mjskates

I'm new here to this forum and love what I see so far! Thanks for letting me be a part of it! I've looked around and tried to find threads on this topic, but haven't found my answer, so sorry if it's out there and I'm just not finding it.

I have a Canon 7d and a Nikon d5300. My daughter dances, and I can never get a good shot of her on stage with the low light of the theater and the bright lights on stage. My son is a luge slider and, with his speed on the ice (65-75mph), and based on a recommendation from a friend, we bought the Canon (used )to try to catch still shots and/or video at that speed.

My question(s)... Both of these cameras have the kit lenses and are too slow to take photos in these situations. Which lens would work best for the low light dance performances? Am I better off with the Nikon or the Canon, or is it really just about the lens I choose? If so, which lens would work best and not completely break the bank?

Thank you for any help or advice!

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

A general comment or two since I don't have experience with either camera (know about the Nikon a bit more). You need a fast lens. I'd look for, which is what I use in low theatrical lighting is a fast prime lens or two, something around f/2.8 to f/2 to f/1.4. Depending on if you can get close enough, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 105mm. For the Canon it will likely cost you a bit. For the Nikon you can likely find a used older (possibly late "film" Nikon) f/1.4 50mm, f/2 35mm, or f/1.8 85mm, or even a really fast (not micro) 105mm lens reasonably (though such a micro-Nikkor could provide double use). You can find both later AF versions and earlier Non-AF versions of lenses. You probably want and need Auto-focus and Auto-exposure.

CO

There was just recently a thread about someone who was doing low-light concert photography with a 16-300mm f/3.5-6.3 lens and was disappointed with the results. The recommendation of most people was to purchase a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. They are expensive. Tamron just released a new version (G2) of their 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. Its tripod foot has the Arca-Swiss dovetail grooves and it's compatible with Tamron's TAP-in console. It's $1299.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Welcome to the Hog!

I'm a Nikon and Leica shooter, but if you've started in Canon, stay there. What kind of dancing? How long are the performances? Lighting, novement and costumes can combine to make photography. How far away are you? Can you change location? What is your budget? Can you use a tripod or monopod? The and many more seemingly petty questions can help the real experts here (I'm not one of them) pick the best camera for you and/or start you on an educated hunting expedition.

easy8

The sigma 70-200 2.8 os version works great can get used on eBay in either canon or Nikon mount around 650 to 700 much cheaper than c or n lens

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Fast lenses are a good recommendation, but though most show good center sharpness wide open, the edges and corners are usually a bit underwhelming. A 1.4 lens, however, will clean up pretty well if stopped down to F2.8. Which is easily a 2 stop advantage over an F2.8 lens that doesn't hit it's stride until you get to F5.6 or so. Using a longer zoom lens (like a 70-200 F2.8) will produce better edge-to-edge sharpness and contrast when used wide open.

If your subject is mostly centered in the middle third of the image with whatever focal length you arrive at you will get excellent results. But given the realities of some stage performances and how much you can move around to get your shots, I think you will find an advantage to using a zoom compared to a prime.

I have no idea what your shooting distances are, or what the lighting levels will be. You should forget about the low theater lighting and concentrate on getting good exposures of your daughter under the stage lights. While I don't do dancers on stage, I will shoot musicians from time to time at a local venue. Typically the lighting is constant and I can shoot at ISO 1600 and from 1/80 to 1/250 second at F2.8,

I know you don't want to hear this, but as far as noise is concerned, there is a 2-3 stop advantage in using a full frame camera over a cropped sensor one at higher ISOs. This means that if you are happy with the noise on a cropped sensor camera at ISO 800, you will get similar performance using a same generation full frame camera at ISO 3200 to 6400.

Shooting raw will give you more dynamic range in either case, letting you get better shadows and highlights, with less noise in the shadows. As far as metering is concerned, use the spot meter mode in the camera, measure a well-lit face, and add +1/3 to +2/2 stop. This will avoid blown highlights in the face, and still get you decent shadows with less clipping. If your daughter is wearing a costume with a lot of pure white, then measure that and add +1 stop.

The first image was shot with a D700 at 1/250, ISO 1600, using an 80-200 F2.8 at 185mm and F2.8. The second one was using a D300, 1/80 sec, ISO 1600, and an 18-50 F2.8 at 50mm and F2.8.

D700

(Download)

D300

(Download)

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

Welcome to the forum. My best lens right now is an f1.8 50mm which is adequate for most things but I really miss my 50mm f1.2 Nikon that I used back in the film days( it was stolen). That in combination with 400 ASA film was phenomenal indoors. If I were doing more indoor shots today I think I would go with an f1.4 or better yet an f1.2 if you can afford it. Check KEH camera for used lenses. That's one of the nice things about Nikon I can still use that f1.2 50mm on my 7200 today that I started using on an old F1 Nikon film camera back in the 70's with out any adaptors. I'm actually looking for a good used one now.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

The Nikon being the newer camera will give better noise performance in indoor low light. Focus your lens selection for that camera and purpose. How close are you for the high-speed luge action with the 7D? Two prime ideas to consider used: EF 200 f/2.8L or EF 300 f/4L.

You also might visit LensRentals.com and try ideas for a weekend or week rental rather than continuing to invest in two different systems based on other's recommendations for what is best ...

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

Canon markets 2 lenses that might be of help for you. The EF 135mm f/2.0L USM and the EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM will both allow you to work with the usual stage lighting and bring you closer to the dancers. Neither lens is too costly and could be available from rental companies fairly inexpensively. The 135mm is an excellent tool for what you want, I use it in class plays at our local H/S and am very pleased with the results.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

How close to the stage can you get? If you can get the shot with a 50mm, I'd suggest a Nikon 50mm 1.8G. which would run a little over $300. On a D5300 it will give the the field of view of a 75mm lens.

mjskates

Wow! Thank you all for this fantastic information! I will do some looking!

I am usually about ten rows back from the stage during my daughter's performances. Is the 50mmup for that? The 70-200 would probably be great but it's a bit upthere in cost, though the rental option may work (another good suggestion, thank you!). For luge, I am right there at the track, maybe only 4-6 feet away. The speed is crazy to deal with and so far I've only been able to use my cell phone on slow-mo and take a screen shot. I thought to do the same with the canon and hope a better quality would result. I see lots of other parents and photographers out there with their Nikons though. I haven't caught which lenses they are using.

Thank you again for the help and ideas here! Such an awesome group!!

SteveR Loc: Michigan

I think it would be a good lens. It's a good light gatherer at f1.8. The full frame 50mm might be better at gathering light than the dx version, but that's just my guess. Perhaps somebody else could clarify this point. Don't be afraid to use some ISO if needed (I don't know what the lighting situation is). Also, being a prime you will be able to crop some if you need to. If you have a lens that hits the 50mm range you might estimate the distance to get an idea of what the field of view would be.

Grnway Loc: Manchester, NH

I'd rent a 70-200mm f2.8 zoom for both cameras and see how you like the results. 70-200 is a great zoom range for shooting indoor events and some outdoor events where you won't be too far from the subject.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

75 mph in low light?! Lots 'o luck! A prime f/1.8 lens and a high ISO would be a good place to start. How close will you be? Lots of variables here.

ecurb1105

If you can shoot from the orchestra pit or the stage wings, a 35mm f1.8 would be perfect for either camera.