Shooting bands in low light

[puyjapin]

Been asked by a band I took some shots of outdoors if i wanna do an indoor shoot in low, artificial light....whats the score here. Could i get away with it with the 18-55 3.5-5.6 kit and my 70-300 vr or do i need something wider aperture to get any results? thanks

 

[bigtwinky]

If its an actual shoot, then I assume you can use flash?

With your lenses, low light is not a good idea. On a budget the 50mm 1.8 or better yet, the 1.4 would be a huge improvement.

 

[gsgary]

No chance with the lenses you have, also you will probably have to shoot minimum ISO1600 dont worry about noise because they will make great black and white not sure how your camera handles noise, i usually shoot ISO3200 and use a 50F1.4 and 200mmF2.8L and looking at getting the 85F1.8
Heres some i did for Paul Carrack hover over the picture and you can click on info for exif Gary Clarke : photos : Paul Carrack @ The Winding Wheel

Don't use flash unless you know what you are doing it will spoil the shots try and use the lights they have try and time your shots to the lights

 

[puyjapin]

i only have built in flash which i assume would mess it all up...so even on a tripod i would not get anything decent or creative? i suppose really i need at least to use 1/125th for anything sharp..?

 

[puyjapin]

is that suited?
Nikon Lens - Nikon AF 50mm f/1.8D
it seems very cheap??

plus its a prime lens so lets say i wanted to take in the band or audience and then wanted to get one band member up close...no zoom...

 

[puyjapin]

looked at ur site, nice work.However most of these seem to be shot at f3.5 and upwards at 1/800th max iso so why would my 3.5-5.6 not be suitable? thanks

 

[gsgary]

looked at ur site, nice work.However most of these seem to be shot at f3.5 and upwards at 1/800th max iso so why would my 3.5-5.6 not be suitable? thanks

Because the Canon 5D can handle high ISO, i could have used ISO1600, don't forget this was a big star so it was top lighting
Here's some at a local venue Gary Clarke : photos : The Idle Hands @ The Junction
with my old 1D so i kept it at ISO1600

 

[gsgary]

is that suited?
Nikon Lens - Nikon AF 50mm f/1.8D
it seems very cheap??

plus its a prime lens so lets say i wanted to take in the band or audience and then wanted to get one band member up close...no zoom...

I don't know anything about Nikon lenses but i think with your camera you will have to manual focus the 50mm, in small venues you will be lucky to get a zoom to work because the max aperture will be F2.8 and it will cost you, primes are best for shooting bands you can zoom with your feet

 

[sburatorul]

is that suited?
Nikon Lens - Nikon AF 50mm f/1.8D
it seems very cheap??

plus its a prime lens so lets say i wanted to take in the band or audience and then wanted to get one band member up close...no zoom...

I don't know anything about Nikon lenses but i think with your camera you will have to manual focus the 50mm, in small venues you will be lucky to get a zoom to work because the max aperture will be F2.8 and it will cost you, primes are best for shooting bands you can zoom with your feet

he is right, and shooting bands during a performance with manual focus isnt easy if not close to imposible. so your best bet would be to get the 1.4G 50mm but that is way more expensive. there is also a cheaper 35mm 1.8 AF-s but its kinda short isnt it? if its not during a performance, and is a set shooting than you can use the 1.8D 50mm manual focus.

 

[gsgary]

is that suited?
Nikon Lens - Nikon AF 50mm f/1.8D
it seems very cheap??

plus its a prime lens so lets say i wanted to take in the band or audience and then wanted to get one band member up close...no zoom...

I don't know anything about Nikon lenses but i think with your camera you will have to manual focus the 50mm, in small venues you will be lucky to get a zoom to work because the max aperture will be F2.8 and it will cost you, primes are best for shooting bands you can zoom with your feet

he is right, and shooting bands during a performance with manual focus isnt easy if not close to imposible. so your best bet would be to get the 1.4G 50mm but that is way more expensive. there is also a cheaper 35mm 1.8 AF-s but its kinda short isnt it? if its not during a performance, and is a set shooting than you can use the 1.8D 50mm manual focus.

I use manual focus must of the time

 

[puyjapin]

its gonna be small gigs, and i can get where i want. I would not intend using a flash. So in all the 50mm f1.4 is a good starting point? but then it wont af on the D40...So will that be a major issue? Presumabley i will need to use wot sort of shutter as a minumum to freeze stuff? the d40 goes to iso1600, it does i think officially go to 3200 but ive not used that yet so not really sure of the results or if its just added for a joke

 

[Josh220]

its gonna be small gigs, and i can get where i want. I would not intend using a flash. So in all the 50mm f1.4 is a good starting point? but then it wont af on the D40...So will that be a major issue? Presumabley i will need to use wot sort of shutter as a minumum to freeze stuff? the d40 goes to iso1600, it does i think officially go to 3200 but ive not used that yet so not really sure of the results or if its just added for a joke

Yes, it GOES to that ISO, but that doesn't mean it takes good pictures when it's that high. Just because a car can go 100mph doesn't mean you should do so in a 45 zone. You won't get good shots at that high ISO with a D40.

The 50mm f/1.4 will help you, but do you want to spend $4XX for a lens for one amateur shoot?

 

[puyjapin]

i could use it again, iso1600 is ok tho?

 

[sburatorul]

still kinda high for the d40. if it was lets say a d700 than it would have been fine.

it seems like noise actually works with band photos but at least on my d60, 1600 is too high. 800 is where i draw the line. and there is a 50mm f1.4 that will auto focus. its the new AF-s lens.

 

[Josh220]

still kinda high for the d40. if it was lets say a d700 than it would have been fine.

it seems like noise actually works with band photos but at least on my d60, 1600 is too high. 800 is where i draw the line. and there is a 50mm f1.4 that will auto focus. its the new AF-s lens.

That's the one I said costs $4xx