What best to go with D700 for indoor party?

[yodyot_wongwanich]

<p >We will have a family party this weekend at my house. There will be 10+ adults and some little kids running around (auto-focus needed). Party will start at 4pm until late.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >If it was just for our small family, I just put 50mm F1.4 AF-D without a flash and I love the result.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >I really want the pictures to come out very good and plan to print out on big size paper (plan not to use more than ISO-800) to give to them. </p>

<p > </p>

<p >My current plan is just to use my 28mm F2.8 AF-D. </p>

<p > </p>

<p >Is it the best choice and good enough image quality for such occasion? </p>

<p > </p>

<p >If so, should I go get an SB-600 for the night? </p>

<p > </p>

<p >If not, what would be the better lens options? </p>

<p > </p>

<p >Many thanks.</p>

[douglas lee]

<p>Why limit yourself to 800 ISO? If you insist on dong that, yes, get a flash. The 50 should work, unless you are trying to get everyone in each photo, in which case you'd need something like a 24. I am not familiar with the 28 you have.</p>

[umesh_bhayaraju]

<p>ofcourse, it depends on the light available and what kind of lighting you have at home. I think you need to you flash for the 2nd half of the party. with TTL you will get ideal ligthing.<br>

50 or 60 mm is ideal. Not more than iso400. For higher ISO's the quality goes down when you print it.</p>

[mark liddell]

I would definitely use a flash and bounce it, just make sure you gel it to match any lighting inside.

[wpahnelas]

<p>not sure why you feel the need to switch from what works for your other parties. when i read about the 50/1.4 working so well for you, i was nodding my head the whole time.<br>

besides a wider FOV, the 28/2.8 seems a worse choice. i have both lenses and i'd go with the 50/1.4, no question. unless you're really averse to a lens change during the party, why not carry both? they're very small!<br>

an SB-600 would be an excellent addition for the event, just to add a bit of fill. it's difficult to say what ISO or other settings will be appropriate until one actually gets to the venue at the time of the event. regardless of the particulars, however, you should be well equipped with the gear you're considering.</p>

[ilkka_nissila]

<p>What colour are the walls and ceilings? If they are dark toned, people photography tends to be quite difficult. This is true irrespective of whether you use flash; the available lighting tends to be high contrast and the colored surfaces cannot be used for bounce (at least for colour photography). If there are white surfaces to bounce from, then a flash can be very helpful. But it is an acquired skill and takes time to learn well. If you are comfortable with the 50/1.4 and available light photography then I would do just that. The 28/2.8D isn't at its best at wide apertures but I'd give it a try for shots where you need a greater angle of view, but I'd still use the 50 when you can. I have 28/2 manual focus lenses but it can be tricky to use them in low available light if the subjects can move. I think you will have your best chances of success when you use techniques, approach, and equipment you're already familiar with. If there are large white surfaces to bounce from, I would start practicing with flash now. I recommend manual mode for the ambient light (set exposure so that the picture without flash will be underexposed by about 1 stop; remember that since the flash will reduce movement blur, you can safely use even normally quite slow speeds like 1/60s-1/30s and this way you can keep the ISO moderately low (such as 800 or 1600) and then use TTL mode flash to fill the foreground with bounced light. Now, people have different opinions on this matter but if you have just one flash, and if you have surfaces to bounce from, you should not point the flash directly to the subjects even if you're just filling the shadows. There will be glare on the skin and all sorts of imperfections will show in the images. My favorite single flash technique is to point the flash head backwards and up at an angle towards the roof (and walls) <em>behind you</em>. This will create quite flattering and beautiful light. If you get the SB-600, I'm not sure if it comes with filters or not - the SB-800 and 900 do come with a few filters that you can use to alter the colour of the light from the flash. Now, this is really important - you should use a filter on the flash that will match the colour of the flash light approximately with the artificial available light, and set the camera for the available light or in the case of post-processing with Capture NX2, you can just select the filter that you used with flash in the white balance drop-down menus (i.e. for tungsten light you select "Flash" with "TN-A1" if you used that filter on the flash). Otherwise blending ambient light with flash light (which is by default, daylight balanced) will produce images with a strange mix of colours. The SB-900 has the capability to automatically transfer this information on the gel used on the flash head to the D700, which is nice if you use a single on-camera flash like this.</p>

<p>If there are no white surfaces to bounce light off, and the room is dark and coloured,when the light gets really low, it may be difficult to obtain the highest quality images by using a single flash only. It is beyond my skill level to give advice on photography in dark toned rooms; while I have often shot in such conditions, I generally go black and white with the final prints. If it is important that you get colour images, then there are a few things you can try; such as using a large bounce attachement such as the "big bounce" from Lumiquest. This will not be studio quality lighting but it's better than pointing a direct flash on your subject. The big bounce is attached with Velcro on your flash unit. Another approach is to go with 2-3 remote flash units on stands; this can create quite nice results but it requires some investment (multiple SB units) and practice. You could also ask the lighting forum and the wedding and social event forum here on photo.net - they have several very experienced people who are happy to help you with this kind of questions.</p>

<p>Anyway, maybe I've gone to too much detail. By the way, the D700 should be fine even at ISO 3200 if you print 8x10, for 12x18 I would indeed avoid going beyond ISO 800 if you want the highest quality print.</p>

[pge]

<p>I admit that I have not read the answers of others, but I would use the 28mm f2.8 that you suggest but I would shoot the party at iso 3200. Printing will be no problem.</p><div></div>

[mark_sirota1]

<p>Skip the flash if you're not accustomed to working with flash. Just work the way you normally work, and set Auto ISO up to 6400 with the minimum shutter speed at 1/60th. Work in A or M, whatever you normally prefer. When it gets dark enough that autofocus gets iffy, stick to the middle three columns of autofocus sensors because they are cross-type.</p>

<p>A faster lens may help when it gets darker, so that autofocus works better (and you can see better to focus and compose). Other than that, I can't see any reason not to just work with what you've got.</p>

[mihai_ciuca]

<p>I shoot events in available light and for groups of people I am happy with Sigma 24mm/f1.8. You may try to rent one instead using 28/2.8 that's not so good wide open. I also encourage you to go up to 3200 ISO with D700, unless you print very large pictures. Usually I put the camera in AutoISO (with 3200 maximum value) and I shoot in A mode.Try to use 50/1.4 as the main lens and switch for wider only when necessary. </p>

[luis_g]

<p> I go along with the idea of working in a way with which you are familiar and confident. I also tend to agree with the OP's idea of a 28/2.8. For a thing like that, I might take a 35/2. Unless the space is on the palatial side, with more than a dozen people, I would expect the 50 to feel claustrophobic and clumsy in that lots of people would be cutting in front of you. Just remember to keep the single portraits to torso length or so, or they won't be very flattering. Practice this with a willing model before your party in order to get a clear idea of what works, and watch faces around the edges/corners of the frame.</p>

[vikas_kohli]

<p>Mihai/otehrs - what is the widest open recomended for sharpest results on Sigma 50/1.4 or Nikon 50/1.4 ?</p>

[michael_alger]

<p>I usually put the WB to about 3000K to adjust for the artificial light indoors. I put an orange filter onto the flash to balance flash and the other lights. At ISO 1600 I use the flash but I get enough ambient light not to have black backgrounds. Flash bounces mostly directly to the ceiling. Exposure manually set to around 1/60 or so, gives nice results to me.</p>

[mihai_ciuca]

<p>Kikas,</p>

<p>I will say that I found f2 to be enough sharp for my needs but depending the distance from the subject I may go to f2.8 because of the shallow DOF. When the light is not bad for groups of people f4 or even f5.6 is better from the same reason. (these values I use only for indoor events in available light) Definitely a good copy of Sigma will give nicer results when shooting people. For other applications Nikon can surpass it. Again, I speak from my experience mostly using D700. On other bodies the results can vary.</p>

[ramon_v__california_]

<p>i'd use the 28mm. the 50mm might not be wide enough indoors, especially for groups.</p>

[eric_arnold]

<p>i dont think it can hurt to have a flash capable of bouncing. this will allow you to stop down a bit for the group shots. the main thing is just to be prepared--take both lenses, a gel for the flash, and a sync cord for off-camera flash. depending on lighting, a mix of flashed and available light shots could work.</p>

<p>3000k is a good setting for WB in avail. light; 1/60 or 1/80 should be a fast enough shutter; and with a d700, i wouldnt hesitate to bump the ISO to 3200 if i needed to.</p>

[yodyot_wongwanich]

<p >Thank you very much for all suggestions.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >So I guess I would just go with what I have been confidently doing with the 50 1.4 as much as I can then. </p>

<p > </p>

<p >For taking a group picture, the best bet for now is using 28 and set it at f4 with SB600 bouncing the 3-meter high white ceiling? </p>

<p > </p>

<p >The reason that I bought 28 F2.8 is that I want a faster lens than my outdoor daytime fun 18-35 3.5-4.5D. So I guess if it doesn’t perform well at 2.8, I should sell it so that I can get my dream lens 14-24 sooner (which will give good quality starting from F2.8??).</p>

<p > </p>

<p >It seems like I have overlooked the WB setting. Thanks a lot for reminding me. Most of my rooms have worm-white bulbs, which a bit more yellow than white. </p>

<p > </p>

<p >Lots of fun homeworks to do for me...</p>

<p > </p>

<p > </p>

<p >Mihai,</p>

<p > </p>

<p >That Sigma 24mm f1.8 is for FX or DX? How does it perform at wide open?</p>

[john_morris4]

<blockquote>

<p> I guess if it doesn’t perform well at 2.8, I should sell it so that I can get my dream lens 14-24 sooner....</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Or you can sell it and get a 28 f/2, which would be even easier. That is a really nice lens for that sort of use. Very bright and easy to focus, even if you use it mostly at f/2.8 and f/4.</p><div></div>

[eric_arnold]

<blockquote>

<p>The reason that I bought 28 F2.8 is that I want a faster lens than my outdoor daytime fun 18-35 3.5-4.5D.</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>you didnt mention you also had an 18-35. i'd use that too. there's only one half-stop difference from the 28/2.8 wide open, plus you have more wiggle room for indoors group shots. with a d700 and sb-600, you should be fine in those conditions with the wider, slower zoom.</p>

<p> </p>