Using the R and R7 for shooting a conference

R2D2 wrote:

Alastair Norcross wrote:

R2D2 wrote:

Very nicely done! You definitely got lucky indeed with the (non-banding) lighting.

Yes. I've taken pictures in many different rooms on campus here, and, so far, only one has lighting that caused banding with e-shutter (just switched back to mechanical for that one).

I was wondering if you have the RF 28-70 on your roadmap at all. It allows for a significantly higher amount of compositional flexibility vs swapping out a number of primes.

That would be a really cool lens. I don't think I'll get it though, for a couple of reasons. One, it's huge and heavy.

That's a common argument I've seen, but in actuality it weighs exactly as much as the EF 70-200ii (add its hood and tripod ring and the 70-200ii weighs a half pound more). The shorter length means that the 28-70 balances better too. I can shoot it one-handed.

Oh, I know. But I'd be using the 70-200 anyway (without hood or tripod ring). The 28-70 would be too short for a lot of the shots I take (most, in fact). Adding the 28-70 would mean I'd be using two heavy lenses, instead of one. Another great advantage of putting a smaller lighter lens on the R or R7 is that it's easy to shoot looking down at the screen, which is much more unobtrusive than having the camera up to my eye. I use my M6II with Sigma 56 like that a lot. In fact, when I'm using my M6II like that with e-shutter, most people don't even know I'm taking pictures.

But more importantly there's the expense.

That's a biggie alright. I justify the expense with its added flexibility (and not having to carry and change additional lenses).

This isn't a paid job for me. I take pictures at events here on campus as a favor to my department, and because I like to have a record of the events I organize to share with the participants. There isn't a lot of money in academia

That's for darn sure! They try to rope me in gratis every time!

especially the non-STEM fields. I run my conference every year on a shoestring budget, even though it's the largest annual international ethics conference in the world.

In this world, there should be many more!

No-one goes into philosophy for the money. If I were photographing corporate events for money, I'd absolutely consider the 28-70. But I don't think I'd ever want to do that.

Yup, that's where I make my bread and butter. The challenge is more often the (inexperienced) organizers than the actual shooting!! They seem to never have a sense of the timing that's necessary, alas.

Yup, you're lucky. That's why I try to get out and shoot (as much fun stuff) whenever I get the chance. Fall bird migration is coming up!

Thanks for sharing!

R2