24mm f/1.4L vs 35mm f/1.4L vs 16-35mm f/2.8L

[lightandlife]

My goal is to take sharp pictures of people indoors without interrupting people, meaning available light. There are three lens options to go with 10D. Any comments?

lightandlife

[Fred Bopp]

I use the 16-35, 24-70 and 70-200 IS on my 10D for available light shooting inside at events, etc. Choose ISO 400 or 800 as needed as this creates very usable photos. To compensate for white balance I shoot a gray card at the scene and apply it durinng conversion from RAW to .tif. I use BreezeBrowser for conversion and Edit Lab 4.0 stand alone to batch correct color etc. Last step is USM starting at 200,1,0.
Recently did an event inside a church which had strong incandesent lighting which caused an orange cast. The gray card corrected it just fine. I do not claim to be an expert but this is what works for me.

Regards, Fred

[lightandlife]

Fred Bopp wrote:
I use the 16-35, 24-70 and 70-200 IS on my 10D for available light shooting inside at events, etc. Choose ISO 400 or 800 as needed as this creates very usable photos.

Regards, Fred


I guess I have to do a lot of catching up. Thank you for the advice, especially on ISO range.
Were you happy with 16-35mm L, Fred?

lightandlife

[Fred Bopp]

Before I got the 24-70L I used the 16-35 most of the time. I filled the gap between the 16-35 and 70-200 with a 50mm 1.4. The 16-35 gave me excellent results and Fred Miranda has a review of this lens comparing it to the 17-35.
Now my most used lens is the 24-70. It seems to cover what I need most of the time.
This Sunday I will be doing a special event inside a church with the new bishop of the Fall River Diocese. There is no flash allowed as it disrupts the service so I'll be using the 70-200 IS with ISO at 400 or 800. Will try to post some photos at my Pbase site later next week.
Regards, Fred

[lightandlife]

What is the address of your site?
The church I attend conducts Sunday services in an old builiding, dimmly lighted. I guess it is cheaper to buy a good lens than to ask the church to rebuild itself.

You sound like you are happier with 24-70mm than with 16-35mm.

lightandlife

[lightandlife]

Fred Bopp wrote:
This Sunday I will be doing a special event inside a church with the new bishop of the Fall River Diocese. There is no flash allowed as it disrupts the service so I'll be using the 70-200 IS with ISO at 400 or 800. Will try to post some photos at my Pbase site later next week.
Regards, Fred

Where is your site?
Another question. The manual says, under incandescent light shoot white paper first, not gray paper.

Why do you recommend gray paper? If gray is better, how gray should it be?

[Carbon]

Gray cards are used because they have "typical" reflectivity of around 18%. They're really designed for exposure, not white balance, but I think they might work for white balance, as well, since they are neutrally colored. It's not a gray piece of paper, but a specific matte card of a certain known reflectivity.

[ssim]

I can't comment on the 24-70 as mine in on order but I do have the 16-35. It is a great lens.

Here is a sample from this past weekend. This was handheld.

http://www.pbase.com/image/21350615.jpg

[daveh]

I keep the 35 f1.4 on most of the time for random shooting. When I'm really trying to get candid people shots though, then I usually switch to the 85 f1.2. (Depending on the room size.)

[lightandlife]

daveh wrote:
I keep the 35 f1.4 on most of the time for random shooting. When I'm really trying to get candid people shots though, then I usually switch to the 85 f1.2. (Depending on the room size.)



Dave, I am with you. Eventually, I chose 35 f1.4.

ssim, that is a great shot. I am interested in such a wide angle zoom. Got to save money.