My goals: freezing the action of live performers even if the lighting is not too bright.
Additional: What lens should I be using? I prefer a zoom lens so that I could frame the subjects better.
2007-08-15 02:36:21 · 4 answers · asked by Pablo 2 in Consumer Electronics ➔ Cameras
First and foremost you'll need a camera that allows you full manual control.
Freezing action is a function of shutter speed. Shutter speed is a product of light, lens aperture (f-stop) and ISO. In concert situations where the light is usually dim you'll have to "open up" your lens and increase your ISO. As you increase ISO, image quality begins to suffer. Noise Reduction circuitry helps but its no cure-all. As you "open up" your lens, its performance declines - most all lenses give their best results at between f5.6 and f11. A lens wide open, say at f2.0 or f2.8 will admit the most light but the edges won't be as sharp and you'll see some light fall-off from center to edge. As in all things there are no solutions only trade-offs.
Turning now to my trusty FotoSharp "Day & Night Exposure Guide" we find:
Indoor sports, circus - floodlit suggests:
f2.8 @ 1/125 @ ISO 800
f4.0 @ 1/60 @ ISO 800
f2.8 @ 1/250 @ ISO 1600
f4.0 @ 1/125 @ ISO 1600
School stage/auditorium suggests:
f2.8 @ 1/30 @ ISO 800
f4.0 @ 1/15 @ ISO 800
f2.8 @ 1/60 @ ISO 1600
f4.0 @ 1/30 @ ISO 1600
About all you can do is decide what image quality is going to be acceptable to you. To get a zoom lens with a maximum aperture of f2.8 is probably going to be expensive. Sigma offers a 50-150mm f2.8 zoom for around $700.00 and a 70-200mm f2.8 for around $900.00. A Canon 70-200mm f2.8 is around $1,150.00
The Sigma 50-150 is only for use with cameras using the APS-C sensor. Its image circle is too small for a film camera or a larger than APS-C sensor.
A good monopod might help you go to a slower shutter speed but then you might not be able to freeze action as you said you wanted to.
2007-08-15 03:27:24 · answer #1 · answered by EDWIN 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Other than a digital SLR type I can only think of the type of camera I have. I own a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H2. 6 megapixels, 12X optical zoom. Most of my shots came out very well back in May at a concert. I was going to set ISO at 400 or 600 but last minute left it on auto, figuring camera knows more about lighting than I do. I was right. Almost all my shots were taken at ISO 320 just by leaving on auto. I do believe the zoom helped a lot. Catch the entertainers at a still moment to get very good results, which I know is hard to do. Take plenty of shots, some will be worse than useless but you'll be surprised at how many come out real well and even to the point of enlarging 8X10.
2007-08-15 11:46:15 · answer #2 · answered by Vintage Music 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The camera is not that big of a deal.any camera 6 mp or more will prob. do OK. A good SLR will cost from about 650.00 starting with the canon rebel xti 10 mp unless you want the best you can get then i would tell you to get the canon 5D about 2500.00 for just the body. now the big question is lenses if u get the 5d you should know its a full frame camera so it will only use EF lenses (the good ones are not cheap) you should start with the 24-70 2.8 that's about 1100.00 that's your standard zoom .Then your big zoom you need the 70-200 2.8 IS that lens is 1679.00 but worth every penny. The one other thing you WILL want to get is a flash spend the extra money and get the 580ex II its worth it as well. If you want to go with Nikon you can cause they have most of the same things. good luck
2007-08-15 10:15:08 · answer #3 · answered by i_howard2012 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How about DSLR like
Nikon D80
Canon 400D
Sony A100
with 18-200 lenses + external flash.
2007-08-15 12:19:21 · answer #4 · answered by new_once 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋