Low light event shots with the Tamron 70-200/2.8

heliphoto · 11-10-2008, 12:36 AM

First of all, I'm no people shooter, I prefer non-sentient subjects like trees and mountains... OTOH, I'm not so great at socializing, esp. with people who I would only meet at events like a baby shower for my wife's niece (and therefore have nothing to talk about with) - so in this case pretending to be an event shooter keeps me from having to socialize...and the family gets a free photog. win/win.

I've considered my K200d to mis-focus a bit, and in the wild I generally MF most of the time, but in this case I decided to test out AF - I find when a big lens is pointed at someone for too long (while I MF the short-throw Tamron) they tend to notice, and start acting strange (or turning away), so AF is better for candids.

I was shooting inside a church/meeting hall (or something - think low budget wedding reception), with generally dim light. Hand held, ISO 1250 (trying to cut back on the grain a bit vs. 1600 - can't wait for the K20D), f/2.8

exif

exif

exif

exif

exif

I found the AF to work better than expected, with generally usable shots. AF was quick and accurate in general, and hunting was rare, but when it did hunt, it took a while to cycle back from close focus.

Overall, I'm really loving the versatility of this lens.

EDIT: added exif links.

Last edited by heliphoto; 11-10-2008 at 11:25 AM. Reason: added exif links...

pasipasi · 11-10-2008, 12:42 AM

With f2.8 and long focal lenght the dof is so thin it might look like the body is missing focus.

jsherman999 · 11-10-2008, 11:11 AM

.

Those look very, very good to me for iso 1250 + f/2.8.

What FL + shutter speed?

Marc Sabatella · 11-10-2008, 11:21 AM

Originally posted by heliphoto

OTOH, I'm not so great at socializing, esp. with people who I would only meet at events like a baby shower for my wife's niece (and therefore have nothing to talk about with) - so in this case pretending to be an event shooter keeps me from having to socialize...and the family gets a free photog. win/win.

I've never thought abut it that way before, but I just realized you have me *pegged*!

Nice shots, too! :-)

heliphoto · 11-10-2008, 11:35 AM

Originally posted by pasipasi

With f2.8 and long focal lenght the dof is so thin it might look like the body is missing focus.

Absolutely. That's part of what impressed me about my experience that afternoon. Many times the focus was pretty darn good.

Originally posted by jsherman999

.

Those look very, very good to me for iso 1250 + f/2.8.

What FL + shutter speed?

Thanks Jay... (Ok, I want to confirm your name is Jay before I keep calling you that - I got that from other posters but I don't know where they got it...)

I went back and added exif links (I was too tired/lazy to do that last night when I posted). Many were at 200mm, and most were 1/50 sec. though some were as slow as 1/30 sec. As you can see in the exif, I actually had -0.7 EV compensation (in AV mode f/2.8) to try to keep shutter speeds in a usable range for candids. Boosting exposures in post lead to added noise, but at least I have noisy usable images rather than blurry ones. I probably should have just boosted the ISO to 1600, but on my K200D I always feel that the size of the "grain" this creates makes the photos quite soft. I dunno which is the better solution, but this seems to have worked out ok.

Thanks for commenting.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I meant to add that these are all cropped to 4x5 ratio (and some are cropped in closer for composition reasons).

Damn Brit · 11-10-2008, 01:48 PM

Originally posted by heliphoto

OTOH, I'm not so great at socializing, esp. with people who I would only meet at events like a baby shower for my wife's niece (and therefore have nothing to talk about with) - so in this case pretending to be an event shooter keeps me from having to socialize...and the family gets a free photog. win/win.

I'm with you there Josh, we can come here if we want to talk.

I hope the puppy was alright after that kiss.

Pretty good shots, I'm sure the family are happy with them.

11-10-2008, 12:36 AM	#1
heliphoto Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Region 5 Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,539	Low light event shots with the Tamron 70-200/2.8 First of all, I'm no people shooter, I prefer non-sentient subjects like trees and mountains... OTOH, I'm not so great at socializing, esp. with people who I would only meet at events like a baby shower for my wife's niece (and therefore have nothing to talk about with) - so in this case pretending to be an event shooter keeps me from having to socialize...and the family gets a free photog. win/win. I've considered my K200d to mis-focus a bit, and in the wild I generally MF most of the time, but in this case I decided to test out AF - I find when a big lens is pointed at someone for too long (while I MF the short-throw Tamron) they tend to notice, and start acting strange (or turning away), so AF is better for candids. I was shooting inside a church/meeting hall (or something - think low budget wedding reception), with generally dim light. Hand held, ISO 1250 (trying to cut back on the grain a bit vs. 1600 - can't wait for the K20D), f/2.8 exif exif exif exif exif exif I found the AF to work better than expected, with generally usable shots. AF was quick and accurate in general, and hunting was rare, but when it did hunt, it took a while to cycle back from close focus. Overall, I'm really loving the versatility of this lens. EDIT: added exif links. Last edited by heliphoto; 11-10-2008 at 11:25 AM. Reason: added exif links...

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11-10-2008, 12:42 AM	#2
pasipasi Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Oulu Photos: Gallery Posts: 532	With f2.8 and long focal lenght the dof is so thin it might look like the body is missing focus.

11-10-2008, 11:11 AM	#3
jsherman999 Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Photos: Gallery Posts: 8,237	. Those look very, very good to me for iso 1250 + f/2.8. What FL + shutter speed?

11-10-2008, 11:21 AM	#4
Marc Sabatella Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Denver, CO Photos: Gallery Posts: 10,685	Originally posted by heliphoto OTOH, I'm not so great at socializing, esp. with people who I would only meet at events like a baby shower for my wife's niece (and therefore have nothing to talk about with) - so in this case pretending to be an event shooter keeps me from having to socialize...and the family gets a free photog. win/win. I've never thought abut it that way before, but I just realized you have me pegged! Nice shots, too! :-)

11-10-2008, 11:35 AM	#5
heliphoto Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Region 5 Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,539 Original Poster	Originally posted by pasipasi With f2.8 and long focal lenght the dof is so thin it might look like the body is missing focus. Absolutely. That's part of what impressed me about my experience that afternoon. Many times the focus was pretty darn good. Originally posted by jsherman999 . Those look very, very good to me for iso 1250 + f/2.8. What FL + shutter speed? Thanks Jay... (Ok, I want to confirm your name is Jay before I keep calling you that - I got that from other posters but I don't know where they got it...) I went back and added exif links (I was too tired/lazy to do that last night when I posted). Many were at 200mm, and most were 1/50 sec. though some were as slow as 1/30 sec. As you can see in the exif, I actually had -0.7 EV compensation (in AV mode f/2.8) to try to keep shutter speeds in a usable range for candids. Boosting exposures in post lead to added noise, but at least I have noisy usable images rather than blurry ones. I probably should have just boosted the ISO to 1600, but on my K200D I always feel that the size of the "grain" this creates makes the photos quite soft. I dunno which is the better solution, but this seems to have worked out ok. Thanks for commenting. EDIT: Oh yeah, I meant to add that these are all cropped to 4x5 ratio (and some are cropped in closer for composition reasons).

11-10-2008, 01:48 PM	#6
Damn Brit Guest	Originally posted by heliphoto OTOH, I'm not so great at socializing, esp. with people who I would only meet at events like a baby shower for my wife's niece (and therefore have nothing to talk about with) - so in this case pretending to be an event shooter keeps me from having to socialize...and the family gets a free photog. win/win. I'm with you there Josh, we can come here if we want to talk. I hope the puppy was alright after that kiss. Pretty good shots, I'm sure the family are happy with them.