I've been asked to shoot my tiny towns centennial celebration and am totally lost as to what lens to use. The event is going to have a band, a juggler, food and fireworks. I'm planning on renting a lens to shoot this.
My main body is a T3i and my second body is a Rebel xt. I have the kit lens, a 24-80mm, a 75-300mm, a 50mm 1.8, a 24mm 2.8.
Small town centennial celebration. They want pictures of people setting up, people enjoying the event. There is a band, a juggler and fireworks at the end of the event. Event starts around 6pm (set up earlier of course) and ends around 9pm.
I have experience in corporate event photography and an event such as this sounds somewhat along similar lines so I'll speak from that point of view. I took some time to think about your scenario and I think this would be my gameplan if I had the assignment:
I do think you could cover the event with the lenses you have if you really wanted to. But since you are planning to rent a lens, if I were in your shoes, I think I would probably rent the Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-f/5.6. This would allow you to leave your kit lens, 24-80, and 75-300 all at home. Mount the 28-300 on one body, the 50mm f/1.8 on the other. The 28-300 would handle pretty much all the outdoor shots during daytime and potentially fireworks shots (on tripod). Then the 50mm for indoor, low-light, and for late in the day when it gets dusky. I would possibly keep the 24-80mm in my bag as a "backup" in case something happened to the 28-300.
Hope that helps, looking forward to seeing some images!
EDIT: I see now the timeframe for the event of 6pm - 9pm with shots of setup prior...so realistically 5pm - 9:30pm coverage? Hmmm... Well, off the top of my head I think I would still have the same gameplan as I stated above. Not sure exactly where you live, I live in midwest (Ohio) and it starts getting pretty dusky around 7:30-8:00pm. So I think I would go in knowing I could take advantage of telephoto until about then, or at least until I started pushing ISO 2000 or so. Then I'd have to rely on the 50mm, or make sure I kept the 28-300 down on the wide end to keep it open. The real tough decision would be whether to go for renting a 70-200mm f/2.8 instead, that would allow telephoto shots later into the evening, but no normal or wide angle from that lens...so the other camera body would need the 24-80 and/or 50mm. Personally, I'm not much of a telephoto shooter, so I probably would go with the 70-200mm...but that's just my shooting style which I don't want to necessarily project onto your scenario. I'm rambling now so I'll stop. I hope some of this "thinking out loud" helped in some way...
I rarely used my 50mm on a cropped Rebel but I use it as my main lens on my full frame. I wished I had the 35mm when I had the cropped sensor, and would have considered buying that as my main lens.
I've never used the 28 - 300 so I have no opinion on that one.
I'm no expert, but I don't think I would have chosen the Canon 28-300mm lens. The thing is HUGE and weighs 1.6Kg! Also considering the crop factor of your T3i you will have a 44-480mm lens. Not wide enough and too much tele.
I think a Canon 15-85mm or the 18-135mm would be good all-round choices for this kind of event.
I agree with Helge. I have the Nikon equivalent 28-300 on my D7100. It is lighter that's not the problem, but, like he said, 28mm is not wide enough on some occasions, on the APS-C body. The length range is designed for a full frame camera and, indeed, works there much like the 18-135 does on your cameras. I don't know that lens, but it would seem a more logical choice for your camera. @helstor
The 50mm f/1.8 will help inside in low light, but again, is it the "right" length for your camera at an even? So mount that on your second camera, and really look "pro" with two cameras in the field. :)
I would not even consider the monster f/2.8 70-200 on your cameras. Same reason, the lengths not optimized for our APS-C cameras, and more than *twice* the weight of the 28-300, already heavy enough. It is essential you feel comfortable for an extended time, hand holding, and if you have no experience with heavy lenses, I would advise you not to try them first at an important shoot.
70-200mm EF L f2.8 without question and th 24-70mm EF L 2.8 without question.
I photograph all sorts of events from small parties, wedding and very large events and dinners with over 1000 people at the dinner with stage performances and also photograph field shows where they have entertainment and fireworks. All are done with these two lens and speedlites on the top of the cameras.
If you want to have a look at some of the images I capture with these too pop over to my website at www.BrendanMaunder.com and have a look at my online store. In there you will see a few events that I keep up there for people to see.
With the question of weight, yes they are heavy but to get a fast lens you have a lot of glass so a good strap is needed.
And yes the EF lens are built for full frame but I have found no issues using them on a crop like the rebel. The main issue you will find is that you will be zoomed in and not really at 24mm, so if you want a wide shots like you are in a room then this may be a problem.
NOTE: I use them on 5D's and although I do have a rebel and have used it, the quality of the images due to the digital noise make the images unacceptable for my purposes. @nytewind
@agima :) She said she plans to rent only one lens so that's why I picked the super zoom as it covers the focal ranges of the lenses she owns, but in reality I'd bring the same setup you stated. For events I carry two full frame bodies with the 24-70 on the one and the 70-200 on the other both on Rapid straps. Heavy? Yep! But we're on the job with expectations and not an enthusiast on vacation, and being on the job is work. :) I've also used both lenses on crop sensor bodies and 100% agree with your statement there as well.
@nytewind I read your camera body info, but just somehow skipped over the fact they were crop sensor. Oops. If its feasible, you may also want to also rent a 5D for the day. The ISO performance of the full frame will come in quite handy. If its not feasible but you can rent two lenses, then I 100% agree with Bendan, get the 24-70 2.8 and the 70-200 2.8. If you can only get one lens, I'm going to change my original recommendation to the 24-70 2.8. My recommendation of the 28-300 was an effort to cover the focal lengths of your individual lenses with a single high quality zoom. Quite honestly though, I don't think the 200-300 range of it would be used at all. I just didn't know if you're a telephoto "stand back and zoom" shooter or not. Anyway, bottom line, if you're going to rent a lens, make it really good fast glass, and really good fast glass is heavy.
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I have experience in corporate event photography and an event such as this sounds somewhat along similar lines so I'll speak from that point of view. I took some time to think about your scenario and I think this would be my gameplan if I had the assignment:
I do think you could cover the event with the lenses you have if you really wanted to. But since you are planning to rent a lens, if I were in your shoes, I think I would probably rent the Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-f/5.6. This would allow you to leave your kit lens, 24-80, and 75-300 all at home. Mount the 28-300 on one body, the 50mm f/1.8 on the other. The 28-300 would handle pretty much all the outdoor shots during daytime and potentially fireworks shots (on tripod). Then the 50mm for indoor, low-light, and for late in the day when it gets dusky. I would possibly keep the 24-80mm in my bag as a "backup" in case something happened to the 28-300.
Hope that helps, looking forward to seeing some images!
EDIT: I see now the timeframe for the event of 6pm - 9pm with shots of setup prior...so realistically 5pm - 9:30pm coverage? Hmmm... Well, off the top of my head I think I would still have the same gameplan as I stated above. Not sure exactly where you live, I live in midwest (Ohio) and it starts getting pretty dusky around 7:30-8:00pm. So I think I would go in knowing I could take advantage of telephoto until about then, or at least until I started pushing ISO 2000 or so. Then I'd have to rely on the 50mm, or make sure I kept the 28-300 down on the wide end to keep it open. The real tough decision would be whether to go for renting a 70-200mm f/2.8 instead, that would allow telephoto shots later into the evening, but no normal or wide angle from that lens...so the other camera body would need the 24-80 and/or 50mm. Personally, I'm not much of a telephoto shooter, so I probably would go with the 70-200mm...but that's just my shooting style which I don't want to necessarily project onto your scenario. I'm rambling now so I'll stop. I hope some of this "thinking out loud" helped in some way...
I've never used the 28 - 300 so I have no opinion on that one.
Good luck and enjoy!
I think a Canon 15-85mm or the 18-135mm would be good all-round choices for this kind of event.
The 50mm f/1.8 will help inside in low light, but again, is it the "right" length for your camera at an even? So mount that on your second camera, and really look "pro" with two cameras in the field. :)
I would not even consider the monster f/2.8 70-200 on your cameras. Same reason, the lengths not optimized for our APS-C cameras, and more than *twice* the weight of the 28-300, already heavy enough. It is essential you feel comfortable for an extended time, hand holding, and if you have no experience with heavy lenses, I would advise you not to try them first at an important shoot.
Good luck!
70-200mm EF L f2.8 without question and th 24-70mm EF L 2.8 without question.
I photograph all sorts of events from small parties, wedding and very large events and dinners with over 1000 people at the dinner with stage performances and also photograph field shows where they have entertainment and fireworks. All are done with these two lens and speedlites on the top of the cameras.
If you want to have a look at some of the images I capture with these too pop over to my website at www.BrendanMaunder.com and have a look at my online store. In there you will see a few events that I keep up there for people to see.
With the question of weight, yes they are heavy but to get a fast lens you have a lot of glass so a good strap is needed.
And yes the EF lens are built for full frame but I have found no issues using them on a crop like the rebel. The main issue you will find is that you will be zoomed in and not really at 24mm, so if you want a wide shots like you are in a room then this may be a problem.
NOTE: I use them on 5D's and although I do have a rebel and have used it, the quality of the images due to the digital noise make the images unacceptable for my purposes. @nytewind