Question regarding stage performance

[trailrider]

Hello all!
I have a gig Saturday and am concerned about the amount of available light. I'm told not to use a strobe or any kind of lighting, my fastest lenses are my 70-200 2.8 IS and my 24-105 f/4 IS.

Here is a picture of the stage, there will be spotlights on the dancers, is there hopes that I will be able to use a fast enough shutter speed to stop some blur? Should I rent a faster lens?

[elysium]

40D, ISO3200 and 70-200 and pray shutterspeed is up to the challenge.

I would grab a prime or two. Do you know where you will be sitting?

[johnstoy]

I've got sharp keepers with the 70-200mm f2.8L IS at 1/15th, 1/30th, 1/50th... ISO 1600 usually does it, rarely resort to ISO 3200 and it works too...

Shoot in RAW... Shoot bracketed in sets of three... One F stop apart in each direction...

[elysium]

Then I say you will have no problem. With the amount of movement, wouldnt a prime be more ideal in this case?

What kind of stage performance is it going to be? Slow shutter speeds wont help if it is a dance for example.

[trailrider]

defininetly a dance with a lot of motion! I'm just hoping that the stage is well lit, should the spotlights on the dancers reflect enough light? I'll be sitting in the pit in front of the stage

[elysium]

Are you able to visit the venue before and setup? Unless someone has been to that same venue, it will be difficult depending on where the spotlights are fasted. You are going to be looking at some higher shutter speeds so I would not omit higher ISO's.

Spot lights will help but not as much as you think. Im sure you already know that. :)

[René Damkot]

Seeing that the first image is ISO 100, ISO 3200 should probably work out...

I'd bring the Sigma 17-70 and 50/1,8 as well.

If you want to rent a lens, 85/1.8 would be a nice addition.

[elysium]

Seeing that the first image is ISO 100, ISO 3200 should probably work out...

I'd bring the Sigma 17-70 and 50/1,8 as well.

If you want to rent a lens, 85/1.8 would be a nice addition.+1 on this. :)

[trailrider]

Thanks guys, by the way, how do you get the exif info out of the pics I posted?

[johnstoy]

Thanks guys, by the way, how do you get the exif info out of the pics I posted?

EXIF: Download the free version at:
http://www.opanda.com/en/

The 85mm f1.8 USM is fast to focus, and is a real nice, sharp lens...

The sample images you have posted above have considerable motion blur and softness... Besides the stage action, that's also from camera shake...

You'll probably be able to stop the action with the 85mm f1.8... But the 70-200mm f2.8L IS is a must take along... It will do a wonderful job on stopping the action too... The action blur will be slight and relatively sharp... It's actually fluent and represents the stage action nicely...Check your shutter speed and decide what lens works better... Also check the Histogram and camera info. for exposure.

Therefore, I'd recommend taking a lot of pics... You'll be able to sort them out later... Take 1000 pictures if you can, and it will take you a solid 2 to 3 hours to download them and do a primary sort... I usually get about 200 pretty good captures of which 20-40 are real nice winners.

Let us know how you do, by posting your results.

EDIT: I just noticed you have two cameras... Take them both and shoot alternatively with two lenses.

[DwightMcCann]

Thanks guys, by the way, how do you get the exif info out of the pics I posted?

Read the FAQ!

I am shooting 400 little ballerinas this week as a volunteer and have had to go to ISO 2500 as we have no spotlights. It is outdoors theater-in-the-(half)round. Some motion blur is totally unavoidable and not to be assumed to be a bad thing.