I want to do school-related event pictures and need equipment and lens recommendations!

[HiFiGuy1]

I have an inside track to start shooting some high school events (prom, spring dance, homecoming, etc.) for at least one local school. I have the following equipment to start with:


Canon EOS 40D with one original battery


Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L


Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6


Manfrotto 055CXPRO3 carbon fiber/magnesium tripod


Bogen Manfrotto 3047 three-axis head


Sunpak 7500TM tripod system (including monopod)


1GB CF card


2GB CF card


4GB CF card


I realize I have a 1.6x FOVCF body and should probably be using a FF, but until I make some money, I can't invest more than about $1000-1500 into this venture. I am willing to sell my Nikon setup, too, if necessary.


What should be my first acquisition, and why? I need all the help I can get. I know I'll need flash(es), modifiers, triggers. Lenses, too. Batteries?


Dallasphotog, if you're out there, I am calling you. And Peety3. And anyone else I don't know of that does this for a living, or at least successfully as a relative amateur. []

[Fast Glass]

I would quickly add a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 non-IS, the non-IS for cost reasons. But if you can afford the IS version the AF is supposed be twice as fast according to Canon. Fast and accurateAF will be worth paying for. TheIS would be a greatfeature too.It would be highly versatile in your situation. I have a Minolta 70-210mm f/4 and I love it, I shot a parade with it in film and being able to zoom in and out was a live saver for me. It was in broad daylight so I didn't have a problem with light, but in dimlly light situation sometimes you don't have time for a flash or you need fast sutter speeds for stopping action. You could alsolook into a used 70-200mm IS if you can't afforda IS new lensat this time.


Hope this helps,


John.

[Dallasphotog]

I don't think you have a bad kit for this kind of business... It is definetly lower pressure than weddings and a lot of times event photographers get fed too


Here are some things I would add to the aresnal...


1)Monolights and a Canon 580/ 430 flash. I set up two or three monolights reflected off umbrellas and then fill with the Canon flash. You can find two light and three light kits with umbrellas very economically and theyhelp you get nice focusbefore the flash triggers with your shot. I use Smith-Victor monolights and Photgenic umbrellas.


2) A background stand and a couple ofbackdrops. My stand was around $150.00 and it is built like a tank. I have 10' x10' backgrounds from Photobasics in black, white and twilight (a mix of blues).


3) The Canon EF24-70 f/2.8 L USM. This is a really good zoom for any size portrait. I'm not a fan of prime lenses at events becuase I don't want to move my tripod back and forth. In fact, I like to tape light cords and such down to preventtrips and I usually have a small light on the bottom of my tripod (that's a trade secret to get rid of shadows under the chin and such; you don't need a huge light for this).


4) Cards and batteries... You simply never have too many. I have moved to Duracell AA rechargeables for my flash and then I usually have 4 batteries for each body and 10-20 CF cards. I never use all the cards orbatteries,but it is a nice safety blanket. I only have 4 or 5 cards bigger than 2GB. Swapping out cards makes me fell like I have less chance of loosing a whole wedding or event to a card failure.


5) A gray card. It's so nice to set a custom white balance and have everything perfect BEFORE youlaunch DPP.


I do shoot these events with the 5D MKII now, but I survived for years with the 1D MKII and XTi crop bodies. The 40D will be the last thing you'll have to upgrade. Although, having a back-up body is a great security blanket.

[peety3]

Quit worrying about FF. A 10-22 EF-S will match the range of 16-35 on FF; only thing wider would be the 14/2.8 on FF.


I agree on the suggestion for batteries and cards. Lots of small cards is the right way to go. If you're shooting with flash, you're likely going to end up with shooting rates of 3 spf, so slow cards are fine (and less expensive, so you can buy more). I feel like I'm a little tight on cards, with 6x8GB, 4x4GB, 13x2GB, and 6x1GB, but I suspect you'd be OK with that. As far as batteries go, I use Eneloop rechargeables in my 580s (4 flashes and two battery packs means 32 AAs are in my gear when I start); I think I have 96 Eneloops now so that's three full rotations (and it's not enough for my weekend events!).


Once you get that squared away, my biggest concern would be a safety net: you need a spare camera and lens that's wide enough for your shooting. You can always crop a wide shot to be tight, but you can't get the shot if you're stuck with a telephoto lens. I'd recommend either finding a friend with a Rebel and 18-55 kit lens you can borrow or rent as needed, or perhaps a similar kit you can rent by the day from a local camera shop. If not, you need to buy something to handle that, perhaps a refurbished 50D (two of my contacts have been offered a refurb 50D for $529 from Canon service; check other sources too) and a lens. See below for an alternate logic on this.


If you have the spares situation handled, next thing would be lighting: I think Dallasphotog was saying "hotlights" not "monolights" - 250W or 500W incandescent bulbs that are WYSIWYG. That'll make your lighting real easy and real cheap. A flash would follow for portability.


After that, it's time to save for lenses. If you foresee budget to grow quickly, you could slightly delay your "spare" lens and buy the 17-55 EF-S lens or similar. Otherwise, I'd suggest 24-70/2.8, a fast 50 (probably the 50/1.4 for durability), and then a 70-200. Clearly you're beyond your startup budget then, and it's probably not worth us planning too far out.


Amongst other tidbits, I try to purchase 16 Eneloops every time I get a paycheck from my day job. Every now and then, I substitute a La Crosse BC-700 charger. There are six chargers on my charging table, and that too isn't enough.


To recap: add some cards and batteries, find a way to have two bodies and two wide-enough lenses, add lighting, then add lenses. Once you're at 17-40, 17-55 or 18-55, 24-70, 28-135, 50/1.4, and 70-200, only then is it time to start upgrading bodies, but you'll detour to more flashes before you fill up that list.

[HiFiGuy1]

Thanks to all of you!


I will give all of this serious weight. I promise I am not dismissing your idea to not worry about full frame, but I had a question relative to that which just occurred to me.


Since there have been two suggestions for a backup, what about a used or refurbished 5D? It might be a great spare (or primary for this work), and it seems that everything I've read says that it just so happens that both of the lenses that I currently own certainly work better on FF than FOVCF bodies. The ISO comparisons on this site do seem to back this up. I actually bought the 17-40 back when I had a 5D, and the 28-135 was the kit lens with my 40D, so I sort of didn't pick that specifically. The kit lens certainly seems to have all the common focal lengths for portraits, and the f/stop on a FF should give fairly shallow DOF. It also keeps me from having to buy any lenses for now.


Alternatively, I've been thinking already of selling my 17-40 and getting the 17-55 for the 40D, or possibly now the 15-85 which seems like a strong performer with a broader range. Of course, it may make more sense to get the excellent 24-70 which would have an effective focal range of about 38-112mm, and another 40D or 50D, which would give me consistency between the framing of the two bodies with whatever lenses I use.


The lightingstuff seems reasonable, and I knew I'd need something. I also thought I should have backgrounds but hadn't looked into them yet. Thank you for the specifics. Believe it or not, I observed the need for the low light for chins,etc., when I was getting my picture at the driver's license place. I saw the first unflattering shot and I asked the girl to take the picture over after repositioning myself. It came out much better, and I learned a practical lesson.


Definitely getting the gray card. Understand the need for it, and the usefulness of it.


Batteries and cards. The more the merrier! Got it.

[crosbyharbison]

If your considering this kind of work for a living, your best bet would be to sell both your lenses. These events are going to be dark. Consider at least 2.8 or faster lenses. Pimes, however, are your best best bet.

• Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM - group shots
• Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Lens - portraits

and depending on whether or not your homecoming gig involves football I'd add the:

• Canon Telephoto EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Autofocus Lens

Your used 5d idea is a good one. Lighting is your biggest issue. If your going to buy a canon flash get the 430 ex II. You really don't need the 580 ex II. Ideally you'd have at least two flashes mounted on your tripods at opposite sides of the room triggered by something reliable such as Radiopopper's JRx units.

[HiFiGuy1]

I don't intend, for now, to have this be my primary income. I co-own a small company that I still intend to run for the foreseeable future. If I did mean for this to be my main job, I would invest whatever it took within reason to get going properly, which would probably start with at least a pair of 5D Mark IIs and two of each appropriate lens, plus lighting, etc.


This is for supplemental income, and this particular bit of work would hopefully allow me to get my name out and help me afford some more gear to expand my repertoire and my portfolio. Kind of feeding the addiction to photography at this point! []


I appreciate the quality of the two primes you mentioned and the thought process behind your recommending them, but I have to say that I lean towards the common-sense approach espoused by Dallasphotog and Peety3 when it comes to a high-quality zoom. Not having to move gear to slightly reframe is a big benefit. Taping down the ancillary wiring is an important safety consideration, and would preclude the re-location of the tripods and lighting to reframe a shot when necessary. Also, as far as being dark, I don't foresee going into the actual dances for many action shots, I intended to do the portrait shots before the participants get all sweaty! I hadn't thought about the dancing stuff. Do you make much money with those "party" shots?


Did you mean for the 200mm f/2.8 to be for game shots? If so, why not a 300mm? I had already been thinking a 300mm with a 1.4x would be a great combo for that. I don't see myself ever having the budget for a lens like a 400mm f/2.8, but a 300mm f/2.8 plus a 1.4x TC would be more cost-effective and would give great results with even more flexibility.

[Graydon]

Did you mean for the 200mm f/2.8 to be for game shots? If so, why not a 300mm? I had already been thinking a 300mm with a 1.4x would be a great combo for that. I don't see myself ever having the budget for a lens like a 400mm f/2.8, but a 300mm f/2.8 plus a 1.4x TC would be more cost-effective and would give great results with even more flexibility.

I have a 40D and a 300 f/2.8 and have shot some high school football. A 1.4x is really not needed, in fact I find the 300 to be a bit too much sometimes and switch over to a 70-200 trying to follow the action. I do seem to spend quite a bit of time moving around to get a shot (fast paced games) and wind up in the end zone to get a clear view of the action with the 300. In less than perfect field lighting conditions (like at many high school football venues) The 300 f/2.8 is almost too slow, the 1.4x would make it even worse.

[Rodger]

I haven't done proms/homecomings, but I am able to say that the 12 sittings of senior portraits this year paid more than my part time job. (Those are my credentials haha). BTW, I suggest getting into senior portraits too. People pay out the wazoo for them.


I agree with the safety net of cards and batteries. (I need to get more cards now that I think about it).


Backup body would be nice, but I suggest borrowing from a friend for now.


I'm going out on a limb and not suggesting continuous lighting as did Dallas and Peety3 (I think they did. Don't crucify me if they didn't). I think a couple of vivitar 285HV's will suffice for off camera lighting. Obviously buy one or two Canon 430EXII's for ETTL. (I use one vivitar and one 430EXII and I love them. For event photography, I will be getting more lights though).


You can get the reliable CyberSync wireless system for a few hundred (Trigger is 60. Receivers are 70).


As for lenses, maybe a 50 1.8 (for cost) and high quality zoom lenses.


Hope I helped some.


-Rodger

[peety3]

Since there have been two suggestions for a backup, what about a used or refurbished 5D? It might be a great spare (or primary for this work), and it seems that everything I've read says that it just so happens that both of the lenses that I currently own certainly work better on FF than FOVCF bodies. The ISO comparisons on this site do seem to back this up. I actually bought the 17-40 back when I had a 5D, and the 28-135 was the kit lens with my 40D, so I sort of didn't pick that specifically. The kit lens certainly seems to have all the common focal lengths for portraits, and the f/stop on a FF should give fairly shallow DOF. It also keeps me from having to buy any lenses for now.

As Chase Jarvis said, the best camera is the one you have. I suggest sticking with your 40D and adding another EF-S body. Why? That safety net. If you get a 5D, you'll make it your primary body. You'll build a lens arsenal around it, such as 17-40, 24-70, and 70-200, using the longer lenses on your 40D. When your 5D breaks, you'll now have a body that's cropped as your main unit, and you'll get caught off-guard on how big of a group shot you can take in any particular spot. My advice? Get two identical (or nearly identical, such as 40D/50D) cameras, learn them well, and then go FF on your third camera. By then, you'll be so fluent in "the crop life" that loss of a FF camera won't kill you. (I work with a 1D3 and either a 40D or XTi...it's always a challenge deciding which lens goes where. The one time I had my 1D3 and a 5D1, I really struggled with lens selection. Life was so much easier for the next event, when I rented a second 1D3.)

Alternatively, I've been thinking already of selling my 17-40 and getting the 17-55 for the 40D, or possibly now the 15-85 which seems like a strong performer with a broader range. Of course, it may make more sense to get the excellent 24-70 which would have an effective focal range of about 38-112mm, and another 40D or 50D, which would give me consistency between the framing of the two bodies with whatever lenses I use.

Again, stick with what you know. If you have proper lighting, you can get away with shooting at f/8 or so, where most any lens works best. Don't sell anything until you have enough of a safety net.

The lightingstuff seems reasonable, and I knew I'd need something. I also thought I should have backgrounds but hadn't looked into them yet. Thank you for the specifics. Believe it or not, I observed the need for the low light for chins,etc., when I was getting my picture at the driver's license place. I saw the first unflattering shot and I asked the girl to take the picture over after repositioning myself. It came out much better, and I learned a practical lesson.

There are lots of options. I went with a very expensive kit (if bought today, it'd be just under $4,000) that's wireless, because I'm too mobile of a shooter. Your work might be a lot easier to do while "plugged in", and that can open up some great inexpensive options that will also be a lot easier to learn lighting. Make money on it, and then you can add the fancy stuff.