How do you shoot (piano keys) in two different methods(close up focus,...)

This is why people own tripods...

To be honest, you can only do one or the other with this light, either a wide aperture to handhold or a narrow aperture + tripod to get the whole keyboard in focus. You could max out your iso to get your shutter speed down but I doubt it would come down enough to hand hold still.

As Jay said, a tripod & shutter release cable is the way forwards here.

You have a simple Depth of Field (DOF )problem. In order to get the maximum number of keys in focus, you need to increase your DOF. To increase DOF you need to use a smaller aperture or increase your camera to subject distance, or both. Obviously, your composition requires a short camera to subject distance, so your best option is to use a smaller aperture. As you noted, however, that results in a longer exposure time for the given ISO. So here are your options:

1. Increase the ISO setting - the drawback to this is more noise in your image. Also, it may not be possible to increase the ISO to a point where you can still get sufficient DOF.
2. Use a tripod and a release - this is probably the best solution if you want to maintain a sharp, low noise image.
3. Add light - use an off camera flash or add more natural light to the scene to allow you to properly expose the image using a smaller aperture.

Realistically, I'd probably use a combination of the three options to optimize the image.

Very true. Put it on a tripod-

Thanks everyone for reinforcing- this is awesome.

Whilst the depth of field is an issue, you don't need a tripod or a flashgun to do this or even to raise the ISO to a high level.

Rest the camera on the piano (either on the bass keys or on the edge of the piano).

Focus just over 1/3 of the way up the keyboard.

Set the aperture to the maximum at the very least f16.

Set the camera's drive to self timer, (I would use the 10 sec mode to give the camera time to settle after pressing the shutter button).

Press the shutter and wait for it to close before touching the camera again!

Jobs a good un!

EdBray wrote in post #8924977
Whilst the depth of field is an issue, you don't need a tripod or a flashgun to do this or even to raise the ISO to a high level.

Rest the camera on the piano (either on the bass keys or on the edge of the piano).

Focus just over 1/3 of the way up the keyboard.

Set the aperture to the maximum at the very least f16.

Set the camera's drive to self timer, (I would use the 10 sec mode to give the camera time to settle after pressing the shutter button).

Press the shutter and wait for it to close before touching the camera again!

Jobs a good un!

I'll have to remember to USE the self timer feature as well as setting it down, etc- I always seem to forget that.

There is another way to get much greater DOF but it requires a bit of post processing and quite a few images.

1. Mount the on a tripod and focus on the nearest key. Take a pic and note the settings.
2. Set the camera in manual mode to the setting of the first pic.
3. Focus on the next key (or maybe 2 down depending on you DOF) and take another pic
4. Do this until you get to the last key you want in perfect crystal clear focus.
5. Download and install a focus stacking program such as CombineZP
http://www.hadleyweb.p​wp.blueyonder.co.uk/CZ​P/News.htm
6. Follow the simple steps to get a wonderfully set of stacked images stacked into one picture. It's mostly used for macros, but no reason it cant be used for this as well.

^^ I was going to mention "focus stacking" as well. If you have a mac then CombineZM won't work for you, try Helicon focus.

However, my stacking method of choice utilizes the healing brush in Photoshop. You can set the brush's source on one photo and paint in the in-focus areas to another photo. Obviously takes more time but it's 100% user controlled vs letting software do the aligning and/or stacking.

This is easy for a large-format photographer with a view camera.

To do it using a Canon, you need a lens that tilts. With tilt, you adjust the focus plane to run along the keys no matter what aperture you used. About 2000 times easier than focus stacking, and better than stopping down with its attendant diffraction effects, and still insufficient depth of field.

There are several ways, ranging from pretty inexpensive to really expensive, to achieve the tilt capability on your Canon.

The cheapest is to get a tilting adapter on ebay for the Pentacon Six lens mount. Then, put a Pentacon Six-mount lens on the adapter. An 80mm Zeiss Jena Biometar will be cheap and good in this application. It's a normal lens for the 6x6 format, so it has plenty of coverage for tilts on a Canon.

The most expensive is to get one of Canon's TS-E lenses.

Here's an article that includes a discussion of using tilts on a Canon:

http://www.rickdenney.​com/tilt_shift.htm

Skip down to Section 3 Adjusting the Focus Plane.

Rick "who will post some examples of a keyboard if time permits this weekend" Denney

I Love POTN...

Ask "What Time Is It?" and someone will tell you how to build a watch!

Can I ask how to buy more lenses without getting poor or in trouble with my wife? Now watch the suggestions come in. (I'm kidding) That's another thread topic there.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #8926363
I Love POTN...

Ask "What Time Is It?" and someone will tell you how to build a watch!

You're absolutely right there.

Mark_Cohran wrote in post #8927235
You're absolutely right there.

Um Mark, that's a seriously disturbing Avatar there...