First stage shoot with the G6

Last night was my first attempt to shoot a local high school play with the G6. Of course, it was an available-light affair and I *needed* the large maximum apertures that we all love on this cam. I shot at ISO 400, set the WB to the tungsten setting. Most of the exposures were 1/60th or 1/80th sec @ f/2.8. The G6 is nicely conservative with its ISO rating - it was actually closer to ISO 640 or 800, according to my tests.

I used the Manual exposure mode, spot-metering. The AF worked sterlingly well.

I also shot some Fujicolor CZ800 film with my EOS A2 and 200mm f/2.8 L which I will scan in the near future.

This sort of photography is VERY tricky and challenging, but has its own rewards.

Take a look here at a sample.

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Looks very promising!

I've just bought a Pro1, and one of my my main uses of it is stage photos.

My first thought was that I would want a dSLR, but decided that even though it gives much better high-ISO performance then the Pro1, it still wouldn't be fast enough to "stop" dancers in movement. So I might as well go for something that used a flashgun (I take photos at dress rehearsals). I have previously found many occasions where I'd have wanted the flip-out LCD.

Alas there don't seem to be any shows in my area until September or so!

I'll look forward to sharing photos with you. Please continue to post your photos, or at least pointers to them.

regards,
/alan

So, you're saying that you use flash for this sort of thing or just back-stage?

The f/3.5 aperture at the long end will be a handicap with the Pro 1 and ISO 400.

I just about have all my editing completed through 500+ images and I will post a few more, and I see many that are better than that shot I showed everyone, earlier.

I normally use flash at the final dress rehearsal, by which time (with any luck) the scenery and costumes are all in place.

You might want to have a look at www.thepotters.org/ala​n_shows and www.sabos.co.uk for some examples. But they are all taken on film - I've not got any yet with digital. At least I now have the camera that should allow me to take them!

(Many of these were not, in fact, taken by me - as you will guess from the fact that I am in them! They were taken by a friend using my camera)

regards,
/alan

I've always had terrific results with Fuji 800 and fast lenses; just meant for each other.

I made a gorgeous 8x10 of this (from original 2 MB file!), here in my office. You could easily go to an 11x14.

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For what it's worth, I had the good fortune last fall to help out on a major production in a house that has a multimillion-dollar annual budget. All the publicity shots were taken at the full-dress rehearsal using the available light from the stage. I was busy with other things, so I didn't get a chance to quiz the photographer, but she was using an SLR (almost certainly film) with a lens that couldn't have been faster than 1.4, and probably slower. The resulting posters look fantastic, though they certainly are grainier than Plus-X.

In other words, the pros manage to get along with available light by using a high ISO. On the other hand, if we could afford a pro rig we wouldn't be on this forum, would we?