Capturing people on stage

[Nibby]

Hi folks

I have just brought S45 and it's got a lot of bells and whistles comparded to my old APS point and shoot. The problem is I'm attending an awards dinner shortly and would like to know if it's better to use the auto mode or should I program the camera to photograph my freinds on stage.
Will the flash carry any distance or should I turn the flash off and rely on the stage lighting? Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Nibby

[beivied]

Hi

mine is not a S45, but hope what I know can help.

Try to use a higher iso speed (someone on this board taught me this) and aperture to 2.8. I do not think you would be allowed to use flash in the theatre. Best if you are sitting in the front seat, as zooming would bring the aperture to maybe 4.8, which may result in some motion blur if the actors are moving quite fast.
If i am wrong anywhere, someone pls correct me.

[tonygamble]

Use a tripod and forget flash.

The flash will probably not reach. If it does it will look very obvious - and annoy the h*ll out of people.

As it is an awards dinner and not a theatrre production a longish shutter speed will probably survive.

Tony

[archiebald]

Hey, it's only an awards dinner, most people will be happy to have a camera flashing them :)

Seriously though, with my S30 anything over 7~8 meters is going to be tough. If you are going to use flash, wind it all the way up to full power.

Also, try to avoid the temptation to use the digital zoom.

Failure to predict these two points spoiled some good piccy opportunities at one of my daughter's kindergarten events.

[Nibby]

Thanks
I'll try those settings out in a darkend room at home, and see what sort of images I get

Nibby

[Benny Tong]

I also got a S45 and bought a external slave flash for myson's performance on stage.

If flash is allowed, I suggest you to buy a cheap flash to greatly improve your chance of getting good pictures.

The flash I bought for HK$220 was the Starblitz 200M with a guide number of 20m/ISO 100. That means I can shoot up to 7m(~23feet) away with 2.8 F/stop. It is worth considering.


Benny

[delphinus]

Hi Benny, how do you hold the external flash? Are holding the camera in one hand and the flash at another? I've been thinking of getting an external flash and doing so, but I scrapped the idea because it looks silly. Btw it is just a personal thought, so don't be offended if you are doing exactly what I describe :).

Delphinus
PS S30

[Benny Tong]

Hi Delphinus,

I found that I could take the pictures with my right hand holding the camera and my left hand holding the slave flash as high as possible to minimize the shadows casted by the flash (keeping those dark shadows as low as possible).

I also learnt that I have to ignore what other people think sometimes if I do not want to miss the opportunities taking that once-in-a-lifetime pictures. :-)


Benny

[UK_Terry]

Use a high ISO (800) and AV.

set to the largest i.e 2.8,

this will give you a faster speed and avoid blur,

shoot in RAW. then you can choose the WB later.

Hope this helps.

[Benny Tong]

No, too much noise at ISO800. I would not go higher than ISO200.

Here is how a guy hold his external slave flash with S45: http://www.touchofmagic.com/pwc/s45/

I would hold the flash as high as possible to minimize shadows.


Benny

[delphinus]

Thank you for posting it up, Ben. Just want to add one thing. The author of the page seemed to have used a diffuser in order to prevent red eye build up. I remember there is a better way of covering it, by using unexposed negative film. 1 piece or 2 stacked together should do the job. The negative will prevent majority of the spectrum from coming up, but allows infra red spectrum to be emitted. This IR spectrum can be "read" by the sensor.

I've yet to try it since I don't have any slave flash. This is just what I've read before.

Delphinus
PS S30

[UK_Terry]

Benny Tong wrote:
No, too much noise at ISO800. I would not go higher than ISO200.

Benny

Hi i took some at 800 inside an aircraft hanger see this post

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=9891

i know it was with my 10D, but i have used my S45 inside without flash at 800 and had good results.

Remember some venues prohibit flash photography.

[delphinus]

Terry? I kept on trying at ISO800, but all the picture exhibits very strong grain everywhere. 100% crop is virtually useless at ISO800.

Below is a picture of my duckling taken without flash in my room under tungsten lamp lighting.
http://www.geocities.com/santoarmand/grainy_duckling.jpg

Do you have any suggestion on how to reduce the grains? I found that the above picture is rather unacceptable for me.

Delphinus
PS S30

NB: If the above picture does not open properly, please go to http://www.geocities.com/santoarmand/dunno.html or
http://www.geocities.com/santoarmand/grainy_duckling.jpg

[UK_Terry]

i see what you mean.

first and foremost i must correct my mistake on the S45 i have only shot at ISO 400 it is the 10D that has higher settings.