Shooting social event - AF point selection / lens / flash

[lotsawa]

I want to document a visit of a foreign professor in our University

etc: arriving at airport, having lunch with a group of people in a

restaurant, meeting with people in different smaller and larger

places, giving some lectures. I'll use a 300D.

 

1. As I am not much experienced with AF use, I wonder if I should

manually select the AF point (usually I set it to the center point),

but I am afraid that the focus-lock-recompose action will take to long

and I will miss pictures. Should I rely on the camera's automatic

selection of the AF point instead? Afaik it will focus on the nearest

subject in the frame. What's your experience?

 

2. I have several lenses: primes 20/2.8 28/2.8 50/1.4 and 85/1.8 and

zooms 18-55/3.5-5.6 and 70-210/3.5-4.5. I think I'll leave the 18-55

on the camera most of the time and maybe carry the 20, 50 and 85

primes for low light and special situations.

 

3. Since the 18-55 is not very fast and has best image quality at f8,

I think I would need the flash most of the time, so I would put my

Sigma flash on and carry enough batteries. I wonder if I should use it

as main light source or fill flash (in the latter case, pictures might

get blurred because of low ambient light).

 

You see, all bloody beginner's questions. Thanks for advice anyway.

[mike kelly]

To avoid problem 1: set Aperture priority with a mid range aperture, then manual focus

and select a mid distance focus. Your depth of field should then be sufficient to avoid any

focus issues. (With digital you can of course check you're getting the desired effect early

on).

 

For low light conditions go with the 1.4 prime at 400 iso - you can forget the flash and get

much nicer pictures.

[phyrpowr]

My experience is: let the camera select the focal point, and it will hit the wrong one 80% of the time, almost always picking the closest thing that hits a sensor. Use any system BUT that one

[ben_rubinstein___mancheste]

I use focus/recompose/shoot using the centre focusing point for all my shooting which is mainly wedding work. So do all the wedding photographers I know. If the camera chooses the wrong point then it will take you a damn sight longer to sort out then the split second it takes to focus and recompose. Ditto manually choosing a focus point.

[rick_helmke]

I think everyone is over-engineering this one. Use the center AF point, it will cover most situations. Keep the flash on the camera, shoot the 18-55 and maybe keep the 85 in a handy place. Leave the rest at home. Shoot in TV mode with a shutter of 125, f/stop up to the camera, ISO 200. This way the flash is a fill-flash if it needs to be or an indoor flash. Concentrate on the composition and leave the rest to the camera.

 

Rick H.

[panos_voudouris]

1) In a group of people the camera will select the closest point which will usually be somebody's back or ear. So use the central one as everyone else says.

 

2 and 3) Since you'll carry the flash, the two zooms are enough. Maybe also the 20/2.8 for low light indoors. Speed (composition and shooting speed that is, not lens) is more important here than changing primes.