 Christopher M. Swader |
Good Lenses for Theatre Photography I hope someone on here can help me with the task of picking out a good and useful lens I can purchase that will take superior quality images on stage. I have a Nikon D70 and take pictures for several theatrical events where the light is often very low. Most of my results have been sucessful; however, I feel like they could be better. If anyone could point me in the direction of a few good choices of lenses, I would really aprreciate it! Thanks, Candleshoe07
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doug Nelson |
Try one of Nikon's excellent 50mm lenses, an f1.8 or f1.4. On that camera, you will have a magnification factor that will be just right for what you are doing. The wide maximum aperture will help greatly in focusing, and your images will probably be acceptably sharp at f2. No lens of this kind is razor sharp wide open, but shooting wide open may mean the difference between your shot and no shot.
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Mark Feldstein |
Well, I beg to differ with Doug. There are plenty of lenses available that will produce tack sharp images at their maximum f-stop. A number of old manual Nikkors including the 105mm will be extremely sharp and so will their digital equivalent. Rangefinder cameras (that shoot film) are ideal for this kind of work and my own preference is using a couple of Leica M-6s with 85mm and 135mm lenses and ISO 200 film. The 50 Doug recommended is a good "standard" type of focal length. It's fine for many purposes but a lot of your success shooting theatrical work depends on where you are positioned from the players, i.e., how far from the stage, at what angle, and the brightness of the lighting of course. Even working physically on the stage itself, like in the wings, 50 may not be sufficient depending also on your framing and how you're trying to frame. To really give you a detailed response, we should know the answers to those questions above; and what type of camera support you intend to use, etc. If you like, I can also direct you to a thread on low-light theatrical photography that you might find useful.
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- Sherry Stricklin Boles Contact Sherry Stricklin Boles Sherry Stricklin Boles's Gallery |
I use a variety of lenses in my theatrical photography depending on the situation, which includes everything from a wide-angle to a zoom. Another factor in choosing a lens will depend upon what type of flash (if any) that you are using. I'm sure with more information you can get a better answer here.
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Christopher M. Swader |
Thanks for all of your responses so far! I do have a 50 mm lens already and am very pleased with its results. The place where I'll be shooting the pictures is fairly dark, but I know the people very well; it's no problem gettimg up close and moving towards the action. I'd like a lens that will allow me to zoom in if I need to. Mark F.- I really would appreciate a link to the thread you described. I've been doing some research and came across these lenses: http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-12-24mm-Autofocus-Nikkor-Zoom/dp/B000092M1T http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=5&productNr=1960 Would either of these be helpful?
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Christopher A. Vedros |
I use a Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 and a Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 for shooting theater. Both are very sharp at f/2.8, but I'll shoot at f/3.5 or f/4 if there is enough light. When I was shooting with the original Rebel, ISO 400 was the fastest usable ISO, but with the Rebel XTi, I get very good results at ISO 800. Be sure to use center-weighted or center-spot metering if you have it. One thing that will help you the most with theater photos is knowing the show. Attend a dress rehearsal if you can. If the show is running several nights, watch it once, then shoot during the next show. I know this isn't always possible, but if it is, you should take advantage of it. If you know where the action is going to be, and when & where the performers will be moving, you can do a better job of timing your shots when they are still. Your shots will be sharper if you can catch the performers when they are not moving quickly. Chris Vedros
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