Lens for dance recital?

I am shooting daughters dance recital and I just bought 85 1.8. I usually use my 70-200 2.8 but will b able to get closer to stage this year. I also have 24-105. Any suggestions on lens to use? Any tips would b e great!

Not sure what kind of suggestions you are looking for. The 85 will work better for low light, but I would think that your daughter would have spot lights or some kind of stage lighting. Did your 70-200 not work to your satisfaction before? The 85 will have a narrow DOF and the 24-105 is f/4, but the IS won't work if she is moving around quite a bit. My preference would be the 70-200 unless you are so close that over 100 will be to close.

Not sure what body you have, but your website indicates, to me, you know what your doing. Do you plan to use flash? If so, will it take away from the mood of the stage lighting? I know sometimes that stage lighting can ruin a pictures because their face is blue or red, but if you are dealing with colors like that and it requires you to bump the ISO just to get a fast enough shutter speed at 2.8 or 1.8 then use the 1.8 of you have to.

The 24-105 may work if you are close enough to zoom in for facial shots and you want some wide angles. Other than that it doesn't make much sense.

Not sure if this is what you are looking for. Hope I gave you some ideas to think about.

britt777 wrote in post #10308800
...I just bought 85 1.8. I usually use my 70-200 2.8 ...

Bring those two, start with the 85mm.
if you need longer, then go to the 70-200mm and push more ISO.

'closer to the stage'...have you any idea of the approximate distance? Even 70mm can be somewhat long on an APS-C body...from 35' the frame captures 7.5' x 11.2'. The 85mm from the same distance captures 6'x9' in the frame.

I've shot my nieces' dance recitals with my 5D at 100 f2. Even though there's lighting, you want a fast shutter speed unless you are trying to capture motion. Most times I was at iso 800 and 1/250 or 1/320, and f2.5 to f2.8. But sometimes f2.2 or even f2 and maybe an iso 1600 here or there.

I would take a 100 f2 over a 70-200 f2.8 just because you get 1 stop wider aperture to let light in if needed to get faster shutter speeds instead of using insanely high ISOs.

I had to use the 24-105. I was to close for 70-200 & 85. Haven't looked at pictures yet. But I think I did ok. I used 1600 ISO. I will post feedback after I see pictures.

Looking forward to seeing how they turned out shooting with that lens

supersportgsxr6 wrote in post #10311789
Looking forward to seeing how they turned out shooting with that lens

Yes, f4 is a rather slow lens for a dance recital. Most times I'm at f2.8 or faster. Maybe the OP should have moved back to use a better, faster lens.

I just shot my daughter's last recital yesterday (she's off to college in the fall), and as always I rented fast glass (135/2). I've used an 85/1.8, 100/2, and 135/2 in addition to my 70-200/2.8IS. After foing this for 5 years, the thing I have learned is that you can sometimes get away at f/2.8 and very rarely at f/4. At least with the lighting my daughter's dance school preferes, I have to shoot ISO3200 and f/2 to f/2.8 on aveage to get the requisite 1/400s exposure.

The reason I prefer the longer 135/2 on my 7d over my 85 I used to own is that I prefer tight shots; otherwise you have to crop and at ISO3200 that can get noisy pretty quick. I also prefer to shoot a little further back to get on an even lpane with the dancers, and often the choreography has her all over the stage, so while 85 is fine from relatvely close, with movement at times you'll end up with her 3 times further away - and too small in the frame. To contend with this movement, I use the 135 in vertical for when she is close (and filling the frame), and horizontal as she moves back

Dance is the main thing I shoot and the lens of choice for me has been the 70-200 2.8 IS. The 85 1.8 is also a fine lens but I prefer to stay at 2.8 for depth of field reasons and also prefer the zoom over primes for versatility especially if I'm not familiar with the choreography.