Settings for local show?

[THIEF]

Going to local "battle of the bands" show tomorrow night.Ive been asked to get some shots for my buddy's band.Ive only been shooting for a month now so still got alot to learn.I'll be taking my 40d w/50mm1.8,35-80mm.

Does anybody have any tips for what settings i should use?Im assuming i cant use flash and its going to be a low-light situation.
Thanks

[londonblue007]

high ISO, 1600 if need be. don't worry about the grain, comes with the territory.
use the 50mm. use it at f1.8. use a slower shutter speed, 1/50 or faster depending on the light. don't drop below 1/focal length

shoot RAW. shoot in burst mode. bring a big memory card, or lots of little ones. some people shoot in bracketing mode, others just shoot in burst, personal preference. I like plain old burst mode.

don't use your flash.

if the lighting is horrid, make the shots B&W in photoshop/lightroom/aperature/canon software/etc.

good luck.

[cory1848]

When I shoot bands I usually use the 50 or the Tamron 17-50. The 50 gets great shots. Leave flash at home, if there are a lot of lights, I just test meter until I get exposures that work and set the ISO (usually 1200-1600) and leave the App at 1.8 or 2ish and have fun. Once you get exposures that are in the ball park, I find that they dont waiver far from that.

[kmb]

Originally Posted by londonblue007

shoot RAW. shoot in burst mode. bring a big memory card, or lots of little ones. some people shoot in bracketing mode, others just shoot in burst, personal preference. I like plain old burst mode.

And others shoot single frames, in order to choose the moments to phtograph rather than relying on luck.

[londonblue007]

Originally Posted by kmb

And others shoot single frames, in order to choose the moments to phtograph rather than relying on luck.

I am shooting moments too... but I've found that sometimes the moment you are shooting isn't as good as the moment or 2 directly before or after. Especially with high motion (kicking, jumping, head banging, etc. ) Burst lets me get the moment I was going for, but with the 5 or 6 moments before and after to compare and contrast.

[gcobb]

Originally Posted by kmb

And others shoot single frames, in order to choose the moments to phtograph rather than relying on luck.

Agreed and I will also delete an unusable image rather than trying to salvage a bad image by making it B&W or clouding it up with PS.

[gcobb]

Originally Posted by londonblue007

I am shooting moments too... but I've found that sometimes the moment you are shooting isn't as good as the moment or 2 directly before or after. Especially with high motion (kicking, jumping, head banging, etc. ) Burst lets me get the moment I was going for, but with the 5 or 6 moments before and after to compare and contrast.

Being able to read the movement and character of the musicians is a bonus to those of us who have the knack. If you're in low light you already know the odds are against someone when the subject is moving. If someone is moving too much, I know it with a single shot and won't waste my time trying to capture it.

YMMV

[Bukanza]

As far as AF modes go, is it wise to leave AI Servo on rather than One Shot or AI Focus?

Also, should I spot meter on the subject rather than allowing nearby lights to throw off the exposure?

[gravcy]

i've had luck using spot meter... but even so, shooting in manual is so much more reliable.

I'd perhaps keep it in one shot -- relying on the AI Servo is at times unreliable because of the lack of contrast for the AF system to work in. The camera could be taking the shot way before a focus lock was acquired, hence giving you a false sense of security... if you shoot in One Shot, you'd get confirmation that you've acquired focus lock.

[René Damkot]

I use AiServo mostly, unless light is really low. In that case OneShot is more reliable.

My camera doesn't offer AiFocus AF (it's a 1D2). That should give you a hint
If it would offer it, I'd program it out in a PFn, since IMO it's useless.