Ballet demonstration and borrowed D70 - HELP!!

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED

06/06/2006 05:32:24 PM · #1

I borrowed a friend's D70 for tomorrow ballet demonstration because my camera doesn't do low light very well.

Here's the setup:
15-25 feet from the action
colored stage lights mostly
colored costumes
7-8 year olds doin' the ballet thing
I won't be able to use the flash (or a focus assist light if it has one).

Soooooo..... If I up the ISO, can I still shoot in auto mode? How high can I go in ISO before I get too much noise? Can the camera focus quick enough? If not auto, which mode would work best? What white balance should I use? Any other suggestions?

I probably won't have much time to experiment before the demonstration so I could use all the help I could get!

Thanks.

DelRioPhoto

Nikon D700

06/06/2006 05:42:45 PM · #2

I have shot with ISO 800 and been very pleased with the results. ISO 1600 isn't bad either. I use the rule that it's better to have pictures with some noise than no pictures at all. What's cool about the D70 is that there are ISO intervals at 1/3 stops, so you'll get many choices of ISO between 200 and 1600. With regard to having luck with autofocus, I frequently rely on the focus distance provided on most lenses. You set the camera to manual focus and on the lens you can dial in the focus distance in meters or feet. So, if I am 30 feet away from something, I set the lens to approx 30 feet and everything within that plane should be fine. Use a slightly higher ISO and stop the lens down just a few stops to get some added DOF and you'll be fine.

You have a challenging shoot on your hands, so good luck and experiment around with ISO a little to see if you can get the shutter speed you are after.

Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-120 f/4 S

06/06/2006 05:53:03 PM · #3

Originally posted by jahoward:

I take it that you're referring to using manual mode above? I was leaning towards ISO 800 so I may try that first and see how it works.

Another question - I was thinking about shooting RAW + JPG, but the manual implies that the RAW it produces is proprietary to Nikon. Is this true or can I convert with CS2 or Raw Essentials?

Thanks.

ericwoo

Nikon Z7II

06/06/2006 05:56:47 PM · #4

Camera RAW recognizes the NEF file. I always shoot RAW. Also, don't be too concerned with the high ISO. A little Noise Ninja or NeatImage woeks wonders if used properly.

DjFenzl

06/06/2006 06:57:34 PM · #5

i just shot 4 days of a ballet show (no flash) 8000 pictures with my d70 (editing them now actually).

I shot it using the kit lens (18-70 3.5/4.5) at ISO 1600 and on manual 125th sec (otherwise you get motion blur) and the widest apeture and center weighted metering.

It actually came out really well. A little noise ninja and it came out REALLY well.

The reason for center weighted metering is because the stage lighting will throw off your light meter if you use overall evalulative because so much of the stage is in darkness. I'd post some examples but I don't want to tick off any parents (I'm selling them the pics).

Good Luck, let us know how it comes out. :)

pidge

Canon EOS-7D Mark II

06/06/2006 07:06:39 PM · #6

I'm not a Nikon person, but I shoot 1600 all the time and the pictures turn out fine.

Whatever lens you use, open it as wide as possible (2.8 or wider if you can), and then manually adjust the shutter as needed. Use full manual!

You could try P (I don't know what Nikon equivelent is) mode, but I find that if the lights for cool, or darker to create a mood, it makes the shutter go to 1/10 or slower, when you can still be shooting at 1/90 or 1/125. It will also depend on what the backdrop is. As I said, I'd go with full manual.

I'd shoot RAW with auto WB because if they lights are changing colours (which I'm pretty sure they will be) it will be too difficult to adjust the WB everytime. You could do custom, but you may be missing things as you custom set each time.

You may be lcuky and they use full stage lights in which case you can drop down to 800 ISO and maybe even close your aperture a bit.

If you can get in for a dress rehearsal (they are often in the morning of the demonstration) to see what the choreography is, and what the lights are, it will be a great benefit. That way you'll have an diea when it will be good to try and do close ups or when to pull away and do full stage shots.

I hopw that helps.

Good luck and be sure to post some stuff here!

edit to add: oh yes, and autofocus!!

Message edited by author 2006-06-06 19:12:49.

rjkstesch

Nikon D700

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

06/06/2006 07:10:00 PM · #7

I've shot handheld in low light situations. I usually use the 50mm f1.8 lens and have shot autofocus (cause I didn't know better).

Here's an example with the shooting data. It will give you an idea of what you're up against and can do.

Becky

06/06/2006 11:40:22 PM · #8

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll post back here within a couple of days.

Sony 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 (E-mount)

06/07/2006 06:29:41 AM · #9

I took some test shots last night in my dining room and they were all fairly dark using the settings Megatherian suggested. Is that to be expected without using the flash indoors? I know it's different than the ballet thing but wanted to use the camera before tonight.

BTW, it was very easy to use in manual mode.

Gunnsi

Sony DSLR-A550

06/07/2006 07:38:21 AM · #10

I am no expert but I find it much better when there is a lot of movement going on to take a bit darker photos instead of having them all blurred because of moving objects.
This picture is an example from few days ago:

In my postprocessing I only adjusted levels (selectively on my daughter)
And to get rid of the grain I used NeatImage.
My camera is not good when it comes to high ASA numbers.

vtruan

Nikon D5100

Tamron AF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical for Nikon

06/07/2006 07:58:20 AM · #11

first it depende on the stage lighting. If dim you'll have to shoot high ISO. If bright you can reduce the ISO.

These examples were at ISO 1600 f4.5 at 1/70 second using 70mm lens D70. Light on stage was to left and dull. No tripod. The older girls was with no post PS work at all.

pawdrix

Nikon D700

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D IF

06/07/2006 08:06:25 AM · #12

These were shot with the D70 in pretty low light, with the ISO jacked up to 800 but mostly higher(1600), f2.8 and shutter speeds 1/30-1/40 handheld. Above 800 things get a bit ugly but from what I understand, that is to be expected with dance.

Not easy but doable.

Message edited by author 2006-06-07 08:09:22.

06/07/2006 09:04:30 AM · #13

Thanks for the examples. I expect the light to be similar to what vtruan posted. At least that's how it was last year. I thought there would be more noise at 1600 but what you looks ok.

So at lunchtime I experiment more and then off to shoot after work!

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

06/08/2006 12:46:03 AM · #14

Here are some of the results. All I did was resize and save for web. The examples posted in this thread look much better, although I'm not sure why. All were shot at 800 or 16000 and I started as 1/125 and ended up at 1/80, which seemed to work well. The lens was wide open at all times. White balance was set to auto, and the strong colors in the pictures look nothing like what was onstage.

Any suggestions on how I can save these? Thanks.

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

06/08/2006 12:50:51 AM · #15

Originally posted by mad_brewer:

If you shot RAW you can adjust the WB in the RAW converter. If you shot jpeg then you can use the tutorial on removing a colour cast to get the WB adjusted.

They look a bit underexposed as well so adjusting that in the RAW converter is probably something to try as well. If they were shot in jpeg then use the shadow/highlight tool or exposure tool in PS CS2 or levels/curves.

Message edited by author 2006-06-08 00:52:47.

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

06/08/2006 12:58:05 AM · #16

Thanks for the suggestions. I didn't want to mess with converting raw and now I regret it. I thought they would come out better than this. To put it into perspective, the following was shot a year ago with a camcorder.

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

06/08/2006 01:22:21 AM · #17

Originally posted by mad_brewer:

Any suggestions on how I can save these? Thanks.

Hi Ken,
I can fix them if you want. It's kind of my specialty.
You can PM me to exchange email addresses.( 20MB max per email)
As far as how to, that's kinda' hard, as I often never know just what direction to head into until there.
I did a quick edit of ballet-2 & ballet-1, but have nowhere to upload them. :(
(came out pretty good for a 99kb original to work with)

Anyone want to put it in their workshop folder temporarily? PM me.

BTW - What color were their outfits originally in ballet-1? White?

Message edited by author 2006-06-08 02:22:17.

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

06/08/2006 03:42:54 AM · #18

Buuuhhh - so busy spamming the forums, forgot to check and post these for Brad:

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

06/08/2006 03:47:18 AM · #19

Originally posted by Art Roflmao:

Buuuhhh - so busy spamming the forums, forgot to check and post these for Brad:
--to -->
and
--to-->

Thanks Ken,
Just quick edits as an example that they are saveable.

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

06/08/2006 07:22:38 AM · #20

Thanks guys, those loooks much better. I'll get a PM to you later Brad - it's about time to leave for work right now. Is the workshop thing where somebody could upload pictures to your portfolio?

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

06/08/2006 08:34:28 AM · #21

Workshop is a folder in paying member's portfolio which is hidden from the general populace. You can link to images in your workshop to show them in forum threads.