Night Club Lens Question

[ajohnson15]

Hey,

I would like to know what is the best lens to use with a canon eos t3 for night club shooting?

I am currently using a tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 and i have a real hard time with the auto focus.

Any tips?

 

[Stradawhovious]

Depending.g on your surroundings, I'm going to go out on a limb and say its probably not your lens that's having a hard time with autofocus, its your body. I could be wrong though, I often am. This would be a great opportunity to practice manually focusing your shots.

 

[bobandcar]

My only guess is that it is to dark for autofocus to properly work.
Aka. Try manual focus

 

[TCampbell]

There is a point where there is simply not enough light for reliable focus -- even with a low focal ratio lens. Consider a dedicated flash with a focus assist beam... Such as the Speedlite 430EX II. I haven't used the somewhat recent Speedlite 320EX -- which isn't quite as powerful. The 320 doesn't have a focus assist beam. Instead it has a white LED light to provide enough illumination to focus.

 

[Mach0]

There is a point where there is simply not enough light for reliable focus -- even with a low focal ratio lens. Consider a dedicated flash with a focus assist beam... Such as the Speedlite 430EX II. I haven't used the somewhat recent Speedlite 320EX -- which isn't quite as powerful. The 320 doesn't have a focus assist beam. Instead it has a white LED light to provide enough illumination to focus.

This. I wouldnt do the 320 ex but a dedicated flash with an af assist beam will help. You can even take pics in almost completely dark situations.

 

[tom_bond88]

I used the 430ex mk2 when I was doin the photos for a local club, never let me down!

 

[TCampbell]

And in fairness... Using a flash can trade one set of problems for another. You'll want to learn to avoid harsh flat lighting for best results. Many resources can help you with this. There are websites dedicated to shooting with flash and several great books.

 

[tom_bond88]

And in fairness... Using a flash can trade one set of problems for another. You'll want to learn to avoid harsh flat lighting for best results. Many resources can help you with this. There are websites dedicated to shooting with flash and several great books.

Yea this is very true, best to get the flash off the camera, cheapest way is through a ttl cable, and buy some sort of diffuser to pop on it!

 

[DiskoJoe]

Hey,

I would like to know what is the best lens to use with a canon eos t3 for night club shooting?

I am currently using a tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 and i have a real hard time with the auto focus.

Any tips?

You have to use manual focus in clubs. Its too dark for the AF. Use manual and a flash and raise the ISO up and should work out fine. I would recommend a prime for clubs. You will need the extra fstops. A 50 or a 35 would be good. You could probably use the tammy is you auto focus.

 

[DiskoJoe]

And in fairness... Using a flash can trade one set of problems for another. You'll want to learn to avoid harsh flat lighting for best results. Many resources can help you with this. There are websites dedicated to shooting with flash and several great books.

Yea this is very true, best to get the flash off the camera, cheapest way is through a ttl cable, and buy some sort of diffuser to pop on it!

If you get the canon branded flash it should probably work wirelessly.

 

[Mach0]

I can AF in low light using a sb800 and I actually tried it in more challenging light scenario than a night club. OP, I suggest picking up a good flash to use on camera. Even with a Ttl cord and flash bracket.

 

[tom_bond88]

As far as I'm aware wireless triggering of the canon flashes is only available from the 60D and 7D, I could be wrong there though!

 

[ghache]

In Bars, to make sure i focus correctly for people shots, i use a sb-800 / 600 and use the focus assist light. The problem with this is when you use point metering, the focus assist light of these units only work when you use the center points. I focus using the middle point and re-compose. works pretty well. use rear sync and a lower shutter speed to get as much ambient light to at least get the color strobes light..

 

[DiskoJoe]

As far as I'm aware wireless triggering of the canon flashes is only available from the 60D and 7D, I could be wrong there though!

You could be right. I just thought they would. My camera does and its a entry level piece of crap.

 

[ajohnson15]

Yea I have tried manual focus. The issues i face with that is useing a sync cable with it makes it kind of hard to take pictures quickly. But maybe i will have to invest in a canon speedlite because im currently using a vivitar flash.