Cookie223 Loc: New Jersey

Good morning UHH.

Allow me a bit of history on myself and my gear. I started this hobby to take pictures of my grandkids playing sports. I am a total amateur, what I've learned in the past year is all due to the great members of this forum, and by trial and error. I'm still learning and will be attending a couple pf classes offered by a local photography store. Just when I was starting to feel a bit more comfortable and confident taking pictures (Still have a ways to go), the women in my family (Wife, daughter, and granddaughter) want me to take videos of her upcoming Sweet 16! I brought this upon myself by suggesting the hire a professional to take pictures, which they did, but he will only be taking pictures. Needless to say I'm in a total panic, and since this is a once in a lifetime event I want to do the best I can.

I have a Canon 7D MK II, a EF 50mm 1:1.4 AF/MF, EF 24-105L 1:4 IS USM, EF 70-200 1:2.8L II IS USM. I also have an Canon EF 1.4 III extender, and a 580 EX II speed lite. Since the venue is indoors (Night club setting) with flashing colored lights, and the greatest distance I'll be from the activity will be about 75' or less, I think the above lens will suffice.

Now all I need are some suggestions that will give me a chance to video some decent footage.
Your help is greatly appreciated.
Octavio "Cookie"

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

I'd say what you are thinking of doing is an enormous undertaking. At 75 feet with a 200mm lens and 1.4TC, at f2.8 your depth of field will be less than 2 ft. in front and behind of the subject, and without a tripod you are likely to have quite a bit of camera shake. You are also looking at a very extensive editing job, both sound and video. I'm also just an amateur, but have posted about a couple of dozen videos on youtube and it normally takes me about an hour of editing for every minute of video. I don't know if it is possible, but it would be beneficial to do a practice video or two with a similar setup, maybe at a bar or night concert with a live band that will allow you to shoot video of them.

Cookie223 Loc: New Jersey

Thanks Bob,
I don’t know why I didn’t get an alert that there was a response. I didn’t think this was going to be easy, and getting more discouraged as each day goes by.
I do have a good tripod, and a 150-600 G2 lens, but based on the pictures I’ve taken I thought the 150-600 would be way too much lens.

I guess camera settings and equipment are different that those used for video. I usually get a lot more responses when I post, do you think I should repost under the general section?
Thanks

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

You are welcome. Yes, sometimes video questions get more responses in the Main Photography Discussion section. Shutter speed for video is generally 2x fps, so if you are shooting at 30fps (or 29.97) your shutter speed would be 1/60. Aperture and iso would be whatever the lighting calls for. If the light changes a lot, auto iso might be the best bet. I would shoot at the lowest f stop (largest aperture) available to keep my iso lower. If I were going to shoot an affair like this I might consider a bridge camera with a long zoom, like my Nikon Coolpix B700. At 1440mm full optical zoom, I get about the same detail as a 400mm lens on my D7000 (an APS-C sensor, so a ff equivalent focal length of 600mm). The B700 shoots 4K video in up to 7 minute clips which gives more options for cropping into the frame during editing.

Cookie223 Loc: New Jersey

Again thanks for the quick response and great advice. I have a few weeks to try and get a better understanding of the process.