Low light event shooting advice

Hi all,
I'm shooting (not for commerical purposes) a charity event tomorrow
night for a friend. It is a musical evening in a pub with a stage and
coloured stage lighting (though not very bright).

I have the following equipment:

Canon 20D
Canon 430EX flash
Canon L 17-40mm f4
Canon L 24-105mm f4
Canon 50mm f1.4
Sto-Fen Diffuser

Basically I cannot make up my mind whether to use the zooms and flash at
iso-1600 and just put up with the flash messing up the stage lighting
and general night-time ambiance.. or use the 50mm fast fixed lens and
pick up the natural lighting. Again I'm thinking I'd need ISO-1600 or
800 at a push..

My problem with using the fixed lens is just that; it's fixed and
therefore it might make composition difficult, especially as on the 20D
it is more like a 80mm lens.

I'm usually more of a high-light outdoor photographer hence why I'm
asking advice about this particular venture. Again, it is unpaid and
just for fun so I'm not risking anything here except people being
disappointed with the "snaps".

Any advice would be much appreciated. With the above equipment, how
would you do it?

Thanks,

Mark.
--

In article , UK
wrote:

Basically I cannot make up my mind whether to use the zooms and flash at
iso-1600 and just put up with the flash messing up the stage lighting
and general night-time ambiance.. or use the 50mm fast fixed lens and
pick up the natural lighting. Again I'm thinking I'd need ISO-1600 or
800 at a push..

in consideration of both the performers and attendees, please do *not*
use flash. it's really annoying to everyone. plus, the photos will
lack the ambiance of the stage lighting.

My problem with using the fixed lens is just that; it's fixed and
therefore it might make composition difficult, especially as on the 20D
it is more like a 80mm lens.

that depends how far away you are. it might actually work in your
favour.

I'm usually more of a high-light outdoor photographer hence why I'm
asking advice about this particular venture. Again, it is unpaid and
just for fun so I'm not risking anything here except people being
disappointed with the "snaps".

only way is to try it and see how it works.

Any advice would be much appreciated. With the above equipment, how
would you do it?

iso 800 or 1600 and probably the 24-105, depending on how far away you
are (otherwise the 17-40), and maybe the 50 for some shots too. if you
can borrow or rent an f/2.8 zoom lens, that would be even better, but
f/4 might suffice, depending on the lighting.

you don't say what kind of performance it is, but if the actors are
moving a lot, you will need a shutter speed fast enough to avoid motion
blur. on the other hand, if they aren't moving too much or if you can
time the shot to when they are still, you might be able to get away
with longer shutter speeds. be careful about camera shake, since you
will not likely be using a shutter speed fast enough to avoid it. the
canon 20d is pretty good at higher iso, so i wouldn't worry too much
about going to iso 1600 if necessary. unfortunately, it lacks auto-iso
which helps keep it low when higher is not needed. also, shoot raw
just in case you need to push process.

just don't use the flash.

Mark S. (UK) wrote:
Hi all,
I'm shooting (not for commerical purposes) a charity event tomorrow
night for a friend. It is a musical evening in a pub with a stage and
coloured stage lighting (though not very bright).

I have the following equipment:

Canon 20D
Canon 430EX flash
Canon L 17-40mm f4
Canon L 24-105mm f4
Canon 50mm f1.4
Sto-Fen Diffuser

Basically I cannot make up my mind whether to use the zooms and flash at
iso-1600 and just put up with the flash messing up the stage lighting
and general night-time ambiance.. or use the 50mm fast fixed lens and
pick up the natural lighting. Again I'm thinking I'd need ISO-1600 or
800 at a push..

My problem with using the fixed lens is just that; it's fixed and
therefore it might make composition difficult, especially as on the 20D
it is more like a 80mm lens.

The 50mm is just right for a single musician or 2 in a pub:
http://edgehill.net/California/Bay-Area/San-Francisco/gritty/4-10-07-boat-club/full-set/pg2pc8
Take lots of shots with bracketed manual focus with that shallow DOF.
Then go all the way to 17mm for the overall view as the wide angle works
at slower shutter speeds. I much prefer natural light to flash.

I'm usually more of a high-light outdoor photographer hence why I'm
asking advice about this particular venture. Again, it is unpaid and
just for fun so I'm not risking anything here except people being
disappointed with the "snaps".

Any advice would be much appreciated. With the above equipment, how
would you do it?

Thanks,

Mark.
--

On Jan 9, 11:44*am, "Mark S. (UK)" wrote:
Hi all,
I'm shooting (not for commerical purposes) a charity event tomorrow
night for a friend. *It is a musical evening in a pub with a stage and
coloured stage lighting (though not very bright).

I have the following equipment:

Canon 20D
Canon 430EX flash
Canon L 17-40mm f4
Canon L 24-105mm f4
Canon 50mm f1.4
Sto-Fen Diffuser

Basically I cannot make up my mind whether to use the zooms and flash at
iso-1600 and just put up with the flash messing up the stage lighting
and general night-time ambiance.. or use the 50mm fast fixed lens and
pick up the natural lighting. *Again I'm thinking I'd need ISO-1600 or
800 at a push..

My problem with using the fixed lens is just that; it's fixed and
therefore it might make composition difficult, especially as on the 20D
it is more like a 80mm lens.

I'm usually more of a high-light outdoor photographer hence why I'm
asking advice about this particular venture. *Again, it is unpaid and
just for fun so I'm not risking anything here except people being
disappointed with the "snaps".

Any advice would be much appreciated. *With the above equipment, how
would you do it?

This might be a good time for one more lens in your bag of lenses. I
have a Canon 28mm f/2.8, which I very much like for shooting indoors
with available light. I would not get the lens just to shoot this on
unpaid event, but it is a very handy lens to have on hand. Other then
that I would try to get back far enough to use the 50mm lens.

Scott

In article , UK
wrote:

Basically I cannot make up my mind whether to use the zooms and flash at
iso-1600 and just put up with the flash messing up the stage lighting
and general night-time ambiance.. or use the 50mm fast fixed lens and
pick up the natural lighting. Again I'm thinking I'd need ISO-1600 or
800 at a push..

As always, the lower the ASA, the better. At 1600, it's gonna look like
crap.

My problem with using the fixed lens is just that; it's fixed and
therefore it might make composition difficult, especially as on the 20D
it is more like a 80mm lens.

Huh...I did countless weddings with just an 80mm on a Hasselblad before
I could afford more lenses.

On Jan 9, 1:50*pm, "Mr. Strat" wrote:
In article , UK

wrote:
Basically I cannot make up my mind whether to use the zooms and flash at
iso-1600 and just put up with the flash messing up the stage lighting
and general night-time ambiance.. or use the 50mm fast fixed lens and
pick up the natural lighting. *Again I'm thinking I'd need ISO-1600 or
800 at a push..

As always, the lower the ASA, the better. At 1600, it's gonna look like
crap.

My problem with using the fixed lens is just that; it's fixed and
therefore it might make composition difficult, especially as on the 20D
it is more like a 80mm lens.

Huh...I did countless weddings with just an 80mm on a Hasselblad before
I could afford more lenses.

And if your Hasselblad was 35mm that would be impressive, but 80mm on
the Hasselblad is much wider angle then on a 35mm camera, but then you
knew that.

Scott

"Mark S. (UK)" wrote:
Hi all,
I'm shooting (not for commerical purposes) a charity event tomorrow night
for a friend. It is a musical evening in a pub with a stage and coloured
stage lighting (though not very bright).

I have the following equipment:

Canon 20D
Canon 430EX flash
Canon L 17-40mm f4
Canon L 24-105mm f4
Canon 50mm f1.4
Sto-Fen Diffuser

Basically I cannot make up my mind whether to use the zooms and flash at
iso-1600 and just put up with the flash messing up the stage lighting and
general night-time ambiance.. or use the 50mm fast fixed lens and pick up
the natural lighting. Again I'm thinking I'd need ISO-1600 or 800 at a
push..

Depending on how much you can move around, the 50/1.4 should be fine. Close
to the stage you can get portaits of the individual performers, but you'll
have to back up to get the whole stage. (But bring the 24-105 along: stage
lights can be quite bright.)

Watch out for overexposed highlights from spotlights on performers! Also,
stage lighting tends to be really extreme in terms of color, and sometimes
converting everything to B&W can create far better looking prints than to
try to get a reasonably white balance. (This is also because at ISO 1600
radical WB adjustments can make the noise ugly; with B&W you don't need to
boost the weak channels.)

You could grit your teeth to withstand Mr. Strat's scorn and get the Stigma
30/1.4 (typo intentional, of course) or grit your teeth to withstand the
pain of the damage to your finances and get the Canon 24/1.4. (The 24/1.4
has the advantage that it'll be useful when you get a FF camera.)

Or you could just buy a 5D and use the 24-105 at ISO 3200 with IS.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

In article ,
"Mark S. (UK)" wrote:

Hi all,
I'm shooting (not for commerical purposes) a charity event tomorrow
night for a friend. It is a musical evening in a pub with a stage and
coloured stage lighting (though not very bright).

I have the following equipment:

Canon 20D
Canon 430EX flash
Canon L 17-40mm f4
Canon L 24-105mm f4
Canon 50mm f1.4
Sto-Fen Diffuser

Basically I cannot make up my mind whether to use the zooms and flash at
iso-1600 and just put up with the flash messing up the stage lighting
and general night-time ambiance.. or use the 50mm fast fixed lens and
pick up the natural lighting. Again I'm thinking I'd need ISO-1600 or
800 at a push..

My problem with using the fixed lens is just that; it's fixed and
therefore it might make composition difficult, especially as on the 20D
it is more like a 80mm lens.

I'm usually more of a high-light outdoor photographer hence why I'm
asking advice about this particular venture. Again, it is unpaid and
just for fun so I'm not risking anything here except people being
disappointed with the "snaps".

Any advice would be much appreciated. With the above equipment, how
would you do it?

Thanks,

Mark.
--

You'll probably need a very tiny bit of flash to de-saturate the intense
color of stage lighting. The f/1.4 lens is probably what you'll use
because dimmer lenses will have trouble getting a focus lock on moving
people in low light. There are also a couple other fast lenses that
aren't too insanely expensive - the Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM and the
Canon EF 35mm f/2. Bring the f/4 zooms just in case the lights are
brighter than you think.

--
I don't read Google's spam. Reply with another service.

David J. Littleboy wrote:
"Mark S. (UK)" wrote:
Hi all,
I'm shooting (not for commerical purposes) a charity event tomorrow night
for a friend. It is a musical evening in a pub with a stage and coloured
stage lighting (though not very bright).

I have the following equipment:

Canon 20D
Canon 430EX flash
Canon L 17-40mm f4
Canon L 24-105mm f4
Canon 50mm f1.4
Sto-Fen Diffuser

Basically I cannot make up my mind whether to use the zooms and flash at
iso-1600 and just put up with the flash messing up the stage lighting and
general night-time ambiance.. or use the 50mm fast fixed lens and pick up
the natural lighting. Again I'm thinking I'd need ISO-1600 or 800 at a
push..

Depending on how much you can move around, the 50/1.4 should be fine. Close
to the stage you can get portaits of the individual performers, but you'll
have to back up to get the whole stage. (But bring the 24-105 along: stage
lights can be quite bright.)

Watch out for overexposed highlights from spotlights on performers! Also,
stage lighting tends to be really extreme in terms of color, and sometimes
converting everything to B&W can create far better looking prints than to
try to get a reasonably white balance. (This is also because at ISO 1600
radical WB adjustments can make the noise ugly; with B&W you don't need to
boost the weak channels.)

You could grit your teeth to withstand Mr. Strat's scorn and get the Stigma
30/1.4 (typo intentional, of course) or grit your teeth to withstand the
pain of the damage to your finances and get the Canon 24/1.4. (The 24/1.4
has the advantage that it'll be useful when you get a FF camera.)

Or you could just buy a 5D and use the 24-105 at ISO 3200 with IS.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan



I'd love to get a 5D but can't afford it right now! Is the noise
handling better on the 5D then compared to the 20D? I imagine it would
be with the larger pixel size (from what I've read).

PS thanks for your advice :-)

Mark.
--

Kevin McMurtrie wrote:
In article ,
"Mark S. (UK)" wrote:

Hi all,
I'm shooting (not for commerical purposes) a charity event tomorrow
night for a friend. It is a musical evening in a pub with a stage and
coloured stage lighting (though not very bright).

I have the following equipment:

Canon 20D
Canon 430EX flash
Canon L 17-40mm f4
Canon L 24-105mm f4
Canon 50mm f1.4
Sto-Fen Diffuser

Basically I cannot make up my mind whether to use the zooms and flash at
iso-1600 and just put up with the flash messing up the stage lighting
and general night-time ambiance.. or use the 50mm fast fixed lens and
pick up the natural lighting. Again I'm thinking I'd need ISO-1600 or
800 at a push..

My problem with using the fixed lens is just that; it's fixed and
therefore it might make composition difficult, especially as on the 20D
it is more like a 80mm lens.

I'm usually more of a high-light outdoor photographer hence why I'm
asking advice about this particular venture. Again, it is unpaid and
just for fun so I'm not risking anything here except people being
disappointed with the "snaps".

Any advice would be much appreciated. With the above equipment, how
would you do it?

Thanks,

Mark.
--

You'll probably need a very tiny bit of flash to de-saturate the intense
color of stage lighting. The f/1.4 lens is probably what you'll use
because dimmer lenses will have trouble getting a focus lock on moving
people in low light. There are also a couple other fast lenses that
aren't too insanely expensive - the Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM and the
Canon EF 35mm f/2. Bring the f/4 zooms just in case the lights are
brighter than you think.


Ever since getting the 430EX I've my focus lock problems have mostly
gone away due to the focus assist beam it emits. I wish they'd built
that into the camera though!

Cheers,

Mark.
--