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Wider prime for shooting backstage and in dressing rooms?

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HowardLive

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I have three primes for 35, 50 and 85mm, plus a full-frame 6D and cropped 7D.

An upcoming assignment will take me to a small theater, where I'm likely to have access backstage and in the dressing rooms (it's a festival of short plays, 10 minutes or fewer).

For such behind-the-scenes shots, will 35mm normally give me enough elbow room, or should I think about borrowing a 28 or 24 for such scenes? Anyone who regularly shoots theater, dance or small music clubs, feel free to share your thoughts. Thanks.
 
I suggest the 28 is not enough different from the 35 to really matter.

A 24 will distort if you tilt the camera, but you may like the effect.

BAK
 
I think you are making a mistake restricting yourself to primes. The flexibility of Canon's recent high-end zooms make them incredibly useful in tight, fast-moving situations where you need to be creative.
 
I bought the 16-35 f/4L IS for that purpose. Primes are very good but sometimes you don't have the room to zoom with your feet. My 24-70 f/2.8Lii is sometimes too tight.

Another option is to borrow Hotdog321's Canon 11-24 f/4L :-)
 
cpharm86 said:
I bought the 16-35 f/4L IS for that purpose. Primes are very good but sometimes you don't have the room to zoom with your feet. My 24-70 f/2.8Lii is sometimes too tight.

Another option is to borrow Hotdog321's Canon 11-24 f/4L :-)
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Snort! Ain't nobody gonna be borrowing that lens! ;)
 
HowardLive said:
I have three primes for 35, 50 and 85mm, plus a full-frame 6D and cropped 7D.

An upcoming assignment will take me to a small theater, where I'm likely to have access backstage and in the dressing rooms (it's a festival of short plays, 10 minutes or fewer).

For such behind-the-scenes shots, will 35mm normally give me enough elbow room, or should I think about borrowing a 28 or 24 for such scenes? Anyone who regularly shoots theater, dance or small music clubs, feel free to share your thoughts. Thanks.
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For the wide end, I actually prefer zooms, especially in tight spaces. If you are stuck with for instance, a 35 mm, which isn't wide at all, you may not be able to deliver. In such situations I usually use the 24- 70 (and even though in general don't like to go wider than 24mm, there's been situations where the result had been much better if I had used a proper wide angle zoom )
 
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I would make a trial run, at ultra wide people don't look very nice; while zooms are indeed handy I would rather find a focal length that works and stick with it.

With two cameras I would probably try 24mm and 35mm.
 
cpharm86 said:
I bought the 16-35 f/4L IS for that purpose. Primes are very good but sometimes you don't have the room to zoom with your feet. My 24-70 f/2.8Lii is sometimes too tight.
Click to expand...
I agree, the 16-35/4L IS is made for the job. As well as just 'fitting everything in' (which is often unjustly criticised as a compositional technique!), dressing rooms are intimate (yet often very public) spaces which provide great opportunities for close perspective shots.
 
Steve Balcombe said:
cpharm86 said:
I bought the 16-35 f/4L IS for that purpose. Primes are very good but sometimes you don't have the room to zoom with your feet. My 24-70 f/2.8Lii is sometimes too tight.
Click to expand...
I agree, the 16-35/4L IS is made for the job. As well as just 'fitting everything in' (which is often unjustly criticised as a compositional technique!), dressing rooms are intimate (yet often very public) spaces which provide great opportunities for close perspective shots.
Click to expand...
 
I Love my 24L for such uses.
 
Hoogineer said:
Steve Balcombe said:
cpharm86 said:
I bought the 16-35 f/4L IS for that purpose. Primes are very good but sometimes you don't have the room to zoom with your feet. My 24-70 f/2.8Lii is sometimes too tight.
Click to expand...
I agree, the 16-35/4L IS is made for the job. As well as just 'fitting everything in' (which is often unjustly criticised as a compositional technique!), dressing rooms are intimate (yet often very public) spaces which provide great opportunities for close perspective shots.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Hoogineer said:
Steve Balcombe said:
cpharm86 said:
I bought the 16-35 f/4L IS for that purpose. Primes are very good but sometimes you don't have the room to zoom with your feet. My 24-70 f/2.8Lii is sometimes too tight.
Click to expand...
I agree, the 16-35/4L IS is made for the job. As well as just 'fitting everything in' (which is often unjustly criticised as a compositional technique!), dressing rooms are intimate (yet often very public) spaces which provide great opportunities for close perspective shots.

--
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevebalcombe/
Click to expand...
Noob question: I see the 6D in OP's gear list, so obviously he's going to use that over the 7D. I'm used to shooting on crop (600D, now 7D Mk II) and I'm not sure I'd shoot anything at f/4 indoors (unless there's a lot of light). I can't imagine there's a lot of light back-stage at a theater, but I could be mistaken. I've read here that the 6D is supposed to be superior for low-light photography, but wouldn't it make more sense to use a prime (presumably f/2 or lower)?
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Yes, if you could get use a faster lens it would be ideal. One other thing to consider is the faster the lens, i.e. 85mm f/1.2Lii in a tight area, photographing more than 1 person can give you a shallow depth of field and much of your subjects out of focus. Another option would be using a speedlight therefore you are able to use a great f stop, lower iso and better IQ.
Hoogineer said:
I realize that the EF 35mm f/2 is an older and may not deliver the IQ one would want.

Thanks in advance for the knowledge.
Click to expand...
 
Steve Balcombe said:
Hoogineer said:
Steve Balcombe said:
cpharm86 said:
I bought the 16-35 f/4L IS for that purpose. Primes are very good but sometimes you don't have the room to zoom with your feet. My 24-70 f/2.8Lii is sometimes too tight.
Click to expand...
I agree, the 16-35/4L IS is made for the job. As well as just 'fitting everything in' (which is often unjustly criticised as a compositional technique!), dressing rooms are intimate (yet often very public) spaces which provide great opportunities for close perspective shots.

--
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevebalcombe/
Click to expand...
Noob question: I see the 6D in OP's gear list, so obviously he's going to use that over the 7D. I'm used to shooting on crop (600D, now 7D Mk II) and I'm not sure I'd shoot anything at f/4 indoors (unless there's a lot of light). I can't imagine there's a lot of light back-stage at a theater, but I could be mistaken. I've read here that the 6D is supposed to be superior for low-light photography, but wouldn't it make more sense to use a prime (presumably f/2 or lower)? I realize that the EF 35mm f/2 is an older and may not deliver the IQ one would want.
Click to expand...
Yep, faster than f/4 would be great both for exposure and for subject separation. But in a situation where you can't always choose your shooting distance a zoom is ideal - I come down on the side of zoom rather than aperture. Another aspect of this subject matter is that using a high ISO speed is ok - some graininess in the pics won't be a problem.

--
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevebalcombe/
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Sorry Steve, I answered the same time as you. I see now Hoogineer replied to you for an answer.

Pete
 
cpharm86 said:
Steve Balcombe said:
Hoogineer said:
Steve Balcombe said:
cpharm86 said:
I bought the 16-35 f/4L IS for that purpose. Primes are very good but sometimes you don't have the room to zoom with your feet. My 24-70 f/2.8Lii is sometimes too tight.
Click to expand...
I agree, the 16-35/4L IS is made for the job. As well as just 'fitting everything in' (which is often unjustly criticised as a compositional technique!), dressing rooms are intimate (yet often very public) spaces which provide great opportunities for close perspective shots.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
HowardLive said:
I have three primes for 35, 50 and 85mm, plus a full-frame 6D and cropped 7D.

An upcoming assignment will take me to a small theater, where I'm likely to have access backstage and in the dressing rooms (it's a festival of short plays, 10 minutes or fewer).

For such behind-the-scenes shots, will 35mm normally give me enough elbow room, or should I think about borrowing a 28 or 24 for such scenes? Anyone who regularly shoots theater, dance or small music clubs, feel free to share your thoughts. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Dressing rooms can be tight. Last time I shot backstage/dressing rooms for a major beauty pageant, I used a 16-35 f/2.8 on a 7D II. Most of the shots that got published were shot at f/5.6 or f/8 and were shot closer to 16 than 35.

If I were in your shoes, I would shoot the 6D and borrow a 24 or 28 mm lens.

Of course, a lot depends on the specifics of where you are shooting and what the images would be used for.

In my case I was shooting images that were going out to the press to promote the event. Depending on the purpose of the images, you may need a different configuration.

Good luck, and have fun.
 
Michael Fryd said:
HowardLive said:
I have three primes for 35, 50 and 85mm, plus a full-frame 6D and cropped 7D.

An upcoming assignment will take me to a small theater, where I'm likely to have access backstage and in the dressing rooms (it's a festival of short plays, 10 minutes or fewer).

For such behind-the-scenes shots, will 35mm normally give me enough elbow room, or should I think about borrowing a 28 or 24 for such scenes? Anyone who regularly shoots theater, dance or small music clubs, feel free to share your thoughts. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Dressing rooms can be tight. Last time I shot backstage/dressing rooms for a major beauty pageant, I used a 16-35 f/2.8 on a 7D II. Most of the shots that got published were shot at f/5.6 or f/8 and were shot closer to 16 than 35.

If I were in your shoes, I would shoot the 6D and borrow a 24 or 28 mm lens.

Of course, a lot depends on the specifics of where you are shooting and what the images would be used for.

In my case I was shooting images that were going out to the press to promote the event. Depending on the purpose of the images, you may need a different configuration.

Good luck, and have fun.
Click to expand...
Thanks for all your replies.

The assignment starts in four hours, and lacking a 24 or 28mm prime, I'm probably shooting this event with my 24-70mm f/2.8 on a 6D. Though I usually take two bodies, I think this theater is small enough that a longer lens might go unused.

Thank God for great 6D high-ISO performance. :-)
 
HowardLive said:
HowardLive said:
HowardLive said:
I have three primes for 35, 50 and 85mm, plus a full-frame 6D and cropped 7D.

An upcoming assignment will take me to a small theater, where I'm likely to have access backstage and in the dressing rooms (it's a festival of short plays, 10 minutes or fewer).

For such behind-the-scenes shots, will 35mm normally give me enough elbow room, or should I think about borrowing a 28 or 24 for such scenes? Anyone who regularly shoots theater, dance or small music clubs, feel free to share your thoughts. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Dressing rooms can be tight. Last time I shot backstage/dressing rooms for a major beauty pageant, I used a 16-35 f/2.8 on a 7D II. Most of the shots that got published were shot at f/5.6 or f/8 and were shot closer to 16 than 35.

If I were in your shoes, I would shoot the 6D and borrow a 24 or 28 mm lens.

Of course, a lot depends on the specifics of where you are shooting and what the images would be used for.

In my case I was shooting images that were going out to the press to promote the event. Depending on the purpose of the images, you may need a different configuration.

Good luck, and have fun.
Click to expand...
Thanks for all your replies.

The assignment starts in four hours, and lacking a 24 or 28mm prime, I'm probably shooting this event with my 24-70mm f/2.8 on a 6D. Though I usually take two bodies, I think this theater is small enough that a longer lens might go unused.

Thank God for great 6D high-ISO performance. :-)
Click to expand...
Enjoy and good luck. Hopefully you can post a couple of photos of the assignment.
 
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Steve Balcombe said:
Hoogineer said:
Steve Balcombe said:
cpharm86 said:
I bought the 16-35 f/4L IS for that purpose. Primes are very good but sometimes you don't have the room to zoom with your feet. My 24-70 f/2.8Lii is sometimes too tight.
Click to expand...
I agree, the 16-35/4L IS is made for the job. As well as just 'fitting everything in' (which is often unjustly criticised as a compositional technique!), dressing rooms are intimate (yet often very public) spaces which provide great opportunities for close perspective shots.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I missed the part where we were told there's a 24-70 in your bag.

If I'd seen that info, I could have told you, right from the start, just to use that.

BAK
 
Hoogineer said:
Thanks to you both for responding. I typically shoot sub-f/2 indoors and, you're right, I seldom can get both subjects (kids) in focus, so I typically focus on one (and maybe take a second shot w/ the other in focus). I haven't purchased a Speedlite; maybe someday. To be honest, I'm so used to shoot low-ish shutter and low aperture with auto-ISO, that I seldom give any thought to DoF other than to focus right between the eyes to get a face in focus.
That's a great point, Steve, about the trade-off with zoom. It's not something that I typically have to consider when I'm shooting around the house or on the nature trail.
Click to expand...
Like BAK I hadn't realised you already own a 24-70. That would give you two advantages over the 16-35/4L IS - it's a stop faster obviously, and double the focal length could be useful for a different kind of shot. I do think there's a danger that 24 mm might not be wide enough though, depending on the space and how crowded it is.
 
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