 Linda Hughes |
Ballroom Dancing Photography I am going to shoot my first ballroom dance competition, and would like advice on lenses. I have a Canon Mark IIN and thought I would use an 85mm f1.8 and no flash. Any other suggestions? I'll probably use a monopod too. Thanks.
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Rainer and Simone Hoffmann |
Hi Linda, My wife and I do a lot of shooting at ballroom dance competitions, although it's usually formation dancing. The choice of lens depends very much on what type of pictures you want to take and how close you get to the dance floor. You'll certainly need a fast lens, so the 85mm f1.8 seems a good choice to me. However, for some types of pictures, 85mm might not be wide enough, especially with the 1.3 crop factor of the Mark IIn. So, if you have anything wider than 85mm, make sure to have it in your bag as well. Also, you might want a zoom lens, preferably f2.8, since the dancers are moving all the time (I guess you were aware of that ;-)) ). Having said all that, my wife and I often use the 300mm f2.8 and the 500mm f4.0. But those pictures are for graphic design and close-ups, sometimes showing just a detail of a dress or the face of a dancer. For a start, I would suggest a focal length range from 24mm to 200mm. If you don't want to use flash, I strongly recommend a monopod. Hope this helps. Rainer
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Linda Hughes |
thanks for the info. DO you use flash? Did you use the 300 very much? I have the same lense. So was the 2.8 ok in a well lite hotel ballroom with no windows.
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Rainer and Simone Hoffmann |
We rarely use flash except for effects like second curtain sync etc. An f2.8 lens is usually OK, however you will probably have to use ISO 1600 to get reasonably fast shutter speeds. Rainer
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Linda Hughes |
Thank you so much for the information. Your photos are amazing. I may take the 300 f2.8 just to try to get some of the same effects. Do you shoot raw?
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Rainer and Simone Hoffmann |
We shoot Raw exclusively. It gives you so much more possibilies and the quality is way better than JPEG. You need to shoot lots and lots of pics because about 90% go into the bin. So take loads of memory cards... Rainer
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- Carlton Ward Contact Carlton Ward Carlton Ward's Gallery |
Hello Linda, I use my Canon 70-200 & 24-70 (both 2.8) a lot along with my Canon 50mm f.1.4 until it recently quit working. It lost its focusing abilty and I just ordered a Sigma 50mm f/1.4 for a replacement. This lens has been getting very good reviews. I shoot lots of low light/in door shots and the challenge is always getting the shutter speed you want and keeping your ISO setting down as low as possible. I do use a monopod (or tripod if I can get away with it) often for these type of shots. And I shoot raw as well and do most of my editing in ACR. Ranier/Simone - love your site & images :) Blessings, Carlton
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