Dance recital [camera setting]

[JoannaRsh]

My daughter has a dance recital this week. Its in an auditorium & we are not allowed to use a flash. What camera settings would be best to use..its a preschool class so they aren't moving around a lot. I have a canon rebel T4i

 

[o hey tyler]

I would suggest setting your camera to properly expose at a 1/100s minimum.

 

[480sparky]

The answer would totally depend on knowing how bright the lighting is going to be.

 

[TCampbell]

Not enough info. I see your profile says you have a T4i... but not much beyond that. Are you using the kit lens?

A low focal ratio lens (do you happen to own the EF 50mm f/1.4 USM?) would help enormously.

 

[hirejn]

Go to aperture priority, set the lowest aperture number, and see what shutter speed you get at ISO 800. If it's below 1/250, go to ISO 1600. If it's still below 1/180, you'll probably get blurred movement in the dance. Going above ISO 1600 will only add noise and decrease image quality. Take a few test exposures and adjust accordingly. Once you find the proper exposure, lock it in in manual mode. Auto white balance is OK, especially in RAW, but professionally I'd attempt a custom WB or at least a Kelvin setting, and I'd shoot RAW.

 

[texkam]

What camera settings would be best to use

There are no magic settings. Capturing quality images involves a basic understanding of these 3 things: shutter speed, aperture and ISO. There is an upside and a downside involved in each. You need a fast enough shutter speed to freeze motion, a deep enough depth of field to minimize focus misses, but you would still like to have a low enough ISO minimize noise as much as possible. If the lighting is poor you are going to have to make some choices. Sacrifice noise first. Your T4i can yield halfway decent results at ISO 6400.