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Quite simply, set the aperture to f1.8. No point getting a 1.8 fast lens and setting it to 2.8. If there is enough light sure, set it to 2.8 and get some extra depth of field. But if the lights are down, it's 1.8 all the way. Just get the focus as spot on as possible
Posted 7 months ago.
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wack up your ISO too, theres no gig a rarely go to without having my iso at at least 800 as a minimum. you wont get a fast enough shutter speed otherwise without it and your subjects will just be a blur.
Posted 7 months ago.
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It's about training. Shoot, shoot, shoot!
Try manual at f/1.8 or f/2.0, 1/100s and set the ISO so you get an ok exposure. Concentrate on composing and focusing. "Read" the band movements and be prepared.
Posted 7 months ago.
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Yes exactly, I set mine to manual at 1.8 ISO 800....No matter what you read regarding a lens or any equipment it is always best to do YOUR homework because most "reviews" you will read are from people who have used the lens before.
Posted 7 months ago.
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a lens being fast and focus speed are two different things. Also a lot of times when you are in low light you can have problems with catching focus.
Posted 7 months ago.
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Emma,
usually F2.0, 1/60s iso800 does the job even for quite dark gigs.
Yesterday I did DInosaur Jr @ Koko and it was pretty dark, but those setting work out quite well (well, I should first process the negatives before speaking).
About focusing, go manual if you can, a few experience and you'll be faster than any autofocus in the dark.
ciao
Vale
liveon35mm
Posted 7 months ago.
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The word "fast", when used about lenses, usually means "wide aperture", not that the auto focus is fast. Large apertures allows for shorter shutter times, all else being equal, thus fast.
I suggest you focus manually.
Posted 7 months ago.
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Thanks for the help.
I do shoot on the manual mode if that's what you mean, or do you mean manual as in this little switch on my Nikon D80 that says AF or M? Because it's set on AF right now.
And i know to whack my ISO up now to 800, hopefully it'll work better tonight..If not i've packed my flashgun !!
Posted 7 months ago.
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Hey Emma,
Because the DOF is so shallow with the aperture wide open, it IS really hard to get the focus right with this lens in darker situations in Autofocus (yes, the AF vs. M switch on the front of the D80, left hand side). I'm dealing with the same learning curve, I just got this lens myself! Switch to manual focus and keep checking that you're getting it right, it's really easy to get it wrong. Sometimes it looks like a subject's face is in focus, but really it's the shirt or the hand, or something, so check and adjust. If the subjects are moving around a lot, it's going to be hard. If it's really dark, don't be afraid of ISO 1600 with the D80, I'm finding the noise to be pretty minimal.
I shot this in virtual darkness the other night with the aperture wide open, and this is straight-out-of-the-camera.
Originally posted 7 months ago.
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gabi porter | ballulah edited this topic 7 months ago.
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Emma, since your camera has a crop factor, i would suggest faster shutter speeds too...
In order to greatly reduce camera shake you need to have your speed set to 1/focal length. Your focal length will be the 50 X your multiplication factor for the D80. So if your multilpier is 1.6 than you should be shooting aruond 1/80.
Posted 7 months ago.
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Emma,
I think 1.8 DOF might be a bit too shallow for capturing performances and will cause your photos to be out of focus quite easily. I'd probably go 2.4 or leave it at 2.8. Using 1.8 gives you a smaller focus area. Will work with flowers or static subjects but won't work with active subjects.
Don't be afraid to dail up the ISO past 800 as some have said.
If you get to shoot the whole show, why not try to use different settings for different songs to experiment.
Finally, check out www.ishootshows.com. Todd is an excellent concert photog and he offers great advice.
Posted 7 months ago.
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JF Photos: I shoot at 1.8 all the time and don't have a problem. I've shot hundreds of shows that way and regularly get paid for my work.
Emma, yes getting a focus in the dark with a thin DoF is often difficult, but there are some tricks that help. First, focus on high contrast areas: eyes, ears, even the microphone can work. Second, when you do get a focus lock, be careful to keep it and wait a bit for some action rather than trying to take what you get.. Always keep an eye out for high contrast lines and patterns to focus on.
Daniel
Posted 7 months ago.
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i'm w/ Daniel...f/1.8 is very regularly visited by my aperture, and i've got a lot of shots wide open w/ f/1.4 lenses as well.
he's got some good advice to heed.
Posted 7 months ago.
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thanks guys for the tips.
Posted 7 months ago.
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I don't particularly like shooting wide open, preferring a stop down or so, where lens performance is better and AF accuracy is less of an issue. But better wide open than below 1/100th.
Amazed to see all the people talk about going to ISO 800 in the dark, for me ISO 800 is what you do in good, bright stage lighting. Small clubs are ISO 1600, and often intentionally underexposed a stop or two to keep my shutter and aperture where I want them.
Don't rely on your meter, especially if your camera doesn't have a spot function--the big pools of darkness onstage will give you a ton of overexposure. Better to go to manual exposure, and just keep chimping to see which way to adjust.
There's a lot you can do to save an underexposure in post, there's nothing you can do to fix motion blur.
Check your AF accuracy--Not sure about Nikon, but Canon and Sigma both seem to have focus calibration quality control issues even on expensive lenses--my 24/1.4 and 50/1.4 both arrived far enough off to be rather ugly wide open.
Posted 7 months ago.
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What Roger said. Typically ISO1600-3200 in smaller venues here.
Posted 7 months ago.
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Yeah, I find that it is ISO 800 for the big bright stages. That way I have some extra flexability with the aperture and speed, some extra DOF, some extra speed to freeze motion if I need it. I would move to ISO 1600 before going slower than 1/125.
Last night I was on ISO 3200, 1/125 F2.8. Mind you I did not have my 50mm 1.4 on me, and lighting is always crap at this venue. I was not expecting to shoot, in fact I did not need to as I had already organised a photog to cover the gig for me. I just felt like checking the gig out and took the kit along. You know how it is, the finger gets itchy when you are there and you see the other photogs, and your camera is handy.
Posted 7 months ago.
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yeah my starting point is 1600, i barely ever get to go up to 800 and if i do its because of some kick ass stage lighting/venue
Posted 7 months ago.
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I agree with most others. ISO 800 is for nice large shows with kick ass stage lighting. I usuallys tart at 1600, but most of my work is between 1600-3200, and sometimes I even have to go as wide as f/1.2 when lighting is truely dire, just to keep an acceptable shutter speed. but it's really tough to nail focus on moving subjects at 1.2, so I usually avoid shooting wide open when I can. It's more of a last resort.
Posted 7 months ago.
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Personally I never use manual focus. I just franticly switch between focus points and compose the shot in my head before taking it and set the focus point accordingly.
Posted 7 months ago.
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About the ISO, my camera only goes up to 1600 and i have visited it before when i shot at The Junction, Cambridge.
I used ISO 800 the other night, kept it on F1.8 etc.
I'm very proud of this set..This was one of the bands;
www.flickr.com/photos/toykasphotography/sets/721576051180...
I didn't have much problem with the focus that night. And i set my camera from AF to M and it didn't work for me =/ I didn't get it, the pictures were just blur.
The lighting was odd, that's why i only managed to get about 8 shots..Altho that is enough really !!
Thanks for all the tips, you've helped alot and i will keep experimenting. The lens hasn't actually come off my camera body all weekend !
Posted 7 months ago.
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Some nice pics in there. All I will say is try and get all of the guitar in shot. If need be, have the camera at 45%
Posted 7 months ago.
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i managed to get some shots of swing dancers and lindy hoppers in poor light with no flash and the 1.8 canon........ it did the job for me :-)
(i know it's slightly off topic, and i got some static band shots - but these are just to illustrate pace of the lens as the dancers were moving more than the nights band, lol)
1/50, f1.8, iso1600
this is the orginal but i added some light in post and it came up fine.
Originally posted 7 months ago.
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Wozza_efx2 edited this topic 7 months ago.
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Emma, the D80 actually goes up to ISO 3200.
H 0.3 = ISO 2000
H 0.7 = ISO 2500
H 1.0 = ISO 3200
But I find that above 1600 the images start to break apart, and I haven't played around enough up there to improve my shots.
Posted 7 months ago.
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Ah there you have it, i woundered what all that means ;-]
Thank you.
Posted 7 months ago.
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Haha see, that little book that comes inside your camera box can be useful to look at sometimes!
Posted 7 months ago.
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