Theaters

I am in the middle of my photography HND and a friend of mine has asked me to shoot her childrens theatre school productions. Will the Sigma be fast enough for the low light? I would love the new zuiko 12-60mm but it’s so pricey.

The issue here is the iso rating, which will need to be very high (ISO 800 plus) to shoot handheld at around f2.8. Correct any colour casts later in Photoshop if you want to. Focus on the issue, not expensive equipment. Keeping shutter speeds at 1/60 sec or better for handheld stuff will require this high iso rating, and it will lead to increased grain. Nothing you can do about it, just go for it. Don’t shoot at low iso or all your shots will be low shutter speed and blurred.

3 Responses

1. Rog Says:
   February 27th, 2010 at 10:19 am

   The issue here is the iso rating, which will need to be very high (ISO 800 plus) to shoot handheld at around f2.8. Correct any colour casts later in Photoshop if you want to. Focus on the issue, not expensive equipment. Keeping shutter speeds at 1/60 sec or better for handheld stuff will require this high iso rating, and it will lead to increased grain. Nothing you can do about it, just go for it. Don’t shoot at low iso or all your shots will be low shutter speed and blurred.
   References :
   25 years of experience

2. Edwin Says:
   February 27th, 2010 at 10:27 am

   With Image Stabilization in the camera body you’re ahead of the game. Use your camera in Shutter Preferred Mode, set it at 1/125* and try metering with your ISO at 800 to see what f-stop the camera chooses. If f2.8 isn’t enough then try with your ISO at 1600. Use the camera’s Noise Reduction to minimize noise at the high ISO or a program like Noise Ninja.

   There is also the possibility that you’ll have more light than you think. If that’s the case, try starting at ISO 400 in Shutter Preferred at 1/125. Resist the temptation to change more than one variable at a time. Adjust exposure with the ISO.

   * I suggest 1/125 to allow you to stop most motion on stage. Obviously 1/250 would be even better but you might end up with such a high ISO that your image quality will really suffer. There is only so much that programs like Noise Ninja can do.

   Good luck!
   References :

3. High in Fiber Says:
   February 27th, 2010 at 11:08 am

   the 2.8 aperture lets in a lot of light and will allow you to shoot in low-light situations – however such a low aperture will not give you a lot of depth of field for foucings, so you’ll be to be selective on what to photograph

   also – the 18-50mm is only a moderate length telephoto. You’ll get much better results with a longer tele such as a 55-200mm, 70-300mm or 80-200mm.
   References :

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