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one more question.... technical


photochick

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I have purchased a new lense, the 70-200 2.8 L series for my cannon 30D. Have

not used it much, but am wondering if I should take it to the wedding? If I

shoot in RAW for the entire wedding (which I will) and am in a lower-light

setting, what priority would you chose TV or AV? I am not comfortable shooting

where I select both. I do not have an image stabalaizer.

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Kate,

 

firsly I would take it with you. I only use M or Av. If I shot sports I might select Tv. So you didn't get the IS version. Not a big deal, but be prepared to get up there with the ISO and even then you may need to push it a half or whole stop in PP.

 

The other thing you can do is to use a tripod. However, this will not stop action in low light. If you need to use a flash, do so. You must get the shots.

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Kate, I would not take the lens to a light-challanging wedding. If you had the IS model I would take such a lens, but you don't.

 

Are you also going to lug a tripod too?

 

For weddings, you should've bought the IS model...for heighst hand holding quality in challanging light, which is almost always the case for weddings.

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haha dan you're a hoot!

 

believe or not some of us actually get by using such inappropriate tools as a 70-200 2.8

non IS lens! have been for a while. shooting weddings. professionally.

 

I even drag a 300mm 2.8 NON IS along sometimes! crazy huh?

 

kate, when is your wedding? I suggest you start practicing using your camera in manual

mode with the flash. in darker scenes it's easier in fact than using AV or TV and having to

keep an eye on what the camera is doing. Just set the shutter speed to the lowest speed

you can handhold for a given lens and set aperture for desired DOF and let the flash do it's

thing.

 

bring the lens. You may not use it much but it'd be silly not to have it with you if you need

it.

 

cheers

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Why all this obsession with long lenses? I finally sold my SLR stuff because I realized I was only schlepping an SLR body around to use with my 180/2.8, and then blowing a roll of film only because it was loaded and the camera was there. There's a feeling of intimacy, of "being there", when you shoot with shorter lenses. Now I just shoot with M Leicas and mostly with 35 and 85mm lenses, occasionally popping a 21 on for crowded conditions.
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Bring it if you think you'll use it--all up to you. If you have it on a tripod, it doesn't matter if you use AV or TV but in low light you usually want to keep the shutter speed as short as you can to prevent motion blur. If you don't have it on a tripod, and the light level allows you to use a fast enough shutter speed, I would think TV, since you don't want it to be slower than you can handhold for the focal length. If the wedding is indoors and/or in a church, you will probably need the tripod. Personally, I'd use manual camera mode so you can control the shutter speed and aperture yourself.
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You guys crack me up...she hasn't used this lens much and the wedding is tomorrow!!! She is NOT comfortable with the lens....she hasn't had time to see how the lens rides so she should take it to a wedding?!?!

Professionals, IMO, do not experiment at the wedding....taking the lens and doing a few inconsequential shots at the reception is one thing...go ahead and take the lens and have fun with it is a recipe for disaster. Oh well, what the hay....maybe it'll be OK...it's just a wedding, if something does go wrong maybe we can get some of the shots that guests took with their P/S cameras or send the files to fellow P-netters who can salvage something with their PS skills.

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I didn't see where she said the wedding was tomorrow david. Maybe that was in a

different post?

 

I agree with you about a camera or a lighting setup but geez, its just a lens. You put in on

the camera and see what you see. If thats enough to throw her game then it's already

thrown.

 

cheers!

 

oh and Al, don't know about being "obsessed" with longer lenses but if it's the right tool I

have no problem using it. I might use a 300 2.8 for only a couple of bride headshots but

it gives a look that a 90 doesn't and it's a look brides like so what the heck.

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If you are worried about blur, than you will want to watch your shutter speed. Without IS, you

can get a clear picture if your shutter speed is high enough, even if you don't have the

steadiest hand. Ideally you would want to shoot manual so that you can assure your images

are not dipping too low in shutterspeed while maintaining the desired aperture, however

working in Tv means that you could get a wide variety in your depth of field, which you may

not want. If you aren't comfortable working in manual, I would suggest Av, AS LONG AS you

watch your shutter speed and make sure it doesn't get too slow. Anything below 1/60th and

you're going to want to make sure you're able to stabilize yourself and your lens.

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The old adage about not using new just bought equipment in a major did not get made for non essential reasons.

 

Unless you a real quick study it could make for a choopy ride. Use what you have used in the past for lower light setting situations. IS is not the big thing that it is held to be. IS might work stablising the camera, it however does nothing to freeze the subject from moving during a long shutter speed shot - any thing below 1/20 is in high danger of being a motion blur capture exercise. But the 70-200/2.8 non IS has been used successfully in these situtions - it is all on the shooter's experience and ability not the lump of metal and glass.

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Agree with David. Don't take it.

 

Not the best example, but I took a new Qantum 2x2 battery to a rehearsal. Never used an external battery source before. My thought was "what could possibly go wrong..it's just a battery...well I better take it to rehearsal just to be sure it's not defective before the wedding". And when it stopped working at rehearsal it took me a good 5 to 10 minutes to figure out how to get it working again. This would have killed me during the actual processional/resessional.

 

With the Quantum 2x2 I learned in a safe low stress environment that I have to have good AA batteries in my SB800 or the Quantum 2x2 won't work with the SB800. Dead batteries in the SB800 will disable my ability to shoot with flash even with a Quantum 2x2 battery juicing the SB800 with a full charge. This is probably common sense to some but was something I didn't realize.

 

Michael

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That's a good example, Michael. However, one has to know oneself. For instance, an experienced wedding photographer would probably not run into trouble with a new lens that is not so different from other lenses (no IS to work with, for instance). An inexperienced photographer may have trouble getting on and off a tripod in time during the ceremony, or with handholding a telephoto. Of course, when in doubt, do as David says, but if you know yourself, you will know when you can start using new gear without an extended lead-up. Otherwise, when do you start using a new piece of gear? Gotta start using it on a wedding sometime, and as you found out, some things you don't know until you actually use it on a job of some hours. Say you practiced with the battery pack, re-read the manual, used it on family get-togethers for photos, and nothing went wrong. Then you use it on a wedding, thinking you had all the quirks ironed out, and boom--it dies and you don't know why. Goes both ways.
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