tombackman Loc: RHODE ISLAND

What camera settings would you use in a situation like this: I was shooting an outdoor ballet performance at dusk when the light was quickly falling. There were general flood lights on the stage but no spotlight on the performers. Often the the dancers were moving very quickly. The dancers were 5 to 50 feet away from me.

Quixdraw Loc: x

There is really no answer without having more info, and probably not then. What camera / lens? Some have Scenes and Effects that might help. What were you trying to achieve - record, art, etc.? How much motion blur was acceptable? Best answer, with the gear available, apply a functional combination of aperture and shutter speed at a high enough ISO to obtain the type of image required. Basically it would require continuous camera adjustment by the photographer till the results were reasonable. Possibly someone will have a better answer for you!

tombackman Loc: RHODE ISLAND

Good point. I was using a Sony A 6500 camera with the Sony E 3.5 - 6.3/ 18 - 200 lens, and shooting Raw. I wanted to freeze the motion as much as possible. I also planned to use Light Room and PS to pull the picture out of the shadows.

jcboy3

You want a shutter speed of 1/250-1/500 second. With poor light, you may need to shoot at the minimum of this range and wait for the dancers to pause.

You want to shoot at the fastest aperture possible. For this kind of shooting, I want f/2.8 zooms or even faster primes (f/2 telephoto lenses).

Set your ISO based upon your camera's characteristics. For Canon cameras, which tend to not be ISO invariant, try to get it close to the correct exposure. Use Auto ISO and spot metering if necessary. For models that are ISO invariant, you just need to get close without blowing hightlights. With mirrorless cameras that display blown highlights, I shoot manual mode and ride the ISO on a control dial.

Set the focus points above the mid point, and try to focus on the dancer's face. I usually set focus points independently for landscape and portrait orientation, especially when shooting with a prime this can be important. If the dancer gets too close, I can rotate to portrait orientation and switch focus points (some cameras like Nikon can do this automatically), so I have more room to fill the frame with the dancer.

Be patient; wait for dancers to pause. Anticipate when dancers will be lit by stage lighting. You only need a couple of shots, so there is usually time to get them.

tombackman Loc: RHODE ISLAND

THANK YOU

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

👍👍 well said.

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

If you can get your hands on a full frame camera - preferably a Canon 5Dmk III or IV, or a Nikon D3S, D4, D5 - all of which will provide really good results at ISO 6400, or for the Nikons ISO 25,600..

https://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-d3s/4

The D4 and D5 are similar or slightly better.

You will NEVER see usable results from a crop camera - ever.

Couple one of these high ISO wonders with a good 2.8 zoom (24-70 and/or 70-200), stop it down to F4 or F5.6 for some much needed and welcome depth of field, and try to shoot at 1/250 or shorter shutter speeds - and I think you'll have everything you need. If you don't have this gear, rent it.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

My Pentax KP - an APS-C ‘crop’ camera - gives very good results at ISO 25600 or even higher.

tombackman Loc: RHODE ISLAND

THANK YOU ALL. GREAT INFO TO CHEW OVER.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I would be very interested in seeing an image (and stored as an original) taken with a crop camera at ISO 25,600.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

SOOC

ISO 25600

(Download)

ISO 65536

(Download)

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

They’re a little too noisey to be acceptable to me, but frankly, they look pretty damn good to be taken with a crop body at the ISOs stated with no post processing - I’m impressed. Does the camera do any internal noise reduction?

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Yes, Pentax has been using an 'accelerator' {on K-1ii, KP, and K-70} between the sensor and processor. They are rather coy about its full function, but it seem to improve noise, Dynamic Range, and Color Depth at higher ISO values.

I believe a good use would be for parents / grandparents who want to photograph kids playing indoor sports. K-70 + 55-300mm f/4.5-6.3 PLM lens runs around $900 from B&H; KP is about $300 more.

The last set of pictures in the article
https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2017/02/10/pentax-kp-first-shots
shows that KP maintains some kind of color fidelity even at absurd ISO levels

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Pretty damn impressive result...

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Personally, since you asked, I would go to the rehearsal and use manual exposure using spot metering and adjust my camera until I had the exposure down pat. Then I would be ready to shoot. I would also suggest shooting in RAW, never know what kind of white balance nightmare your going to encounter.