Canon EF 100mm f/2 USM for nighttime charity event: I have been asked to shoot at an early evening/nighttime charity event. It is for an organization that supplies service dogs. The...

papakatz45 Loc: South Florida-West Palm Beach

I have been asked to shoot at an early evening/nighttime charity event. It is for an organization that supplies service dogs. The event will be at a restaurant mainly outside on the large patio. There will be costumes for both adults and dogs. Ill be using a Canon EOS-6D. I normally use an EF 24-105mm f/4L but I have been told flash is strongly discouraged. I have an EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM (old version) which works great for this but because of the weight and intimidation factor with such a big lens I am thinking on getting the EF 100mm f/2 USM. Do any of you have experience with this lens? Will it work for what I need? How is the image quality? Thanks in advance for your guidance and suggestions.

imagesintime Loc: small town, mid-America

papakatz45 wrote:

I have been asked to shoot at an early evening/nig... (show quote)

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-100mm-f-2.0-USM-Lens-Review.aspx

Will it be wide enough?

papakatz45 Loc: South Florida-West Palm Beach

imagesintime wrote:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-100mm-f-2.0-USM-Lens-Review.aspx

Will it be wide enough?

Yes, that won't be an issue. The biggest problem is low light with no flash.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Why in the world would they discourage flash? I'd insist upon it. The photos would be much better with flash.

papakatz45 Loc: South Florida-West Palm Beach

amfoto1 wrote:

Why in the world would they discourage flash? I'd insist upon it. The photos would be much better with flash.

It's an issue with some of the people who will be there who are disabled.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

I would go to the restaurant before the event and take some meter readings and some test shots to see how much light you will have. It may be that there just isn't enough even with a fast lens to get quality shots without flash. I've never heard of flash being a problem for disabled people. What is the concern?

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

papakatz45 wrote:

I have been asked to shoot at an early evening/nig... (show quote)

What an honor to have been chosen. Someone likes your work. It is not surprising that flash is discouraged, dogs can be spooked by sudden disturbances just as humans can. A flash is the closest thing a dog can relate to lightning and thunder. Service dogs handle problems as well as any type, but flash is unpredictable for them also. You fail to mention the overall lighting situation. Is it possible to arrange for the lights to be "turned up" when you are shooting? How about a small portable flood? Possibly you will be forced to go with a prime 24mm or 35mm employing f/1.4. There would be restrictions around which you would have to work, but it can be done using very shallow DOF and planning well in your compositions. This is a challenge, use your best experience and plan the whole shoot, then shoot your plan GL

papakatz45 Loc: South Florida-West Palm Beach

davidrb wrote:

What an honor to have been chosen. Someone likes ... (show quote)

The lighting is typical restaurant lighting. Not dark but not very bright. A combination of tungsten, gaslight, florescent and halogen. I am not allowed any extra lighting or flash units. I was thinking the 100 f2 would give me enough working distance and still be able to have a faster shutter speed. I don't think the 24 & 35 f2s will give me enough reach. I have looked at the 135 f2 but that is a lot of money.

So, my needs are a lens with low light capability on a Canon 6d with enough reach. Is the image quality of the 100 f2 good enough or should I go ahead and bight the bullet and get the 135 f2? Or is that too much lens distance wise?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Swamp Gator Loc: Coastal South Carolina

So is your plan to shoot pretty much everything at f2? That's going to give you a fairly shallow DOF.
You take a photo of somebody standing there with their dog next to them and you focus on the person's face, and the dog's face may be soft.

Also what if you are asked to take a group photo of 4-6 people plus dogs?
Will you have a wide angle along that you can stick on there if you need to or else you are really going to need a lot of room to back up.

papakatz45 Loc: South Florida-West Palm Beach

Swamp Gator wrote:

So is your plan to shoot pretty much everything at f2? That's going to give you a fairly shallow DOF.
You take a photo of somebody standing there with their dog next to them and you focus on the person's face, and the dog's face may be soft.

Also what if you are asked to take a group photo of 4-6 people plus dogs?
Will you have a wide angle along that you can stick on there if you need to or else you are really going to need a lot of room to back up.

Thanks for the reply. Lots of things to think about. I may just use my 24-105 workhorse with my 580 flash and see what happens.

Swamp Gator Loc: Coastal South Carolina

papakatz45 wrote:

Thanks for the reply. Lots of things to think about. I may just use my 24-105 workhorse with my 580 flash and see what happens.

A diffused bounce flash may be quite acceptable for this event.
Often when people say 'no flash allowed' they are thinking in terms of blasting straight on flash into people's (and animals) faces.