85mm F1.8 Concerts

[drisley]

I have a thread asking about using my 70-200mm F4L at a bodybuilding show, but apparently it will be too slow.
I was thinking about my 50mm F1.8 since I will be in row 4, but now I'm wondering about that beautiful looking 85mm F1.8.
If I make my decision tonite, I can probably get the lens by Friday from B&H.

Can anyone post any indoor concert shots, or similar, taken with that lens?

Thanks so much in advance.

(poor credit card, my pooor little credit card)

PS. If 50 people can buy my sharpening action by tomorrow, that would be great too!!!
:lol: :lol:

Addendum, the 100mm F2.0 looks interesting also...

[kahfluie]

Used the 85mm f1.8 USM on this shot just this past Friday. GREAT lens.

http://debbielou.com/photography/concerts/markschultz_030504/crw_1430sm_std.jpg

[timmyquest]

Used the 85mm f1.8 USM on this shot just this past Friday. GREAT lens.

http://debbielou.com/photography/concerts/markschultz_030504/crw_1430sm_std.jpg

Crystal clear...awsome.

[drisley]

Wow! Nice Kahfluie!

What were the lighting conditions? Was that a concert hall? What sort of settings,iso, did you need?

Thanks again!

[kahfluie]

Wow! Nice Kahfluie!

What were the lighting conditions? Was that a concert hall? What sort of settings,iso, did you need?

Thanks again!

Thanks...

Shot Manual
Focal Length: 85mm (as if you didn't know)
Shutter: 1/250
ISO: 800
Aperture: 1.8
Flash: None

I do love the lens... very sharp images. For the money, it's fantastic. This was about... I think 6-7 rows back (I moved around so...) - however the front row is very close to the stage... this was in a church. Lighting wasn't that bad (to be able to shoot this at ISO800 and at 1/250 it had to be good), however it was nothing like lighting at a full blown rock concert at Madison Square Garden either. :D

Your 50mm f1.8 may be good enough if you're going to be in the 4th row - depending how far that first row is to the stage. But if you;re looking at the 85mm, look no further... it's a great lens.

[drisley]

Thanks for the reply.
I appreciate it.
The 50mm might actually do the job, especially since I would want an entire body shot.

[randyk]

I used the 50 1.4 from the first row in a theater recently, low lighting. It worked very well and was almost too long when performers came to the very front of the stage. The shots came out really well, from 1/200 to 1/500 or so, stopped down to f4.5, ISO 800.

I have the 85 1.8 now and I like this better, faster focus and far sharper wide open at 1.8. But I would move back a few rows with this. Bottom line, you can make the 50mm work well but I far prefer the 85 if I have enough room to use it. It is also a better sports low light lens than the 50.

sample pics:

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2199490&size=lg
http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2199471&size=lg

[maderito]

These shots were all taken with an 85/1.8 from the second row of an auditorium. The stage was illuminated with hot spotlights. All shots are ISO 1600 and required Neat Image to reduce noise.

http://www.pbase.com/maderito/winter_talent_show

[drisley]

Thanks people :)

Maderito, those are GREAT shots! It's too bad you had to resort to ISO1600, although sized-down and "neatimaged", they look fantastic.
I suppose at full size the noise is fairly noticeable?

That lighting would be very similar to the lighting at the bb show.
Perhaps a few more shadows.

I found these 2 pictures from last years show in the exact same theatre.
I dont know what camera the guy used or anything. Highlights look fairly blown out though.

PIC1 (http://www.mts.net/~lftbrain/109.jpg)

PIC2 (http://www.mts.net/~lftbrain/91.jpg)

[maderito]

Thanks people :)

Maderito, those are GREAT shots! It's too bad you had to resort to ISO1600, although sized-down and "neatimaged", they look fantastic.
I suppose at full size the noise is fairly noticeable?

That lighting would be very similar to the lighting at the bb show.
Perhaps a few more shadows.
Thanks for the comment. Yes, the noise is quite noticeable but not objectionable at full size.

The problem for this shoot was low light, high contrast (hot spots), and motion. All the shots were underexposed significantly to avoid blowing highlights and to maintain fast shutter speed. The 85/1.8 was the best lens I own for this challenge. I've said before in this forum that it's my favorite lens. I never leave home without it. :)

[drisley]

Thanks again :)

Can you tell by looking at my 2 pics if the lighting would be greater than what you experienced?
Perhaps impossible to tell?

[maderito]

Thanks again :)

Can you tell by looking at my 2 pics if the lighting would be greater than what you experienced?
Perhaps impossible to tell?
There's definitely more lighting but the pics are overexposed. So I don't know if the lighting is more uniform (compared to lighting in my shots) or intentionally very contrasty to emphasize musculature. Either way, I'd try to shoot so that the highlights are under control and then build up any shadow detail in post processing if necessary (which will increase noise). That said, these kind of pics look OK with a few blown highlights. The point is, you do want strong lighting so that you can create high contrast images.

I used manual exposure mode and constantly made adjustments as the lighting changed.

[Ballen Photo]

Used the 85mm f1.8 USM on this shot just this past Friday. GREAT lens.


Impressive results. I'm glad I have an 85 1.8 also. Now I have to try it at a concert. ;-)
........Bruce