Canon 85mm 1.8 for concert photography?

lolage

lolage

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Ben
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My current setup is a Canon 600D, Tokina 11-16 f2.8, Canon 50mm 1.4 and I'm in the process of getting a Canon 24-105L f4 to replace my Sigma 17-50 2.8.

Don't really have the money to spend on a big telephoto but could budget £300 odd for the Canon 85mm 1.8. Is this a good focal length for concert photography on a crop body? Would my 600D even be ok to focus in these conditions?

Any help is appreciated! By no means am I looking to get paid, just looking to try a new type of photography - got a few mates in bands so getting my foot in the door for experience shouldn't be a problem.

Ben
 
I've done a little bit of gig photography. It's my love and really want to do more. Just seen you're pretty local to me. What size venues are you looking to shoot?

For gigs you want to keep your sigma 17-50 2.8, which is a perfect focal length for most gigs and use the Canon 50mm 1.4 for really dark, dingy venues. Unless you're shooting festivals or arenas I wouldn't bother with a telephoto at the moment. 85mm on a crop sensor would be too long for most stages.
 
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northcountrygirl said:
I've done a little bit of gig photography. It's my love and really want to do more. Just seen you're pretty local to me. What size venues are you looking to shoot?

For gigs you want to keep your sigma 17-50 2.8, which is a perfect focal length for most gigs and use the Canon 50mm 1.4 for really dark, dingy venues. Unless you're shooting festivals or arenas I wouldn't bother with a telephoto at the moment. 85mm on a crop sensor would be too long for most stages.
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Hmm interesting! Did ideally want to sell the Sigma to make room for a Canon 24-105 for video with the intention to get a Sigma 35mm 1.4 to kind of replace low light ability of the Sigma in near future!

Venues wouldn't be massive I would have thought, perhaps the biggest would be Birmingham HMV size.
 
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Primes can be pretty limiting for gig work as you often don't have much choice over where you shoot from. That said, I'll usually have an 85 f/1.2 (unless the place is huge, and you need something longer) on my 1D (1.3x crop) but I'll always have a 24-70 on my 5D.

Primes are great, but maybe not ideal if you have about 8 minutes to get a variety of shots from basically one spot.
 
lolage said:
Hmm interesting! Did ideally want to sell the Sigma to make room for a Canon 24-105 for video with the intention to get a Sigma 35mm 1.4 to kind of replace low light ability of the Sigma in near future!

Venues wouldn't be massive I would have thought, perhaps the biggest would be Birmingham HMV size.
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I would never have sold that sigma for a 24-105mm l on a crop if you after IS for video I'd go with th OS version of your sigma or the tamron vc equivalent.
 
A 17-50 and an 85mm would be a nice enough combo' for gigs. If you happen to be shooting one with the '3 songs and out' rule you'll be glad you brought an 85mm to take some shots from further back.
 
Echo what is said above.

The 85mm would be a nice addition to a 17-50mm lens for gigs, but I wouldn't want to shoot only with the 85mm. In Nottingham's 2000 capacity venue I used my 17-55mm and still spent a lot of time in the 17-25mm range.

However after my 3 songs were up I then wanted more reach to shoot across the front of the stage from the wings, or from the back of the venue. Then an 85mm or 100mm wold have been nice.
 
Cagey75 said:
A 17-50 and an 85mm would be a nice enough combo' for gigs. If you happen to be shooting one with the '3 songs and out' rule you'll be glad you brought an 85mm to take some shots from further back.
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RichardtheSane said:
Echo what is said above.

The 85mm would be a nice addition to a 17-50mm lens for gigs, but I wouldn't want to shoot only with the 85mm. In Nottingham's 2000 capacity venue I used my 17-55mm and still spent a lot of time in the 17-25mm range.

However after my 3 songs were up I then wanted more reach to shoot across the front of the stage from the wings, or from the back of the venue. Then an 85mm or 100mm wold have been nice.
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This.

I use the Tammy 17-50 f2.8 + Canon 85mm f1.8 for gigs :)
 
I shot most of a 2 week tour around europe with a Nikon 85mm f/1.8 and a Crop body.
Nice combo, although can be a bit long in some venues if you are in the pit.. I wasnt in the pit, but side of stage or behind stage most of the time, so it worked out nicely. I would still want somthing wider aswell though.
 
Hmm, I'll probably make do with my Sigma for the time being then. For some reason I had in my mind that people used 70-200's for concert work even from the pit!
 
They do use the 70-200 a lot, but on full frame bodies. Big difference. It would be a bit tight from 70mm+ on a crop sensor. You will get good shots, but it'll be picking off individual members of bands, you won't fit much more in.
 
Fair enough, I think the 85mm would work quite well for headshots as I'd like to get those sort of shots too.

I could borrow a 7D from my uni, so could possibly go with a 7D/600D and 18-50 2.8/85mm combo. Which lens would best suit which body?

Cheers!
 
lolage said:
Fair enough, I think the 85mm would work quite well for headshots as I'd like to get those sort of shots too.

I could borrow a 7D from my uni, so could possibly go with a 7D/600D and 18-50 2.8/85mm combo. Which lens would best suit which body?

Cheers!
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I don't really think I matters in this case.
 
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