Originally posted by Davidparis Shot today with the kit 18-55 in the forest in "relatively" low light and am disappointed with results. Above 1/250 not enough light at 3.5 to stop the action
Was this a nighttime event? Seems to me that in daylight, f/3.5 should be giving you *much* faster shutter speeds than that, even at ISO 100. Sunny 16 would suggest 1/100 at f/16, which would be 1/1600. So even a cloudy day should have no trouble getting 1/250". But of course, the easy/obvious fix to get faster shutter speeds is to go to higher ISO settings.
Quote: Was looking at the SMC DA 40m 2.8 for sharp capture and more light
As mentioned, f/2.8 is barely any faster than f/3.5. But now I'm wondering, were you actually shooting at f/3.5? That's only an option at 18mm. Is that really where you were shooting? Can you post samples (with EXIF intact)? If anything, I'd be thinking you'd be at the 55mm end and still be wishing it were longer. But that would mean you were actually at f/5.6 at best, not f/3.5. That might explain the slowish shutter speed at ISO 100, and indeed, f/2.8 would make a more significant difference - but so would shooting at a higher ISO. And I'd relly question whether 40mm would be long enough.