ADVICES using Canon lens 85mm F1.8 on rebel T1i

[manuel87roma]

Hi guys! I bought my new lens 85mm F1.8 USM and I was trying to play with it during some dancing rehearsal, can someone suggest me or give me some advices on how to make the best shots in this kind of thing with fast people moving?

I tried the Av setting keeping the aperture at 1.8 and auto ISO, I also tried the Tv setting adjusting the shutter speed usually between 1/125 and 1/250 so that it would have caught the moment sharper but that sometimes was ended up being too dark..

but what I’ve noticing as well for not fast moving objects/people is that when I look at the photo after is been taken the clarity and sharpness of the object in FOCUS is not as good as I was seeing while taking it.

With such a lens I should be good to get very sharpness in focus but it seems not to be so.
Any suggestion? Here I attached some of the shot taken from rehearsal

what would you suggest me in order to get the best shots in a dancing show? And also portrait Shots??

Thank you a lot

 

[Overread]

Made some comments in your other thread after a new lens before I saw this one- honestly if you're getting this close without cropping with an 85mm you might not need a new lens at all and instead just revision to your shooting method.

First up you need a faster shutter speed for moving subjects. I've not shot dance but I would want to be at least at 1/500sec for a starting point.

After that depth of field I'd want thin but still useable. At f1.8 its razor thin; whilst at f2 or f2.8 its far more manageable; you get a little more to work with so your focus still has to be good, but your subject can move a little and not throw you totally out. At the very least I'd start with a smaller aperture (bigger f number) like f2.8 and see how it goes. If you can do it then shoot wider.

So how would I shoot this. Well if the lighting in the venue is pretty even and fixed (ergo staying the same) then I'd use manual mode. I'd set it to f2.8, 1/500sec and then raise the ISO as high as is needed until the camera gives me a good exposure on the meter (line in the middle of the values so at the 0 point for exposure). Then I'd take a shot (doesn't even have to be of a dancer) and see what the exposure is like on the LCD on the back of the camera; I'd have the histogram up to let me know how much it might be over or under exposed to know how I might adapt the settings (eg set the ISO higher or lower). If you don't yet use the histogram check your camera manual and google the camera histogram - its fairly straight forward to use and yet its ever so powerful because it gives you exact exposure information. In an instant you know if its under or over; but how much and even where any overexposure in the photo is.


From that starting point I'd then adapt to the situation. It might be so dark that you have to use a slower shutter speed as otherwise you camera can't raise the ISO high enough; or its so high that the noise is way beyond what you're happy with. Action under indoor lighting is a challenge that pushes a camera and lens to their limits. Sometimes you've got to get creative with compositions if you're going to have blur you can't get rid of.

Another option is to introduce flash, but that isn't always possible and its a whole other area unto itself with its own tricks and refinements as well as pitfalls. It's also much more dependant on the situation of the shoot. You and a few dancers in private and you can go nuts with flash; but if its a performance or presentation it might well be that you'd only be allowed one flash if any.

 

[ac12]

In my experience stage photography is difficult, because of the lighting.
If the lighting and background changes, your exposure can be all over the place.
If the lighting is stable and consistent, you can shoot manual. This eliminates the problem of the background confusing the meter. This requires you to understand exposure, so that you can correctly adjust ISO, shutter speed, and aperture to get your shot. The 3 adjustments interact and affect the final image.

• You need a high enough shutter speed to freeze the motion.
  Your pix1 shows a blurry hand, but visible face. This indicates that your shutter speed was not high enough to freeze the hand movement.
  
• You are shooting at f/1.8. Warning f/1.8 also has a SHALLOW depth of field. The closer you are, the shallower it will be, and the more accurate your AF needs to be.
  
• You need to shoot at a high enough ISO level to let you shoot at the fast shutter speed. Your max ISO of 6400 may or may not be high enough.

Peak of the Action
What this means is that in many motions, there is a point where the person will pause for a fraction of a second or so. That is when you shoot. When you REALLY look for it, you may be surprised how often that is.

But when you want to shoot the action itself, then I would go with @Overread.

You
You have to be STEADY when you shoot, because your body/camera movement will compound the subjects movement to blur the image.
You need to apply proper low light hand holding techniques.
If you can use a monopod or tripod.

Next is AutoFocus
What AF mode and AF points are you using?
AF-S vs. AF-C.
- AF-S (single) will not let the shutter fire unless the AF locks onto the subject.
- AF-C (continuous) will let the shutter fire even if the AF is not locked on the subject, and the subject is out of focus. This is meant for moving subjects where the subject might move in the fraction of a second between when you start to press the shutter, and when the shutter fires. In AF-C the AF is still tracking the subject, hopefully to give you an in focus subject.

Area vs single point.
Area is good for a moving subject. BUT it has a potentially fatal weakness. On the T5 and T7i, area focus will lock focus on the CLOSEST SUBJECT. That closest subject may or may not be the subject that YOU want in focus. This problem happens when there is an intermixing of people in the scene. In your case, the camera will choose the front (closest) dancer, not the back dancer.
Single point is the simplest, YOU put the AF point on the subject you want in focus. KISS principle.

AF needs enough light to work.
In a dim scene, there may not be enough light for your AF to lock onto the subject.

 

[sergezap]

I had used this lens a lot with 5d mark 2 and 6d.
According to my experience it's wrong focusing when you trying to use it for full body shots.
Outdoors, studio, ect - nevermind. Even at f/4-f/5.6