Low Light Pictures

[KWalker]

I have a Sony a100 that I bought a few years ago when my kids were in school and I took great pictures of sports and other school activities. Now that my kids are grown, our hobbies have changed. We go to Texas Country concerts or festivals and I like to take pictures of the bands. They are held in very low light venues and I am usually able to get pretty close to the bands. I want a new lens for christmas for this and I am not sure which way to go.
Thanks for any help

[inkista]

This year, Sony released a 50mm f/1.8. That might be your best shot, if you're on a budget as it's about $150. If you have $350 to spend, the 50mm f/1.4.

If, however, you won the lottery and have a ton of cash to throw on glass (and this is just my envy speaking as a Canon shooter), I'd say go for the Zeiss ZA Sonnar 135/1.8 (THE stage shooting lens), or the ZA Planar 85mm f/1.4.

Basically you want a lens with a large maximum aperture, so that you can use a faster shutter speed.

[DonSchap]

Since musical stage bands tend to stay in a relatively limited area, you could consider successfully using the Rokinon (Samyang) MF 85mm f/1.4 lens. I found them, new, for $255, and 85mm is a dynamite range, indoors, on an APS-C sensor. It gives you an effective 130mm shot. Obviously, you have to do the focusing yourself, but you save $1100 in the process, getting a very similar shot to the SONY CZ 85mm f/1.4 ($1369)



Between this lens and the SONY AF 50mm f/1.4 ($369) ... you would have a nice "one-two punch" for low light.

[bmcguirk]

Very timely subject for me. My sister has asked me to take some pics of her grandaughter (my great niece? Grand Niece?). She is going to be in a play at the local community college and they ask that you not use flash in the auditorium. Not sure these old eyes can do manual focus as well as I'd like though. I am looking at a site where you can rent lenses, though. You can get the Sony 135mm f/1.8 CZ for $42.50 for a week. That might be fun as I don't think I'll ever buy one...unless I hit the lottery. haha. Any one have experience with lens rentals?
oh and this is the site:
AlphaLensRental - Alpha Mount Lens, Body and Accessory Rentals

[DonSchap]

Bob,

I have heard several stories about these lens rental places. I think they learned a cruel lesson about using the domesticated TAMRON 70-200mm f/2.8 versus the SONY 70-200mm f/2.8 G SSM. The TAMRONs did not fare too well and had to be replaced/sold off. They simply are not built for commercial work. Yeah, I have one and I baby it. Most renters do NOT.

Renting a CZ PRIME should work out well for you, but you need to remember that the Sony CZ AF 135mm f/1.8 will be like looking through (field of view) what you would see with a 200mm lens on your 35mm-film camera. The dcf (digital crop factor) of the α700 will zoom the 135mm by a factor of 1.5x, hence the 200mm FOV.

If you were to opt for the Sony CZ AF 85mm f/1.4 ... it would have the same FOV of a 130mm f/1.4.

Please remember that the DOF (Depth of Field) is pretty shallow on these longer lenses, as you open the aperture up (from f/2.8 -> f/1.4) to get more light. If you are further away from the stage, that will help. This is a trade-off and running some test parameters through the DOF Calculator (<- click on this link) will help you understand what is involved and kind of what to expect when you do change your distance or aperture.

1. Select you camera -> Sony α700
2. Select the focal length (85mm or 135mm, depending on your lens choice)
3. Select the f-stop
4. Type in the subject distance

In the right hand window you will see the approximate DOF, with minimum and maximum distances for the shot, You will note, that the closer you get to your subject or the wider you make the f/stop ... the tighter this "window of focus" will become.

Good luck

[bmcguirk]

Thanks, Don! I always count on you for good advice!

[DonSchap]

Truth is, I have to informally image a community play, tonight.

For that, I am carrying a selection of PRIMES (20mm f/1.8, 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.4, 135mm f/1.8) and zooms (17-35mm f/2.8-4 & the ever-present 28-75mm f/2.8 to cover it, because I, frankly, do not know what I am walking into ... or, for that matter, where I will be "parked."

I will also have the HVL-F58AM flash, if permitted its use. The sling bag weighs a flippin' ton, but it is all in there ... camera, too! With the addition of two handy lens "fun-bags" ... what a tote.



Yes, I would love to have a 35mm f/1.4, but the cost of one of those is unreal! So ... , not going to happen. If I need a 200mm looking shot, I can go to the a850 menu, select the "APS-C Capture" mode and immediate slap a 1.5x dcf on my CZ 135mm f/1.8 to get it, w/o even changing lenses.

[DonSchap]

This is the final act of the play I mentioned ... done with a panorama of eight 135mm - f/3.2 - 1/80 sec - ISO-1000 - Spot Metered - Manual Mode shots with ambient lighting.



Again, I walked into this ... to find myself in the back row, about fifty feet away from the stage center. Happily, I had no interference as the row I was in was empty. I used, obviously, the CZ AF 135mm f/1.8 ... and I have yet to process the MF 85mm f/1.4 and 50mm f/1.4 attempts.

I really wanted to get this one in and it is a monster with a Full Frame. I wound up, for speed sake, reducing the images to 500 x 334, then merging them with reposition panorama tools. I do not think you would do as well with a P&S camera.

I will submit some of the better shots later, as I go through them, but I would say that the 135mm f/1.8 was the lens of choice, but framing was a bit of work.

EDIT: Here are a few more single shots, struggling with the light and location:







Bob, I just wanted to post this so you had some idea of what it may turn out with ... using some reasonable light settings and a decent lens.

[CaptainNH]

Thanks nicely stitched Don, I can only see a couple of joins at this resolution

[DonSchap]

Bob, here are a 50mm f/1.4 & a 85mm f/1.4 shots from play:


50mm - f/3.5 - 1/60 sec - ISO-1000 - Spot Meter - Manual


85mm - f/4 - 1/60 sec. - ISO-100 - Spot Meter - Manual