Lens rental- Concert

RxGus

Hey guy!

I just made the change from DX to FX (d600) and sold off all my DX glass. I was not expecting to do any "real" shoots before May and haven't purchased much glass in FX. I was asked yesterday to shoot a concert tonight so I decided to rent a lens for the night. I don't shoot much in the way of concerts, so I thought I would get some opinions about which lens to go with.

I have: 28-300 f3.6-5.6, 35 f1.8 (DX) which works ok but vignettes hard and corners are really rough

The Venue: A small (200 person) church, reasonable lighting most of the time. I should have really good access to the front of the stage and no significant restrictions. There is a balcony about 100ft back and around the sides for higher angle shots.

My options
1. 14-24 f2.8- I love wide angles and for a concert where I am close the limitations of wide angle are much reduced. Awesome crowd shots.
2. 24-70 f2.8- Covers the standard zoom. A solid upgrade in every way from the 28-300 I would be using otherwise. Missing "wide" and missing "zoom"
3. 70-200 f2.8- Not much else to say. It's a great lens but it is a small venue. I am concerned that if I am at the front of the stage I'll be locked into just headshots.

Am I missing a lens that I should be looking at? Rent a prime instead?
If you could only rent one lens- which of those would you choose?

[Deleted User]

24-70 f/2.8 without a doubt - for me at least. I realise that most of what I've shown here recently has been with the 70-200 but that was principally to test the new lens.

Of course, when you talk about a balcony 100ft away, then you're moving into 70-200 territory. Personally I'd prefer to stay in close with the 24-70, but that's just A: Me and B: The venues I tend to shoot in allow this.

bland

I agree with darkslide, my first choice would be the 24-70 f/2.8. 2nd choice would be the 70-200 f/2.8 and 3rd would be the 14-24 f/2.8.

That said, I too like wide angle and I hope I can add the 14-24 to my lens collection but it's just too expensive for me right now.

[Deleted User]

Slightly off-subject, but reasonably valid - if you're looking for an ultra-wide, try the 16-35 - it's pretty much the same angle, it's got VR and I'm not afraid to take it out in public - sorry but the huge front element (without protection) on the 14-24 scares me s******** ! (Which is why I sold mine)

Of course, it's also considerably cheaper - and the loss of one stop isn't really noticeable.

RxGus

It ended up being much darker than I expected: EV 8-9.

I rented the 24-70 2.8, but really should have just gotten a prime lens. ISO 6400, f2.8, 1/30-1/80. With the price (and IQ) of the 50 1.8 and the 85 1.8 I should be adding them to my bag soon to avoid this problem in the future.

I have heard wonderful things about the 16-35 VR f4 and it will be in my bag before vacation in May. I wish this hobby wasn't so expensive...

[Deleted User]

Don't we all... )

TaoTeJared

I would have certainly gone with the 50mm, 85mm, & 16-35vr. Concerts are rough to shoot, especially if you don't do it often as there is a lot of intuition that goes into it.

[Deleted User]

Possibly not what you'd expect in a church hall, but a reasonable example of the 16-35 VR



D3s 16-35 @ 19mm 15/s f/4 ISO 8000

RxGus

Here are some of the pics that I snapped at the concert... There is a first try for everything I guess!


D600 24-300 @72mm f/5.0 1/80 ISO6400


24-70 @ 70mm, f/2.8, 1/80, ISO 2800


24-70 @ 24mm, f/2.8, 1/80, ISO 6400

PB_PM

Nice crisp shot, exactly what you'd expect from the 24-70!

bland

Nice shots Darkslide and RxGus