What lens to use for stage performance?


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Chew Siow Ming

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Dec 21, 2004
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Hi, need some advices here... I have few lenses & not sure which one is more suitable to use to shot stage performance.
1. 80-200mm f/2.8
2. 50mm f/1.8
3. 12-24mm
4. D70 kit lens

I also have a SB600.

actually i am preparing for my daughter's school concert. thks in advance :)
 

for my newbie understanding, 12-24 is definitely out unless you want a very "grand" view of the whole stage.
if you can use flash, you might wan to go for 18-70 and leave 50mm behind, else 50mm will give you extra few stops of light for non-flash photography.
18-70 and 80-200...:think: really depends on ur style and how far will you be? as for me i prefer close up so i go for 80-200
 

17-35 if can get close enough..
if ur far and want to take some closeup
up to half body, 80-200 is good :)
 

An 80-200 would be fantastic if you're a slight distance from stage. If it's a raised platform, it's a good idea to be a little further back so you can get an eye level perspective to the performers. The following were some shots on a 80-200... for goodness sake, don't use a strobe.

Ballet Under the Stars

.
 

ExplorerZ said:
for my newbie understanding, 12-24 is definitely out unless you want a very "grand" view of the whole stage.
if you can use flash, you might wan to go for 18-70 and leave 50mm behind, else 50mm will give you extra few stops of light for non-flash photography.
18-70 and 80-200...:think: really depends on ur style and how far will you be? as for me i prefer close up so i go for 80-200

Hmm..... say assuming I can't go in front of the stage, I mean back in the audience seat, using 80-200mm suitable ? can SB600 handle it ?
 

XC Pictorial said:
17-35 if can get close enough..
if ur far and want to take some closeup
up to half body, 80-200 is good :)
tks :thumbsup:
 

Terence said:
An 80-200 would be fantastic if you're a slight distance from stage. If it's a raised platform, it's a good idea to be a little further back so you can get an eye level perspective to the performers. The following were some shots on a 80-200... for goodness sake, don't use a strobe.

Ballet Under the Stars

.

beautiful pic :thumbsup: don't use strobe ?? HIGH ISO ?? D70 noise control not very good leh. any tips to elaborate on that plse.....;p
 

Chew Siow Ming said:
beautiful pic :thumbsup: don't use strobe ?? HIGH ISO ?? D70 noise control not very good leh. any tips to elaborate on that plse.....;p

If it's a darkened stage or lit by artificial lighting, chances are you're going to spoil the mood with the use of a strobe, not to mention disturbing the performance with each click.

I think the D70 should be alright up to iso 800. Shoot wide open, at a distance, DOF does not really matter. Experiment a little and see what sort of results you get.
 

Terence said:
If it's a darkened stage or lit by artificial lighting, chances are you're going to spoil the mood with the use of a strobe, not to mention disturbing the performance with each click.

I think the D70 should be alright up to iso 800. Shoot wide open, at a distance, DOF does not really matter. Experiment a little and see what sort of results you get.

Roger SIR ! high ISO, f/2.8... will try that.... even if I screw it up, at least I can still rely on my wife video cam. hehe.....;)

tks bro :thumbsup:

p/s : really like the pic u took, in particular the ballet one
 

probably monopod and tripod would help in your case to get more steady shots.
 

Hope this helps, taken from another band/concert thread.

wildstallion said:
Ok, well here is some advice on shooting bands.

Firstly flash will most probably not be allowed so a fast lens will really help. I like to shoot some wide shots of the whole bands with the crowd in front or to the side to get some atmosphere of the venue. Then also get in close (either by walking closer or a fast tele lens) and get some shots of individual band members.

If its dark you will most probably be shooting around this setting:

1/20-1/150, ISO 800, F/2.8-3.5 (higher or lower depending on lens) and focal lengths between say 30mm-200mm (depending on situation and lens)

Of course, there is no hard and fast rules to shooting concerts and bands. Try slower shutterspeeds to get some cool blurs on guitarists and stuff, or rear sync flash if flash is allowed.

Hope this helps

http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?p=2415535#post2415535
 

zcf said:
probably monopod and tripod would help in your case to get more steady shots.

don't think I can bring in a monopod or tripod... anyway, thks for suggestion. ;)
 

i would just bring the 80-200 and the 18-70 for different perspectives for the stage event.

the 80-200 can also be used at the front of the stage depending on what kind of shots you wanna get.
 

my advise is to shoot at aperture priority. maximum you can go. i see that you are using a D70 not advisable to go more than iso 640. will have a lot of noise.

at least that was my experience with d70 and a kit lens. i guess with a faster lens and wide aperture can help a lot!

you can check out the pictures here:
http://homepage.mac.com/imedia_chs/PhotoAlbum4.html

never had chance to edit the photos as well. some were taken by my partner.
 

wanzw said:
my advise is to shoot at aperture priority. maximum you can go. i see that you are using a D70 not advisable to go more than iso 640. will have a lot of noise.

at least that was my experience with d70 and a kit lens. i guess with a faster lens and wide aperture can help a lot!

you can check out the pictures here:
http://homepage.mac.com/imedia_chs/PhotoAlbum4.html

never had chance to edit the photos as well. some were taken by my partner.

From my experience, you can push up to ISO 800 on the d70s, it will be noisy in underexposed areas but its basically fine, any higher and it becomes terrible.
 

wanzw said:
my advise is to shoot at aperture priority. maximum you can go. i see that you are using a D70 not advisable to go more than iso 640. will have a lot of noise.

at least that was my experience with d70 and a kit lens. i guess with a faster lens and wide aperture can help a lot!

you can check out the pictures here:
http://homepage.mac.com/imedia_chs/PhotoAlbum4.html

never had chance to edit the photos as well. some were taken by my partner.

any idea wats the max iso i can push up to for d200 ?
 

I will try to shoot on thursday, got some concert in school

Settings will prob be: ISO 800
Manual mode/Aperature Priority(prefer Manual)
Lenses: 17-55 f/2.8 IS, 70-200 f/2.8 IS and maybe my 85 f/1.8

Hmm I just anyhow flash la since its not a paid concert

hahaha :thumbsup:
 

panzerpunk said:
I will try to shoot on thursday, got some concert in school

Settings will prob be: ISO 800
Manual mode/Aperature Priority(prefer Manual)
Lenses: 17-55 f/2.8 IS, 70-200 f/2.8 IS and maybe my 85 f/1.8

Hmm I just anyhow flash la since its not a paid concert

hahaha :thumbsup:

post some pic to share hor... :)
 

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