Dog Show Photography - Lens Questions

First, let me thank you all for the wealth of information that can be found in

these forums and on this site in general. For someone like me who is just

getting into photography, it is invaluable.

 

I'm going to be taking pictures at a dog show this weekend. I am an amateur

photographer and I am currently borrowing a camera and lenses from my brother.

The camera is a Rebel XT and the 3 lenses I am borrowing are the kit lens, a

third party (I can't remember the name right now) 70-300 f4-5.6 zoom, and part

medium telelephoto zoom, which i believe is a 28-70 f3.5-5.6.

 

I've been shooting mostly with the 28-70, but i know none of these are going to

be great for my situation. I will be shooting dog agility as well as the usual

ring work. The show is outdoors so I dont see lighting being a problem. I was

considering buying a lens specifically for this weekend. I intend to buy an xti

or a 40d in the coming months, so i figure investing ina good starter lens

would be a bad idea.

 

My question is this, which of these lenses would be better suited for this

situation, the canon 50mm f1.8 or the 85mm f1.8. This is a smaller dog show so

will bea ble to be ringside and able to poisiton myself just about anywhere. I

was leaning towards the 85mm, but I'm afraid it might be a bit long.

 

Also, would you recommend using a polarizing filter in this case? The show runs

from 8am to about 5pm, so i will be getting the midday sun for quite a few of

these pictures.

 

Thank you in advance for any advice.

The size of the dog show has no bearing on the ring size, IME. for agility you will need up

to 200mm, unless you're only shooting at dogs in close proximity. Remember, the dogs

move across the agility ring at a rapid rate.

 

Conformation is not quite the same, but if you're looking to capture a dogs movement as

they go around, or down and back, I don't think that you'll be happy with only 70mm.

 

I use an 18-200 for shows, and I find it's a great choice because of the range of the zoom.

If I was doing portrait shots, then I would not use the 18-200, but it can be used for

casual portraits.

 

Here's a dog waiting for the signal from his trainer to start the agility course. It's shot at

56mm in order to show a good deal of the ring setup. The next shot is the same dog

coming out of a tunnel, and it's shot at 200mm. That shot would have benefitted from a

longer lens, as I couldn't crop as tight as I wanted to. Finally, the last shot is a quick head

shot at 112mm.

Next

Last

Both lens's you mentioned are made for low light situations and although you can use

them, they should not be necessary when shooting outdoors. The 50mm f1.8 is a good

all-purpose lens, but on a 40D, will be long for some situations. During the dog show, you

can use the 28-70 for the ring work and the 70-300 for agility. Use your lowest f stop on

the lens, raise your ISO up if needed until you can get at least 1/500 sec shutter speed to

stop the action. Have fun!

"Both lens's you mentioned are made for low light situations and although you can use them,

they should not be necessary when shooting outdoors"

 

Huh? Where did you get the idea that either of those lenses that he mentioned are "low light"

lenses? Neither are fast enough for low light.

85mm f1.8 won't be too long. Even with good access I tend to do much of a show with an 85mm f1.4 (OK, I shoot Nikon), a 135m f2.0 and a 70-200mm f2.8. I'd say a Canon 85mm f1.8 is a good choice for your first indoor lens, but a zoom is more versatile outdoors.

 

A 50mm is OK for owner and dog portraits, but nothing "live".

 

I use two bodies for agility. It's the same routine over and over, and there are like 5 really good shots, so pick your spot, learn the sequence, and pop, pop, pop. Keep both eyes open.

 

Carl, were you talking about the 50mm f1.8 and 85mm f1.8 as not "fast enough for low light"? The only things faster are the 50mm f1.4, 50mm f1.2, and 85mm f1.2, and shooting dogs wide open at f1.2 is not easy. I typically do OK with an 85mm f1.4 and 135mm f2.0 indoors at dog shows, on an old Nikon D2X (which may shoot fast and focus fast, but doesn't match the low light ability of a dRebel).

 

Have not yet taken my D3 to a show. When I do, I'll take the 135mm f2.0, the 70-200mm f2.8, and a 1.4x TC. The 85 will be too short on full frame, and can stay home ;)

No, and an OOOOOOPS! I was talking about the two slow zooms, sorry.

 

Your call of the lenses, but I think the quality of the 70-200 images means that you could

leave the 135 DC home. JMO, but why change lenses at an outdoor venue just to gain

unneeded speed? I can see it indoors, but even then you'll miss more shots with the 135 than

you would with the 70-200 zoom. Of course if you're planning to u se the 135 DC for

portraits, then that makes more sense to me.

Every year I work at a dog show, (not as a photographer), but one of the pros there was using 70-200 2.8 on a canon body. The other was taking shots of the winning dog, and he was using a nikon with a 28-70 2.8 if I remember correctly. I walked around and shot mostly candids and some ring shots, and found myself switching between my 70-300 and 18-70. Most of the time I was right in the middle of those, so I would think the 85mm, would be a good start, but if you were to buy something I would want something in the middle of the range.<div></div>

The great advantage that the show photographer has is that he can go into the ring to get

shots, nobody else can. So, the 28-70 would be fine for him, but a little short for those us us

outside the ring ropes.

"why change lenses at an outdoor venue just to gain unneeded speed?"

 

Two cameras ;)

"Two cameras ;)"

 

Excellent!!!! 8-)

A pro carries a backup. There's no reason it has to stay trapped in a camera bag. I learned years ago that having it out in the open, in use, has enormous advantages, such as fast switching between two entirely different setups. Wedding routines where you have one body with slower zoom, slower film, and big flash, while the other has the fast lens and faster film. Sports with two different fast lenses...

 

The list goes on.

 

And there's a psycological advantage. The guy with the one big flashy camera over there? That's just Uncle Harry. The guy with the two cameras? That's "the" photographer.