Event's Lenses

[mustdoit]

Dear pros,

I am just a hobbiest but have developed a liking for Event shot.
I love the capture the moment or should i say "THAT MOMENT".
Hence, could some kind soul please share with me or whoever that are also interested in my thread.
I know there have been lots of discussion on this.
But then again, i hope to start this thread again for the benefit of hobbiest like myself.

Thank you for your valuable advise.

Your guidance is greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[Stratix]

it really depends on what events you're talking about.

if it's outdoors, i'll confirm choose something long, like a 70-300.

but if it's indoors, maybe something at 18-50 / 17-40 / 24-70 that range will be good? =)

[mustdoit]

Cool, thank you sir.
Certainly would listen to your advice.

Cheers

[wanzw]

you can start with a 70-200 f2.8 to take indoor event of low lightings. pretty good for capturing facial expressions. a 50mm prime will be good too. very fast and allows amazing shutter speed even at very low light conditions!

[mustdoit]

Originally Posted by wanzw you can start with a 70-200 f2.8 to take indoor event of low lightings. pretty good for capturing facial expressions. a 50mm prime will be good too. very fast and allows amazing shutter speed even at very low light conditions!

Hi there, thank you too for your advise.
I do own a 70 - 200 but kind of hard to shot.
Very close up at time.
But then again, i will try my best to shot from far.
Will try my best for great picture.

Cheers

[panzerpunk]

Originally Posted by mustdoit Hi there, thank you too for your advise. I do own a 70 - 200 but kind of hard to shot. Very close up at time. But then again, i will try my best to shot from far. Will try my best for great picture. Cheers

Mount your 70-200 on a tripod if possible.... You just need that 1 shot, not many snapshots.

[+evenstar]

mobility...how do you set up a tripod during a event, unless there's a lot of space? even so, are you going to be staying at one spot all the time just to capture that "one shot"?

[ShaoWei]

24-70 f2.8.

Personally using a cropped body myself, this lens covers most of my event shoots. Can achieve quite a decent amt of bokeh, and 2.8's just a plus when it comes to low light non flash events - Orchestra playing in a concert hall for eg. Agree with the 70-200 f2.8, have it in my lens case all the time, just change when you need the extra reach, else most of the time, the 24-70 stays on my body.

[tamiya_model]

When I want the moment, I'm usually armed with my 70-200IS if the situation allows. If not, I pray to God for divine help.

[dragos]

what sort of events are u shooting?

[panzerpunk]

Hmm, he just wants that moment, so maybe he has seen the dry-runs and knows what he is looking out for. So just camp with tripod =)

"mustdoit"... yeah live up to your nick man

[jdredd]

theres a million kind of events...
outdoor sporting events - the long fast primes are king.
for indoor sporting events, its the big aperture primes that rule.. e.g. the now discontinued 200mm 1.8, the 135L etc.

there is no 1 lens that can cover all of these... so better for you to say what kind of events exactly you like to shoot.

[Danntbt]

If flash is allowed, 28-300 IS allows the range, used it recently with LS2, nice natural shots, dial RAW when need to have a little insurance for the more important shots...in all 95% sharp (but not neccessary good pictures - in terms of composition)..a little on the heavy side, but using the right straps do help.

[rickygck]

17-40mm for very big group shoot.

24-70mm use it almost 90%.

70-200mm, pop it in just case need to use it.

A 580Ex flash head and a Quantum battery pack should be sufficient for the event.

Happy shooting.

[yuframes]

hi i was like wondering if 420ex can do the job ?
if cannot what are it`s disadvantages ?
thanks in-advance.

[Snoweagle]

Originally Posted by yuframes hi i was like wondering if 420ex can do the job ? if cannot what are it`s disadvantages ? thanks in-advance.

I'm using a 420EX and i've always been using it for event shoots and has never failed me.

Disadvantage only no manual settings as it's a fully auto flash, but gd enough for most situations.

[vii_haven]

a lot of you guys use the 24-70. how about the 24-105? that has more range and has IS as well even tho it's f4. wouldn't that be a good lens to use for events as well?

[Snoweagle]

Originally Posted by vii_haven a lot of you guys use the 24-70. how about the 24-105? that has more range and has IS as well even tho it's f4. wouldn't that be a good lens to use for events as well?

f/4 is still gd for indoor event shoots but not too low lighting, if not have to use flash.

[Belle&Sebastain]

this is my trademark, the lens you use depends not on any of the replies here but yourself, you got to use the lenses and determine what is good for you. Everyone can recomand a lens, its up to you to keep trying and find out if its a good lens.

some use big zoom lenses, others are put off by the weight, some prefer to compose with primes, some use 2-3 cameras fitted with different lenses to shoot. Its all up to you at the end of the day.

First before asking anyone, ask yourself, what kind of shooter are you, primes or zooms or mixed? what weight would you want to carry during your coverage? how many cameras you are using?

if you have no idea what you want, go buy a cheap zoom lens as a starter, as cheap as possible, and go shoot! Once you start facing your own problems like not enough reach, too heavy, not big enough aperture, you start to develop your own lens usage, once you master your own likes/dislike you need not need advice of this type often.

[calebk]

I totally agree. No two photographers are identical.

We all have our own styles. Some of us like ultra wide, some like super tele, some like the simple build of primes, some like the versatility of zooms. There's no hard and fast rule when it comes to lens selection.

If you have been shooting for a while, look at the EXIF data of your shots and find out what aperture and focal length you have been shooting at the most. That's a good place to start looking: lenses that can accomodate the aperture and focal length that you have been shooting at frequently.

The idea is, a lens that works for a million and three photographers may not work for you.

Just my two cents. Cheers.