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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: SLR Photography Question About Lenses
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William Hooper
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1879
From: Mobile, AL USA
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 03-29-2005 06:51 AM
I don't know much 'bout them devilish digital cameras; yours may have anti-shake, autofocus, etc., & you may be specifically needing to use a digital camera for speedy export not requiring scanning, taking a bunch of pictures many of which you may want to throw away, etc.
Longer lenses have a problem with exacerbating lens shake. As light levels get lower, any blurring from longer exposures piles on top of lens shake to make things worse.
A flash is always irritating to subjects & other folks in the room.
If you want these long lenses in these small rooms so that you can pick out 1 or 2 faces from the back of the room, a flash won't help anyway.
If you get a faster lens (most longer zooms are slower, & much more expensive if faster), you start having depth of field problems & have to constantly ride focus. This may be less of an issue with autofocus cameras if you devise a technique that makes the autofocuser happy & always point where it wants to focus.
Zoom lenses with huge ranges (like 28-210) are always mch mushier-looking than primes. It's less of an issue with smaller zoom ranges (28-50, 110-250, whatever).
If they're small rooms & you want paparazzi-style photos of 1 or 2 individuals in the crowd, I think you don't need a wide lens like a 28mm or less, unless you're right up on them. With a f2.5 lens around 35-70mm & a bit of distance, if the light is decent, you won't need a flash. You will need to be steady, but that's a given with anything, & not as big a problem with longer lenses.
If it's got to be digital, I'd say a 35-70mm lens about f2.5 & a high resolution camera (4 megapixels, I dunno from megapixels), & crop out what you don't want.
You'll have problems if you get further back, have to stand on chairs, etc. to shoot over a crowd, etc.
If lighting gets low, then you'll need a flash, so you'll have to get still further back to keep from bugging folks, & so need a longer lens & a more powerful flash.
--
My pictures are different, & I'm primarily interested in wide spectacle shots in theaters with & without crowds. I'm have only been taking the Nikon FG out for a long while, & I've bought another.
![[john]](graemlins/john.gif) :
http://mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/emfgfg20/fg/index.htm
They're the lightest, smallest Nikon made, use Nikon AIs lenses, & don't call attention to themselves. I do get some wandering through crowds shots, & the size makes pitcher-taking non-distracting or even unobserved. They're stupidly inexpensive, because they don't look like the dadgum space shuttle camera, but have TTL flash, excellent metering & autoexposure modes. There's something a little different about the center-weighted metering on the FG, but it adapts well for the big auditorium shots I do where the hot spots are scattered away from the center. You'll often find people selling them because they mistakenly think they're broken: the AE readout doesn't work until the frame counter is advanced to 1 (no freebie AE shots before frame 1).
Light, rugged; I have no straps on mine (except wrist straps) & instead have one of those spring-loaded belt loop clips like you put on huge keyrings. EASY for going up ladders & through crowds!
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