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Fast lenses for night action shots

Started Aug 31, 2021 | Discussions thread
rlx
rlx Senior Member • Posts: 1,375
Re: Fast lenses for night action shots
1

Wow. I like that dance video!

I don't do indoor low light action photography but I use the XF56 and a manual 7Artisans 35mm f/0.95 (T1.1 in the center) indoors for family pictures.

My understanding is that your subject will range between 2m tall (vertical frame size) down to 40cm. I also assume you need at most 2K resolution for video and 3K for stills.

For a long video sequence of a 2m tall frame I would try a manual f/1 lens. The focal length is your choice. The focal length has no effect on the DOF if one keeps the same framing (but the distance to the subject changes). Of course the background looks more blurry with the longer lens.

For short video sequences or stills I would try an AF lens with AF-C wide or zone tracking or AF-S if you can use backbutton focusing and keep the focus on your moving subject up to date. I feel manual would do but with fewer keepers and a bit more work.

I would not open more than f/1.4 for close ups but that is a personal choice.

I watch Chinese soaps once in a while and some of them do all their shoots wide open and the background is terribly blurry and I get tired of that. However sometimes wide open is the best option.

That's my 2 cents.

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rlx
rlx
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