Brian Stace band - 9 Oct 06

I tried spot metering and Av mode for the first few songs, then switched to manual mode - it seemed easier to adjust from 1/25 to 1/120 with the main dial rather than zoom, lock exposure, refocus and shoot.

I wasn't able to move around like I was with Los Texmaniacs - the MWR folks were videotaping the show from the lightboard area and asked that I not be wandering around in front of the stage.

Overall, I'm more satisfied with these shots than with any of the others to date. Still, focus issues and lighting are still *killing* me... any suggestions greatly appreciated!!

Here's a few shots from the series... more available at my smugmug gallery.

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i like the one of the bass player. i think it would make a good black and white

It is difficult to do much when you are overly restricted and the lighting is so limited and sterile to begin with! Without EXIF in the images I have no advice.

I like the pics, overall...

What lens was this with? and the ISO? F stop?

Sorry, all... I didn't realize that the EXIF wouldn't be in there! I've gone back and added it.

Shots were taken with the 100-400 at ISO 3200, spot metering. I tried the 70-200 f/2.8 for a few shots, but wasn't able to get a good reach to fill the frame. If I'd been able to move around more, I would've used it.

Lighting and focus were (are) kicking my butt. I was trying to meter and focus on faces, then reframe and shoot. How do you guys get that razor sharp focus all the time??? Even shooting as slow as I did, I still had to pull off exposure in ACR due to blown highlights. I know it'll come with practice...it just gets discouraging sometimes. I read and read up on this, then I try it and it (generally) looks like crud.

The shots in the gallery are the best ones out of almost 300 shots that night...

mnealtx wrote in post #2109618
I was trying to meter and focus on faces, then reframe and shoot. How do you guys get that razor sharp focus all the time???

I mostly choose an AF point on the subject. Not focus recompose. That helps.
What also helps a lot is throwing out all the OoF ones

These photos are pretty good...I never would have guessed that you used the 100-400mm lens...How far away did you have to be to take these?
The look pretty sharp to me...a nice softer quality to them...
Your shutter speeds are real low for such a long lens... Did you use a tripod/mono pod or rely on the IS?

René Damkot wrote in post #2114792
I mostly choose an AF point on the subject. Not focus recompose. That helps.
What also helps a lot is throwing out all the OoF ones

Hello Rene -

That's pretty much what I was doing - I would spotmeter on the face to get the exposure setting, then recompose and refocus using the top (in portrait) focus point. AI servo and special function 4-1. When I would initially focus, I'd get a flash of the confirmation lamp... then I'd hold the * and take the shot when the pose looked right. Is it possible that there was movement from that first focus attempt, but not enough to trigger the AI servo to refocus?

I suppose what I'm asking is what process do y'all use for focussing in a concert situation? Similar to what I described, or completely different?

I threw out a LOT of OOF ... I ended up with 30-some out of around 250 shots that would probably be acceptable in a 4x6 print ... and only about 5 of those that I considered "sharp"... I think I've got that part of the workflow down pat!!

johnstoy wrote in post #2114914
These photos are pretty good...I never would have guessed that you used the 100-400mm lens...How far away did you have to be to take these?
The look pretty sharp to me...a nice softer quality to them...
Your shutter speeds are real low for such a long lens... Did you use a tripod/mono pod or rely on the IS?

Hi John - a "softer" look, unfortunately, wasn't what I was looking for... but I'm slowly getting better!

For the closer shots, I was roughly 30-35 feet from the lead singer and drummer, about 20-25 from the guitarist and probably around 50 from the bass guitar. The full band shot was about 75-80 feet back (those were the only two places I could shoot from due to movie cameras).

I was using the monopod attached to the lens ring (ring was loose enough that I could switch between portrait and landscape), IS, and bracing every other way I could think of to reduce as much motion as possible!

mnealtx wrote in post #2119266
then recompose and refocus using the top (in portrait) focus point. AI servo and special function 4-1. When I would initially focus, I'd get a flash of the confirmation lamp... then I'd hold the * and take the shot when the pose looked right. Is it possible that there was movement from that first focus attempt, but not enough to trigger the AI servo to refocus?

On AI servo, if the green dot in the VF is blinking rapidly, it's telling you it can't focus. The 'confirmation lamp' (Assuming you mean the green dot) only lights when focus is locked in One Shot AF. The 'red sqare' in the VF only lights up (momentarily) to let you know what AF point you are using.

I find in low light AI Servo to be less precise with static objects then One Shot AF. That's on a 1D2. Therefore I still use One Shot occasionally. One thing to keep in mind though, when using Av/Evaluative metering/CFn4-1 exposure is locked as well as AF while keeping the '*' button pressed.

René Damkot wrote in post #2119443
On AI servo, if the green dot in the VF is blinking rapidly, it's telling you it can't focus. The 'confirmation lamp' (Assuming you mean the green dot) only lights when focus is locked in One Shot AF. The 'red sqare' in the VF only lights up (momentarily) to let you know what AF point you are using.

I find in low light AI Servo to be less precise with static objects then One Shot AF. That's on a 1D2. Therefore I still use One Shot occasionally. One thing to keep in mind though, when using Av/Evaluative metering/CFn4-1 exposure is locked as well as AF while keeping the '*' button pressed.

I didn't think that One Shot AF would be usable, as much as the performers move around. I didn't know if there was enough variance in the AI Servo for the performer to move out of sharp focus without the AI Servo catching it.

I'll give One Shot a try...thanks!