First 'Concert' Photos - My friend

[eXc450]

Hey Guys,

Using a 30D and kit lens 18-55. I am pretty sure the lens is what let me down. Am I right? Or is it just I don't know how to take photos?

The lighting was no lights except 2 colourd lights coming from near her feet. I was about 10-15 foot from her taking the shots using a tripod.

1st shot. 1/25, f5.6, ISO3200 @ 55mm
2nd shot. 1/25, f3.5, ISO3200 @ 18mm

[eXc450]

sorry, 2nd shot didn't attach

[colin uk]

I don’t think you have done to bad, I like the first image best of the two. I love the movement of the strumming hand. The kit lens is not the best for the job. Were you can improve is getting the subjects face sharper, in your first image the mic is very sharp and her face less sharp, happens to me all the time. At ISO 3200 you have a lot of noise, I am using a program call Neat Image which will do a good job of cleaning up the noise without losing detail, it works a lot better than Photoshop’s noise filter. I will leave it to the experts to offer you further advice, keep trying.

[Village_Idiot]

Canon 50mm f/1.8 is probably the cheapest solution, well if you can't use the flash that is...

[JoevL]

Canon 50mm f/1.8 is probably the cheapest solution, well if you can't use the flash that is...

Seconded.

Get hold of a Canon 50mm if you can, I've only had my 400D for a couple of weeks and the kit lens has hardly been back on the camera since it arrived.

[eXc450]

Thanks guys.

yeah I am gonna get a 24-70 2.8 sigma I think. Trying to decide if I should get a 50, 1.8 aswell. I don't have much money at the moment. I could get the 50, 1.8 now, and use it for a month or 2 before getting ther 24-70. just don't want to 'waste' my money on a 50mm if i never use it once i get the 24-70

[JoevL]

In the first picture focus looks pretty sharp on the guitar neck/hand, next time you should try either manual focus (especially if the subject is sat on a stool rather than roaming the stage) or try changing your auto-focus point. The camera will generally auto-focus on the centre point in the view-finder, especially annoying when shooting drummers with all their kit in front of them.

At some point get the 50mm if you can, it's always good to have at least one prime lens in your set-up I think.

[Village_Idiot]

Thanks guys.

yeah I am gonna get a 24-70 2.8 sigma I think. Trying to decide if I should get a 50, 1.8 aswell. I don't have much money at the moment. I could get the 50, 1.8 now, and use it for a month or 2 before getting ther 24-70. just don't want to 'waste' my money on a 50mm if i never use it once i get the 24-70


It's not a waste and if you don't want it that bad after purchasing it you can always sell if for just a very small loss. I mean, it's only like $80 from B&H

It's going to have a max aperture of f/1.8 where the sigma is only f/2.8

1.8 is very difficult to focus, but you can bump it up to a 2.2 for a little extra help and still have a faster speed.

Look up my thread in the performing arts forum. I have the exif for one of my pictures. f/2.8 at 1/30 shutter speed and no flash with 1600 ISO. It's possible. Also, setting your camera for burst fire gives you several shots in the series with a better chance at getting one that's not blurry from movement or camera shake.

I know that seems like spray and pray, but sometimes when you have really crappy lighting conditions to deal with then make do with what you can.

[Brandon James]

Canon 50mm f/1.8 is probably the cheapest solution, well if you can't use the flash that is...

Is this the lense you were reccomending?

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-50mm-1-8-Camera-Lens/dp/B00007E7JU/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-5890476-4015356?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1183471829&sr=8-1

[Village_Idiot]

Is this the lense you were reccomending?

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-50mm-1-8-Camera-Lens/dp/B00007E7JU/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-5890476-4015356?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1183471829&sr=8-1

Yes. $5 cheaper from B&H if you buy the imported version

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?shs=Canon+50mm+f%2F1.8&ci=0&sb=ps&pn=1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=RootPage.jsp&A=search&Q=*&bhs=t

[Suicidenote]

Get the 50 1.8, it won't be a waste of money. There are times in very low light that the 1.8 is going to really help you over the 2.8.

[eXc450]

Ok i will get the 50 f1.8 and wait on the 24-70. use the kit lens for anything wide and outside until I get the 24-70 in a month or 3.

I actually would have had the 50mm if my store had it in stock on the weekend. Cause I took some photos the night before the photos above, and had worse results (my girlfriends dance team) but since the shop didn't have one, and I figure she'll be sitting on a stool, I'd try the kit lens.

Cheers Guys. Hopefully my next post will be with the 50mm and a lot better photos.

[gcobb]

The 2.8 isn't a waste either. If no one has mentinoed it yet, read the FAQ at the top of this forum and/or search this thread. The 1.8 is a good budget lens, but I think you have to sacrifice a little light for a little quality between the two lenses.

Read up on how to lock the exposure, neutral colors, etc. If you can read the music or follow movement of the entertainers you will be doing yourself a favor by knowing when they will have the least amount of movement too. There are multitudes of variables here but you probably won't master but one at a time and understand it.

[eXc450]

Well I've just ordered the 50 f1.8 until i can afford the 24-70 f2.8

[tokyopunk]

eXc: I've had some great results with the Kit Lense actually. Given, the lighting was decent at most shows.
the 50mm 1.8 is great for low light, you can keep your iso to 400/800 with little noise.

[ThomasOwenM]

eXc450, you won't be sorry for ordering the 50mm 1.8 "nifty fifty." I recently shot my first show with a DSLR (a 20D) and loved that lens. I used ISO 1600 and got really good clarity. Though I had a 430 EX flash available, I hardly used it. Didn't need it most of the time. If you want to see my results, click on my name and choose the "find more posts" option and look at the "Sarah Benck and the Robbers" thread.

[eXc450]

cool, thanks guys. I have heard the AF isn't great in low light with the 50, but hey, I need to learn how to MF quickly anyways.

[ThomasOwenM]

I've heard you can use a flash unit's guiding beam to help the nifty fifty focus, even if you don't actually flash, but I couldn't figure out how to do that. Sometimes with AF, the focus would end up on the performer's guitar neck and hand with their face being out of focus. That's where manual focus came in really handy. The 20D (and it should be the same on the 30D) has a feature where you can define what part of the viewfinder should be used for AF. You can have it dead center or off to the right or left or up or down, or all over. That feature was also helpful.

For the Sarah Benck shoot I actually had a 70-200 f4 L telephoto lens available to me, but chose the nifty fifty over it. I did so because in that particular venue there was absolutely ZERO need for me to zoom. I was able to get as close to anything as I wanted. It therefore made more sense to use the small nifty fifty than that long-ass telephoto lens that is harder to keep steady. I have no doubt you'll be glad you bought one. Even if you use your telephoto lens most of the time, you'll probably have situations in which the nifty fifty lens is your best choice.

[eXc450]

yeah when it's on full auto I think it will use the flash to focus, but in my experience, it shoots like 4 flash's which will annoy people. I need to keep it to no flash.

Thanks for the idea though. Perhaps there is another way.

The 50mm sounds like it will be good enough for most shots I do currently (low light and day shots) plus I can get the bokeh or whatever. It should (better) be sharper than the ket lens too. I may just miss the wide angle.

[tokyopunk]

An other way to focus (which I found on the board, so thanks to whoever) is to point focus on the eyes, I got decent results doing that!

[ThomasOwenM]

I'm told there's some way to use the flash unit's beam only to help focus without the flash going off at all. I didn't actually figure out how to do it; I'm very new at this (the Sarah Benck shoot was my first one with a DSLR). Maybe there's someone here who knows how to do it who could fill us in.

[gcobb]

There's another thread about this regarding using a flash in concerts. The general concensus is that the majority of us will walk away from a live band shoot before using a flash.

[ThomasOwenM]

The general concensus is that the majority of us will walk away from a live band shoot before using a flash.

But what about using the flash's beam to assist in the focus without actually firing the flash?