Help! Dance?!?!?!?

[conorblewis]

Ok, I got hired to shoot some dance recitals and im not sure what to do. Ive shot dance teams in a gym but never in a dark room. My lenses dont quite get enough light to shoot at a fast shutter speed in low light. What should I do?!?
thanks
conor

[JSPhoto]

2 choices
1: use flash if they allow it
2: get another lens
3: If the movement isn't real fast you can probably use the 50mm 1.8 which should work
JS

[conorblewis]

ok so do you know where i could get a 70-200 2.8 IS for a good price b/c that would be the ideal lens for this I think
conor

[JSPhoto]

I got mine thru Adorama - no problems at all

JS

[Sebastian]

The IS won't do you any good, they'll be moving, the stabilizer doesn't stop subject motion.

An f/2.8 or faster lens is your best bet, but don't assume the lighting will be dark. I shoot plays pretty regularly, and the stage lighting is pretty much the same. Typically at ISO 400 f/2.8 I get 1/200-1/500 shutter speeds. Just be careful of the highlights, the dark stage backgrounds can cause the meter to overexpose, and due to the contrast you can lose much important detail. Expose for the highlights and you should be good to go.

[Old Timer]

Good advice from Seb. I would suggest talking to Adina. She is one that has done the most dance stuff here. She will usually hang out over on viewfinder or you could PM her.

[conorblewis]

ok, so dance went well, I got to use my bosses 70-200mm f2.8 and it helped a lot
thanks
conor

[JSPhoto]

Glad to hear it went OK.....nice lens eh? Hmmm, maybe the boss will give you a loan to get one.

JS