5dmkII usable ISO and lens choice help?

Lightspeedfoto · May 18, 2010

I just shot an engagement party on a last minute request, as the couple's photographer could not make it. I got the call at 10am, and the event started at 2pm! Anyways, I brought my 5dMKII, 25-105 f4L, 70-200 2.8IS, and a few speedlight 430exII's.

The party, which was mainly in the main dining room of a local golf country-club, had about 10 tables, the bride/groom table and a bar in the back.

I seemed to have a problem with opening up to F4 and couldn't use a fast enough shutter speed most of the time, but I was afraid to bump up the ISO too much.

Can someone tell me how successful they've been using the 5dMkII and how high they can bump ISO during indoor reception/party type shots and still have very sharp images? When I used the speedlight, of course, I was fine, but when I wanted natural light (one side of room was large window), it wasn't always working out for me.

THis was my first "event" as I mainly specialize in studio work, and outdoor natural light.

Any advice or comments would be appreciated. I know many people advocate using faster glass, (2.8, 1.8, etc) but when you are opening up to 2.8, or lower, how do you keep multiple people in focus when your distance to subject is only about 8 feet?

bigtwinky · May 18, 2010

I've seem really nice images done at 3200 and I'd easily venture into the 6400 ISO with the 5D MkII...might have to use some slight noise reduction, but should not be an issue at all.

Keeping the aperture open means keeping people on the same plane of focus. If you have 4 people of which one is a step back (say someone peeking over someone else's shoulder) that might be enough to be out of focus. So if you are posing people, same plane of focus is key.

Lightspeedfoto · May 18, 2010

Cool, thanks! I'll have to really test out the high ISO settings. With 3200, i should easily be able to get f5.6 at 1/125 natural light in that type of environment.
i'm really picky on noise and sharpness, so we'll have to see how it does. I use aperture 3, but their built in noise reduction isn't the greatest. I'm waiting for NIK software to become compatible with AP3.

Big Mike · May 18, 2010

When shooting at high ISO, try to 'Expose to the right' to minimize noise.

Expose Right

bigtwinky · May 18, 2010

Great link Mike, thanks!

Scatterbrained · May 18, 2010

great link.

tsaraleksi · May 18, 2010

I'd say that you can go to 3200 without any problems, and 6400 is like 1600 on older gen cameras-- still great but I'm a little reticent. Not worth losing an image over it, though, if you need it, GO UP. Hell, 12,800 is usable if you need it. Better grainy than blurry.

Lightspeedfoto · May 19, 2010

great help...i feel a little more comfortable now, since i've been shooting in the house in the evening with no flash at 3200, f4.5 and seems to be pretty good. Don't know yet about blowing them up to 8x10 and how it might look, but that's next on the list.

Thanks guys...moving into the dark indoor world is a new challenge, but one that will be rewarding when I get it down.

gsgary · May 19, 2010

I shoot the 5Dmk1 at iso3200 no problem

Lightspeedfoto · May 20, 2010

would you guys mind commenting on your lens of choice for these indoor reception type events? (assuming only one shooter). Is it worth the sacrifice in reach for me to swap out my 24-105L for the 24-70? Why can't they just make the 24-105 a 2.8, then they can get rid of the other 2!

robertwsimpson · May 20, 2010

Exposing to the right changed my life.

I just got married, and the girl was walking around with a 5dII and an 85mm 1.2 during our reception. She had a flash on the camera, but she didn't really use it at all. We got to talking and she handed me the camera and said play around with it if you want... I was like ummm I'm holding $10,000 worth of camera gear in my hand right now... yikes. Anyway, she had it on f/2.8... I didn't see any of the other settings. Hope this helps!