Another 'what glass is best' ? Ballroom Dancing

Ruffy

Ruffy

Messages
1,623
Name
Paul
Edit My Images
Yes
My 4 year old son has made it through to Ballroom dance competion which is being held in Blackpool, this is something I have never really shot before and I was thinking about hiring a lenes for the occasion but am stumped as to what would be best, I am thinking along the lines of a 70-200mm 2.8 IS, I have a 100-400mm L and will soon have either 17-40mm L or 24-105mm L but I still think that the 2.8 would be the better lenes, Anyone shed their thoughts on this, will be quite dark in there i would imagine !!!

Thanks

Paul
 
I guess it all depends how close you will be to the action.
Do you have one body or two?
 
The only reason you want 2.8 is to freeze action. I.e. the ability to double shutter speed. IS is unlikely to help you much as you'll want to be running the shutter speed as high as you can (I have some leg blur on an outdoor shot here at 1/200th) to freeze motion. IS only helps with static objects.

You'd be better off with a prime if you know how close you will be to the action. A 85mm 1.8 or 100/135 f2? Those would allow a doubling again of shutter speed (i.e. 4x as quick as the f4's and 8x as quick as the 100-400 at f5.6). Depth of field would be narrow though and you'd have no ability to zoom...
 
The 70-200 f2.8 IS mark 2 is a really great lens and probably the right choice for this kind of thing. I use pretty much all of the Canon L series lenses and find myself using the 70-200 the most across a variety of assignment. The mark 2 has really fast and accurate AF and will be an advantage over your 100-400. Of course you will not have the reach with the 70-200 so if you find yourself a long way back then something longer might be better. Scope out the location first and ask someone where you might be able to shoot from. Be sure to arrive early to secure your position. If there is a no flash rule then a monopod might be worth considering.

Shoot RAW and high ISO, reduce noise in Post production.

Hope this all helps

Roy
www.royriley.co.uk
 
If you can get fairly close, maybe the Canon 24-70 F2.8 is the best bet. If you can afford to rent two, why not get the 70-200 f2.8 (non IS) as well?
 
Thanks for all the replys, going to do some more research.

Ta
 
Is this in the Tower Ballroom? I was in there not that long ago and noticed that the light was very low, albeit that there was nothing on at the time. Having said that, if it's a competition I would have though the lighting would be ok.

Ring the venue and discuss the issue. Good Luck.

When you know the venue check out youtube.
 
Last edited:
Ballroom dancing is quite a civilised affair, quite high class so I'd reckon you'd be best going for an upmarket glass like the champagne flute or some other such stemware. Definitely not a common garden tumbler, no no.

Not technically glass but a chalice might suffice as well.
 
fixedimage said:
Ballroom dancing is quite a civilised affair, quite high class so I'd reckon you'd be best going for an upmarket glass like the champagne flute or some other such stemware. Definitely not a common garden tumbler, no no.

Not technically glass but a chalice might suffice as well.
Click to expand...

:D

A personal hate of mine is use of the word "glass" as IMVHO they're lenses :D but each to his own and no offence to the op :D
 
woof woof said:
That's not strictly true all the time, with some IS lenses you can set them to pan.
Click to expand...
What I meant was it doesn't help freeze the action. :shrug: Panning is typically used for cars & bikes which are essentially rigid static objects that move (if you see what I mean - wheels excepted of course). Try taking a panning shot of horses racing and bits of it will be sharp, but they'll be floating on a sea of blur. I can't imagine what you'd get out of a panning shot of someone ballroom dancing. It would certainly be described as "artistic" ;)
 
I've not tried it but yes, I'd imagine that the results might indeed look quite artistic :D
 
If I were you I'd go for one or more primes.

Zooms are restricted to f/2.8 whereas primes can be 1 stop or even 2 stops faster. That translates into 2x or 4x faster shutter speeds for the same ISO, and for dancing you really want to be able to use fast shutter speeds. (Unless you want to be "artistic"!)

Of course, with a prime you're restricted in terms of your ability to frame/compose the shot. But on the other hand (a) with the 550D you've got lots of megapixels, so you can afford to crop if necessary; and (b) dancers tend to cover the floor, so they won't be out of range the whole time.

Depending on the size or the floor, I'd suggest that some combination of 35/1.4, 50/1.4, 85/1.8, 100/2, 135/2, 200/2 would be good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top