Canon EF 85 f1.8?

I do mostly high school bands - both outside (marching bands) and inside (concert, jazz, etc). I have a 70-200L f4 that is great for outside and generally great inside except in very low light.

I came across a very low light concert situation yesterday and at f4 I was at ISO 12800 all day. I was able to use flash some - which I normally don't do. See sample image attached.

Any experience with this lens? https://www.bhphotovid​eo.com …_f_1_8_USM_Auto​focus.html

I'm trying to determine how much help this lens would have been - any idea or experience with this lens?
Approx. how much better could my ISO have been with this?

Thanks all,

f/4 @ 12800 = f/1.8 @ 2500

Wow - huge difference - thanks Tom. Yes - I see now that this is a straightforward calculation - thanks.

Bassat wrote in post #18373245
f/4 @ 12800 = f/1.8 @ 2500

It's more complicated than this. You also have to consider shutter speed since you are switching from an IS lens to a non IS lens. For the shot he posted on a band where there is not a lot of motion, you could probably go down to 1/80" with the 70-200/4 IS. With the 85/1.8 you will have camera shake at that shutter speed on a crop camera. There you would want to use 1/125" minimum and probably better 1/160". So now 12800 turns into 5000 on the ISO.

Now if you want to shoot the drummers and want to freeze the sticks, this doesn't mater because you will be shooting at faster shutter speeds where IS doesn't help.

Plus shooting at 1.8 isn't really the best solution for light if you are now stuck with a 1" DOF for every shot. High ISO is where fullframe shines.

Heya,

So, I wouldn't jump on the 85 F1.8 on a crop just yet.

As mentioned, while it has a faster focal-ratio, you're losing image stabilization which is worth more.

85mm on APS-C is still quite long, and without stabilization, you'll still be pushing high ISO all the time.

Plus, F1.8 & F2, depth of field will be shallow and you may not always want that with groups, so you will stop down sometimes, and you're back to high ISO.

My suggestion is to look for a faster focal-ratio lens with modern 4 stop image stabilization.
Or, switch to a Sony A7S II and shoot at high ISO with wreckless abandon.
Or, use bounced flash and use any lens and system you want--this is ideal in my opinion, if flash is allowed. It's superior. But only if its allowed.

Take a look at the Tamron 85mm F1.8 VC (4 stops of image stabilization).
Take a look at the Tamron 45mm F1.8 VC (4 stops of image stabilization).

Very best,

Thank you Chariot - I was iffy on it anyway because it is a non-IS.

Thanks MalVeauX. The Tamron looks nice, but a bit pricey. But it is needed for a specific purpose - like the situation I described - so I'm sure worth it.

My next purchase is a decent flash - have needed for awhile anyway. For the bands I do, flash is not prohibited, but I try hard not to because it can be disruptive. At the event I noted above, the only way to get decent shots was with flash (on-camera) - which looks horrible.

Heya,

You need to research the ETTL bounce issues with the 70D before buying a flash. Unfortunately this body has a known unresolved issue with this.

Very best,

Gotcha - thanks.

I sold my 70D because of the bounce flash issue. The 80D is good, and better for STM video.

Tom - can you enlighten me as to what the issue is?

The 85mm f/1.8 was one of my favorite choices for live music in dimly lit venues, though I used it primarily on FF. I regularly paired it with the 50mm Art. It was one of the few lenses I could rely on for accurate focus wide open in such circumstances, though as mentioned above that will be less than ideal if you're trying to achieve focus on multiple performers. You can't always avoid motion blur when you're wide open, the iso is maxed and the ss speed creeps down low, but if you choose your moments carefully you'll achieve acceptable results. To illustrate, these images were all at f/1.8, and the first one is from a cropper. There's even one at 1/40 that I'm content with despite the blur from the mic hand.

Photo from PineBomb's gallery.

Photo from PineBomb's gallery.

Photo from PineBomb's gallery.

NICE images PineBomb - thanks for the info and examples.

tspencer1 wrote in post #18374056
Tom - can you enlighten me as to what the issue is?

Here is the long version: https://photography-on-the.net …read.php?t=1442​842&page=1
I think I have 60+ posts in this thread documenting the issue I had with my 70D. If you need details, read at least my posts.

Short version:
Some copies of the 70D have this problem, some don't, mine did. The camera properly exposes DIRECT flash. Flash exposure when BOUNCING (white card, wall, ceiling, anything other than straight-forward direct flash) is WILDLY erratic. It cannot be corrected for with FEC. It does decent job (slightly overexposed, but usable) if you use FEL, which is a severe PITA. The missed exposures varied from slight +/- 1 stop, to SEVERE +/- 3+ stops, yield completely unusable - ONLY WHILE USING BOUNCE FLASH. It is worse with slow lenses, and with slow(er) apertures on fast lenses. My 70D just SUCKED with the 18-55 STM, 17-40, 24-105 STM (all slower, variable aperture lenses). My 70D did mostly OK with fast (f/1.8 & > lenses, if you were shooting wide open. Stop a fast lens down to f/5.6 and the 70D performed as poorly as using a slow lens to start with.

I am convinced the 70D has a firmware problem, or one of Canon's suppliers provided a defective electronic component. The problem is/was all over Canon's own 70D forum; Canon has never addressed it. I documented my issues, talked directly with Canon tech support, and sent it in TWICE. I wasted several days of my life, taking and documenting about 1000 photos. Tech-support agreed that the camera had a problem. I got it back in the same condition. Twice. I sold it, with full disclosure, of course.

I wouldn't take a chance on ANY used 70D unless you can test and document that it can properly expose a flash shot with the flash bounced of the ceiling or a wall, CONSISTENTLY.

I bought an 80D a short while ago (November?). It is a wonderful camera, with AF to rival my 1D4, and high-ISO noise performance only 1 stop worse than my FF 6D. The 80D and DPAF and LiveView AF is what DSLR video SHOULD HAVE BEEN to start with. I really enjoy the 80D. I wouldn't give you a plug-nickel for a 70D.