1X is the best of the old generation cameras.
The D80 is visible better then the D200, D50, D70

on RAW:
The D40X and D80 are practically identical - the best Nikon currently offers.
With the D50 and D70 you see the progress Nikon made since these debuts.

This compares only noise performance. All cameras have many attributes which need to be considered for purchase and usage.

kind regards,
Andy

 

My choices would be....

30/1.4
50/1.4
85/1.4
105/2 DC

 

IMHO, I'd have to say the D1H is vastly superior to the D1X in terms of noise levels at high ISO. In fact, I believe the D1X only goes to 800 through the command dial (although it does have an ISO boast mode to take it to 1600 and 3200) if memory serves.

 

I agree that the 70-200 f/2.8 VR would be the perfect lens. Add a monopod to help steady it and adjust the light meter slightly to the positive side.
If everybody is motionless VR and a monopod can easily shoot at 1/15 sec.

With a D200 anything over ISO 400 is scary, 640 is my max for quality without substantial noise. Although if forced I will go 1600.