Shutter Speed ?

[Denny Kyser]

I have a question about shutter speed for wedding / stage shows.
I have been trying to keep my shutter speeds at the following 1/60 for 30P and 1/48 for 24P and if movement is slow and light is low believe you can get away with 1/30 for 30P and 1/24th for 24P.

I have heard the 5D II should be around 1/50 for both 24P and 30P.

Am I correct on what I think is correct or am I looking for trouble if I let the shutter speeds drop to the 1/30 or 1/24?

[John Wiley]

The problem with shutter speeds lower than about 1/50th, is they can exhibit too much motion blur. It's ok for some very still subjects but for anything with lots of motion it will all just become a blur.

A locked off tripod shot of a talking head (eg speeches at a wedding) will not be too bad if you drop the shutterspeed to 1/30th, but a flying steadycam shot of the bridal waltz will turn everything to mush. Likewise a stage show with lots of motion will look very blurry, and will totally fall apart if you try to pan across the stage.

[Denny Kyser]

Thanks, that is what I needed to know. I have a couple churches that really are dark and was wondering about the ceremony which would be little movement.

[Greg Fiske]

Denny/ John,
It might be different with dslr's. Look at my stuff, all of the low light was shot on a 5d mark II at 1/30. This is for the dancing part of the night where there is no light. I'd rather this than a noisy image, and I find 1/30th is the threshold with reception lighting. You have to do your own tests and see what you are comfortable with. Now this might apply more to wide angle lenses? I can shoot stills with a 35mm at 1/30 and get a sharp picture, so maybe the same rules apply to video? But I also use the 135 at f2 with great results.

[David Schmaus]

On the same page. I run 24P 1/50. If I need more light (speeches) I usually can get away with dropping to 1/30th to gain light vs dropping say 2.4 to 1.8 or 1.4 I love 1.4 but crap I can keep anything in focus! What I have been doing lately is the 135L at 2.0 1/30 from across the room for speeches Tons of light and I think 135 is flattering and easier to keep in focus.

David

_________________________

David Schmaus Photography - Dayton, Ohio
http://davidschmaus.com/blog

[Michael Simons]

Originally Posted by David Schmaus

On the same page. I run 24P 1/50. If I need more light (speeches) I usually can get away with dropping to 1/30th to gain light vs dropping say 2.4 to 1.8 or 1.4 I love 1.4 but crap I can keep anything in focus! What I have been doing lately is the 135L at 2.0 1/30 from across the room for speeches Tons of light and I think 135 is flattering and easier to keep in focus.

David

_________________________

David Schmaus Photography - Dayton, Ohio
http://davidschmaus.com/blog

David, I would love to be able to use my 135 for speeches, but the photographer will never look over his shoulder to see that I'm so far back and he'll block my shot. How do you get around this?

[Buba Kastorski]

Originally Posted by Michael Simons

David, I would love to be able to use my 135 for speeches, but the photographer will never look over his shoulder to see that I'm so far back and he'll block my shot. How do you get around this?

best solution - have multiple cameras, for speeches can be even unattended, talking to photog helps too, but for 5 min only, sometimes not even :)
and yes 135mm is great for speeches, not as flexible as 70-200, but noticeable better low light, normally podium is well it during speeches and there is no need go lower than 1/50-60 fr/sec, but for dancing i do go 1/30th and it's not mush, not as sharp, but better than up the ISO

[Michael Simons]

Originally Posted by Buba Kastorski

best solution - have multiple cameras, for speeches can be even unattended, talking to photog helps too, but for 5 min only, sometimes not even :)
and yes 135mm is great for speeches, not as flexible as 70-200, but noticeable better low light, normally podium is well it during speeches and there is no need go lower than 1/50-60 fr/sec, but for dancing i do go 1/30th and it's not mush, not as sharp, but better than up the ISO

Buba, when you use the 135 or 70-200 for speeches, doesn't the photographer usually stand in front and block your shot? I have those lenses but never get to use them during the speeches for this reason.