f/4 lens and f/2.8 lens equal ?

[fireblaster_lyz]

I must say its all about application.

If you shoot at event conditions at 300mm @ f5.6 (which I doubt you would), your shutter speed would be very low even with a ISO400 setting, unless you are using P mode, which forces your shutter to 1/60.
That wouldn't make sense to me. You wouldn't want to have motion blur even though you got suffient light in the background like what b&s has said.

I am a user of the 70-200L f/2.8.
Its use is very limited for my experience if you are shooting in a confined space, let alone a small concert. I remembered once I did for an event, the lighting is so bad that I have to allow my flash to do the talking with a battery pack attached.

f/2.8 isn't enough. ):

Like what I said, you get the lenses you need for and apply for.
No point buying a piece of lens which you would find it difficult to use. (like heavy, whatever.)
If the 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 is sufficient, I do not see a need for a 24-70L f/2.8 if you are working on a casual family portrait.

 

[zekai]

indoors, iso 400? unless its so brightly lit, your background will just be a shade of dark black background,

1/60, well cannot fault that sometimes i need to go as low as 1/30

f5.6??? what is my focus? group shots?

my humble shots do not mean to be groundbreaking, but these kind of settings are the type when i first started photography without any grip on

1) isolation of subjects
2) background atmosphere
3) what is dear-in-the headlights shots?

www.singaporebrides.com/forumboard/messages/7/352061.html?1170771810

do stop by my thread and observe the indoor shots i took, note for indoor shots, iso400 will not make the cut, even if i'm using f1.4, i may have enough light to lit my background but not enough to freeze my subjects.

for those ppl who worship your f4 lenses ( and i do have them too), my all means, i too, am a fool to carry so much weight for nothing and maybe i should just be another flash gordon and just use the 28-105 f4.5-f5.6

haha! well said! but all these points came up b4. the f4 user just dun seem to take it in. i sort of given up.

 

[kzone]

I must say its all about application.

I am a user of the 70-200L f/2.8.
Its use is very limited for my experience if you are shooting in a confined space, let alone a small concert. I remembered once I did for an event, the lighting is so bad that I have to allow my flash to do the talking with a battery pack attached.

f/2.8 isn't enough. ):

Hi, can u recommend which lens wud be ideal for indoor event especially those with yellow lighting? Really wanna know cos I'm thinking of the 17-55/2.8 for dinners & parties..

 

[Snoweagle]

Wah...then i must suggest to Reuters to change their lenses to the venerable 28-300mm eh...=/

:bsmilie:

:bsmilie: :bsmilie: pls lah...how can u compare Reuters with a hobbyist. U're doing a paid job of cos must get the best lah. Dun be like another Stratix ah.

 

[Snoweagle]

I must say its all about application.

If you shoot at event conditions at 300mm @ f5.6 (which I doubt you would), your shutter speed would be very low even with a ISO400 setting, unless you are using P mode, which forces your shutter to 1/60.
That wouldn't make sense to me. You wouldn't want to have motion blur even though you got suffient light in the background like what b&s has said.

I am a user of the 70-200L f/2.8.
Its use is very limited for my experience if you are shooting in a confined space, let alone a small concert. I remembered once I did for an event, the lighting is so bad that I have to allow my flash to do the talking with a battery pack attached.

f/2.8 isn't enough. ):

Like what I said, you get the lenses you need for and apply for.
No point buying a piece of lens which you would find it difficult to use. (like heavy, whatever.)
If the 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 is sufficient, I do not see a need for a 24-70L f/2.8 if you are working on a casual family portrait.

Yeah i agree. If u're doing a shoot in a very low lighting condition, f/2.8 also not enough.

 

[canongrapherL]

You guys make a very bold statement.

It says:

"Junk all your lens if it aint f2.8"


Possibly you guys gonna bellow at those guys with his f4 lens at the event shoot "Hey yo, f4 one go stand behind!"

haha! well said! but all these points came up b4. the f4 user just dun seem to take it in. i sort of given up.

 

[calebk]

Hi, can u recommend which lens wud be ideal for indoor event especially those with yellow lighting? Really wanna know cos I'm thinking of the 17-55/2.8 for dinners & parties..

Yellow lighting, don't buy new lens lah. Play with white balance.

Indoor event lens, f/2.8 may not be bright enough, but it's one of the best indoor walkabouts you can find for 1.6x crop cam. You might want to pick up a 50mm 1.8 or 1.4, or a wider prime. Generally speaking, primes are brighter.

 

[kzone]

You might want to pick up a 50mm 1.8 or 1.4, or a wider prime. Generally speaking, primes are brighter.

wouldn't the shallow DOF be problematic at 1.4/1.8? Esp when taking group shots or when u want background to be in focus as well? the longer the distance to object, the shallower the DOF rite? So in this case, a wider prime would be more suitable? Sigma 30/1.4 perhaps?

 

[Snoweagle]

Yellow lighting, don't buy new lens lah. Play with white balance.

Indoor event lens, f/2.8 may not be bright enough, but it's one of the best indoor walkabouts you can find for 1.6x crop cam. You might want to pick up a 50mm 1.8 or 1.4, or a wider prime. Generally speaking, primes are brighter.

Or 85mm f/1.2L, 50mm f/1.2L or the ultimate 50mm f/1.0L.

 

[LowLights]

wouldn't the shallow DOF be problematic at 1.4/1.8? Esp when taking group shots or when u want background to be in focus as well? the longer the distance to object, the shallower the DOF rite? So in this case, a wider prime would be more suitable? Sigma 30/1.4 perhaps?

whether prime or zoom, most lenses are softer at it's widest.. that's why we need to step the f-stop down for better DOF..

and by stepping down we effectively reduces the amount of light and hence reduces the shutter speed, hence the birth of this thread...

 

[ExplorerZ]

wouldn't the shallow DOF be problematic at 1.4/1.8? Esp when taking group shots or when u want background to be in focus as well? the longer the distance to object, the shallower the DOF rite? So in this case, a wider prime would be more suitable? Sigma 30/1.4 perhaps?

use kit lens then... fast lens not enough DOF, still ended up stopping down to 5.6.

 

[AReality]

whether prime or zoom, most lenses are softer at it's widest.. that's why we need to step the f-stop down for better DOF..

and by stepping down we effectively reduces the amount of light and hence reduces the shutter speed, hence the birth of this thread...

A lens with larger aperture reduces the chance of 'hunting", lets you lock AF faster.

.

 

[Zplus]

Btw, one stop difference means 1/2 the amount of light. Thats a lot! Besides, Canon's cross sensors don't activate until it has a f2.8 or wider lens.

For those who claim able to do indoor with f4 + flash, do take note that you have focus assist beams from the flash to compensate for the lack of light and then you bath the subject with flash light and call it a "good" shot becoz all the facial hairs can be counted at 100% crop. Never mind that the color looks off or the ambiance is lost.

If that is the case, I would say that my Bigma at f8, iso set to 1600 (with flash do i even really care??), 1/60 would rule any f4 lens becoz I can even see sweat pores!!!! Hahahhaa.

So what I am trying to say is that f2.8 and f4 lens are not the same. The f2.8 is priced at a premium. Those who buy it either buy it coz they can appreciate what f2.8 can do or because of bragging rights...

Technicalities have more or less been covered by the rest of the contributors already...

 

[calebk]

...the longer the distance to object, the shallower the DOF rite? So in this case, a wider prime would be more suitable? Sigma 30/1.4 perhaps?

Nope wrong logic. Shorter lens-to-subject distance results in shallower DOF.

You get a wider prime only because DOF is not so noticable in wide focal lengths. The Sigma 30mm actually still allows you to pick out a subject from the background at closer distances.

 

[Stratix]

:bsmilie: :bsmilie: pls lah...how can u compare Reuters with a hobbyist. U're doing a paid job of cos must get the best lah. Dun be like another Stratix ah.

please leh.

i'm never an equipment whore, but really, i believe in using the right lens for the right kinda event.

no, if i had my way, i'll use a 28-300 also. saves my back (and my injured foot) a hell lot of stress.

but no, it just doesn't cut. fine if your event is in broad daylight, but even so, i'll explore shooting with f/1.4 + ND filters. DOF is king sir.

but anyhow, shooting fireworks with a 70-200 2.8L IS from esplanade bridge is just wrong, and you know what i'm saying :bsmilie: :bigeyes:

 

[cibs]

Whats so great about an f2.8 lens? Its only useful in well-lit indoor applications.

And who says an ISO400 f4 shot cannot be as well lit both foreground AND background? An experienced digital shooter can produce images with a bounced flash with balanced foreground and background AND the image doesnt even look like flash was used.

End of the day, a f2.8 lens wont help you become a better photographer, it just allows you to let in more light when you require it.

 

[Stratix]

Whats so great about an f2.8 lens? Its only useful in well-lit indoor applications.

And who says an ISO400 f4 shot cannot be as well lit both foreground AND background? An experienced digital shooter can produce images with a bounced flash with balanced foreground and background AND the image doesnt even look like flash was used.

End of the day, a f2.8 lens wont help you become a better photographer, it just allows you to let in more light when you require it.

bouncing flash is one thing, dragging shutter for bg is another. =)

 

[jOhO]

Hi, can u recommend which lens wud be ideal for indoor event especially those with yellow lighting? Really wanna know cos I'm thinking of the 17-55/2.8 for dinners & parties..

use a leica, manual focus, 35/1.4 lux, b/w film at least iso800...

that way, u won't have poor af speed, the colour sure correct, and u have enuff f-stop and iso for the low light, and being wide angle, u can have a slower shutter..

BEST SOLUTION LIOW. :thumbsup: ;p

 

[Belle&Sebastain]

Whats so great about an f2.8 lens? Its only useful in well-lit indoor applications.

And who says an ISO400 f4 shot cannot be as well lit both foreground AND background? An experienced digital shooter can produce images with a bounced flash with balanced foreground and background AND the image doesnt even look like flash was used.

End of the day, a f2.8 lens wont help you become a better photographer, it just allows you to let in more light when you require it.

f2.8 is crap to me in indoors and most indoors are not well lit in my line of work.

flash is a great asset and knowing how to use it properly is cool! BUT there are so many times where flash creates a DISTRACTION and your candids are not so candids anymore.

sure, at the end of the day, you know what you need to achieve what you want. bottomline is everyone is happy with whatever work they produce fine.:devil:

 

[paisatge]

Whats so great about an f2.8 lens? Its only useful in well-lit indoor applications.

funny that I normally use an aperture wider than 2.8 under board day light. I guess it depends on what you're trying to achieve.