Go-to lenses for event photography

photolando wrote:

All I do is corporate event work. And do it full time. I use the 16-55 2.8 and the 50-140 2.8. Like weddings, things happen pretty fast so I don't use primes. I also use a Godox V1 flash. I's highly recommend having some type fo flash just in case.

Don't be afraid of high ISO. Remember, this is an event. It's not a fine portrait. Which I also do. However, NONE of the event photos will ever go larger than an 8x10. And probably mostly viewed on someone's phone. At that size, you won't even see noise.

I shoot at ISO 3200 and 6400 all the time with very high end clients. Not one had ever complained about quality.

Same here, except it's Tamron 17-70/2.8 instead of Fuji 16-55/2.8 (since I don't have IBIS).

My strategy is spray-and-pray, as I don't want to miss important moments, and thus have to be ready for them. Sometimes I got waved over suddenly for a quick group shot of the speakers without prior notice. Swapping lenses is a luxury that I can't afford. Shooting JPG is also a luxury since I need some room for errors (white balance, exposure, ...)

The 17-70 and 50-140 is the ultimate combo for most indoor and outdoor events: tournament, conference, theater, party, ... The X-T2 and X-T20 share the same sensor making it much easier to process in post.

If I have only one body, I'd go with the 17-70/2.8 or 16-55/2.8. I shot with one body for about 2 years, it works but required moving around more often (sometimes isn't possible, e.g. theater). Jumped on a really good deal on a used X-T2 on craiglist, couldn't be happier.

And yes, I have two Godox flashes (one Li-ion and one AA), paired with a Godox X1F transmitter. This allows me to move around freely while bouncing the flashes off ceiling and wall for diffused look.

For noise, nind-denoise is a very promising tool. I've been using it the past few months, ISO6400 looks like ISO200. Also don't forget the recent discussionon ISO-invariance

A few shots with the two lenses at a recent band performance.