Thoughts on XF 90mm f2 for concert shooting

georgehudetz wrote:

I've not used the 90 for concert shooting yet, but I've used the 23 & 56, which worked well:

https://georgehudetzphotography.smugmug.com/Events/i-7SrRLTH

I'm sure the 90 would work fine as well. The 16-55 should too. While I shot wide-open a lot, with spot metering, my ISOs were overall quite low, so f/2 or 2.8 should be fine, assuming lighting like you see in my shots above.

Nice work George. What shutter speeds were you using and about how low of ISO's? Were you using the X-T1 and how was the reaction time to nailing those quick moments. My X-E1 is a slug and I would never bother using it it that type of situation. I'd love to have a more compact system for theater musical venues other than my DSLR's.

georgehudetz wrote:

John M Roberts wrote:

georgehudetz wrote:

I've not used the 90 for concert shooting yet, but I've used the 23 & 56, which worked well:

https://georgehudetzphotography.smugmug.com/Events/i-7SrRLTH

I'm sure the 90 would work fine as well. The 16-55 should too. While I shot wide-open a lot, with spot metering, my ISOs were overall quite low, so f/2 or 2.8 should be fine, assuming lighting like you see in my shots above.

Nice work George. What shutter speeds were you using and about how low of ISO's? Were you using the X-T1 and how was the reaction time to nailing those quick moments. My X-E1 is a slug and I would never bother using it it that type of situation. I'd love to have a more compact system for theater musical venues other than my DSLR's.

Thanks.

Shutter speeds varied, from 1/60 to 1/200 (some may have been faster). You can check the shutter speeds & ISOs if you click into any given image, and then click the "i" icon at the lower right. Hint: You can scroll through the images while the info dialog is still posted by clicking the arrows on either side of the screen.

The AF of the X-T1 worked fairly well with the 23 & 56 (I think I have a few 14mm images in there as well). I never did a hit-rate analysis but I had plenty of good shots to choose from. It did help to anticipate the moments a bit - knowing the music helps there. If I were to do it again, I'd use burst mode a little more. So, it's not DSLR immediate but the X-T1 is good enough that you can work with it.

The 16-55 has noticeably faster AF than the 23 or 56 so I suspect it would be a nice step up. Looking at my ISOs I think I'd be below 3200 for most of those shots at f/2.8, particularly if I kept the SS at 1/80 or so. Not ideal, but the combination of the zoom & faster AF would mean more keepers, I do believe.

Thanks for the information. By your reply I can see you were not at all frustrated which is good enough for me. I avoid placing my X-E1 under those conditions for I might get so ticked off I might do something I'd regret.

The 90 would simply rock (heh-heh) with it's exceptional rendering, both in front of, and behind, the field of focus.

Not sure what you mean "in front of" unless you mean IN the field of focus. Maybe I'm just not understanding the term.

I'd really love to try the X-Pro2 in such situations. If it's as good as we are hearing, it should make for a true high-performance compact kit for event shooting.

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TheArtVandelay wrote:

any photographers out there using the 90mm for concert or night photography? I know traditionally I should be using the 50-140m but I'm not shooting as many concerts anymore and wouldn't mind saving some money by getting the 90mm instead.

The problem with 90mm lens is that it's quite long lens and not stabilized. For concerts, and similar slow events you still have to shoot at least at 1/150-1/200 sec with this lens to get sharp pictures. I used 135/2.8 unstabilized lens on FF body (which is a 90/2 equivalent) and I didn't like it at all, I later got much better results with 50-140/2.8 lens, and I'm sure 55-200 would also work better as well as it can also provide some 4 stops of OIS.

I don't know what Fuji is thinking, every lens longer than 35mm should have OIS. They instead put OIS on 10-24mm lens. Go figure.

Buy the 50-140 you are going to want image stabilization no question and I will not even say IMO.

Yes the 90 mm is a amazing tact sharp lens but with no OIS and it being a telephoto lens I know first hand you need a mono pod or something to give that little extra help because the lens is one of the larger lenses and can throw off the balance of the camera to lens

I will also suggest a handgrip or battery grip with the 90 mm and especially with the the 16-55 and most certainly with the the 59-140

I know the 50-140 is the best lens for the job. BTW you want to be able to recompose fast for what you are doing. I'd also get a second camera body if you can.

forpetessake wrote:

TheArtVandelay wrote:

any photographers out there using the 90mm for concert or night photography? I know traditionally I should be using the 50-140m but I'm not shooting as many concerts anymore and wouldn't mind saving some money by getting the 90mm instead.

The problem with 90mm lens is that it's quite long lens and not stabilized. For concerts, and similar slow events you still have to shoot at least at 1/150-1/200 sec with this lens to get sharp pictures. I used 135/2.8 unstabilized lens on FF body (which is a 90/2 equivalent) and I didn't like it at all, I later got much better results with 50-140/2.8 lens, and I'm sure 55-200 would also work better as well as it can also provide some 4 stops of OIS.

I don't know what Fuji is thinking, every lens longer than 35mm should have OIS. They instead put OIS on 10-24mm lens. Go figure.

Yeah I did notice that it didn't have OIS. I feel like in most situations I would be in fairly decent lighting, as I don't shoot many small venue shows anymore so my shutter speed will likely be in that that 1/150 - 1/200 zone. I'll have to give this some thought though, maybe have to rent the 90mm and see how it performs at night and low light situations. thanks for the input.

Photography201 wrote:

Buy the 50-140 you are going to want image stabilization no question and I will not even say IMO.

Yes the 90 mm is a amazing tact sharp lens but with no OIS and it being a telephoto lens I know first hand you need a mono pod or something to give that little extra help because the lens is one of the larger lenses and can throw off the balance of the camera to lens

I will also suggest a handgrip or battery grip with the 90 mm and especially with the the 16-55 and most certainly with the the 59-140

I know the 50-140 is the best lens for the job. BTW you want to be able to recompose fast for what you are doing. I'd also get a second camera body if you can.

I do have the battery grip on the x-t1 and it doesn't feel too bad. i'm coming from a d700 so the weight of the fuji still feels slightly lighter. like i mentioned in another reply I may need to rent the 90mm and give it a shot. I rented the 50-140 and I thought it was great, just not sure I want to plunk down another 600 - $700, when I'm not going to be shooting as many shows.

Also I used to have a second body, I found for my style of shooting, I prefer having 1 body and usually i'll do research on shows and venues to see what lens i should start with and go from there.

Here's a link to my site of photos to give you an idea of lighting / environment, and shooting style. http://www.mrdavidthai.com/

thanks for sharing the photos, i quite like what you've captured with the lens and gives a good idea of how it can perform in low light situations.

georgehudetz wrote:

I'm talking about the nature of the out-of-focus parts of the image (bokeh). Normally, with larger apertures, there are parts of the scene both in front of the focus field (i.e., closer to the lens) and behind the focus field that are out-of-focus. One of the nice aspects of the 90 is that has a pleasant rendering of subjects that are both in front of and behind the focus field. Many lenses to well with subject matter behind the focus target, but not so well in front of the focus target.

Yes, after I had shut down the laptop and headed to sleep it came to mind that bokeh in front as well is what you meant. Thanks for the info. Just read news of the Sony's A6300 AF capabilities and was wondering how well it would do under conditions you are shooting in. I'm sitting tight for a while before making any changes from my X-E1. I did order a 24-120 for my Nikon to help lighten the load at time when needed. Hope I'm pleased with that lens.

TheArtVandelay wrote:

Photography201 wrote:

Buy the 50-140 you are going to want image stabilization no question and I will not even say IMO.

Yes the 90 mm is a amazing tact sharp lens but with no OIS and it being a telephoto lens I know first hand you need a mono pod or something to give that little extra help because the lens is one of the larger lenses and can throw off the balance of the camera to lens

I will also suggest a handgrip or battery grip with the 90 mm and especially with the the 16-55 and most certainly with the the 59-140

I know the 50-140 is the best lens for the job. BTW you want to be able to recompose fast for what you are doing. I'd also get a second camera body if you can.

I do have the battery grip on the x-t1 and it doesn't feel too bad. i'm coming from a d700 so the weight of the fuji still feels slightly lighter. like i mentioned in another reply I may need to rent the 90mm and give it a shot. I rented the 50-140 and I thought it was great, just not sure I want to plunk down another 600 - $700, when I'm not going to be shooting as many shows.

Also I used to have a second body, I found for my style of shooting, I prefer having 1 body and usually i'll do research on shows and venues to see what lens i should start with and go from there.

Here's a link to my site of photos to give you an idea of lighting / environment, and shooting style. http://www.mrdavidthai.com/

I understand

One photographer I do like and videos I like about how to shoot concert photography specifically is fro knows photo at least as a place to start.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlzSX4vHxzQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyfhLLHEQxk