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Upgrading My Camera Setup for HHN

Mar 28, 2020
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Hey all,

Before the event starts, I'm looking at investing into a new camera specifically for taking photos at Universal concerts, parades, shows and of course HHN. Does anyone have tips on capturing the most electric shots?

What I've learned along the way with a Canon M50 with Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III lens setup.

1. I try to keep the stop as low as possible so I don't have to use too much ISO(noise) in order to keep that shutter speed fast for the constant movement and still get a clear picture.
2. The lack of flash makes only about 5-10% of my photos usable. I'd like lower the physical impact on my shutter button so I don't have to take 20 photos of the same thing, hoping it comes out.

Do I just need to upgrade my lens to an aperture of 1.4-2? Do I get a new camera and keep the lens I have? Do I upgrade the whole setup? Change camera brands?

I'm reading that the Canon 90D and EOS R are solid cameras to upgrade to, but that's really stretching my budget. Thoughts?

Thanks!
 
Hey all,

Before the event starts, I'm looking at investing into a new camera specifically for taking photos at Universal concerts, parades, shows and of course HHN. Does anyone have tips on capturing the most electric shots?

What I've learned along the way with a Canon M50 with Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III lens setup.

1. I try to keep the stop as low as possible so I don't have to use too much ISO(noise) in order to keep that shutter speed fast for the constant movement and still get a clear picture.
2. The lack of flash makes only about 5-10% of my photos usable. I'd like lower the physical impact on my shutter button so I don't have to take 20 photos of the same thing, hoping it comes out.

Do I just need to upgrade my lens to an aperture of 1.4-2? Do I get a new camera and keep the lens I have? Do I upgrade the whole setup? Change camera brands?

I'm reading that the Canon 90D and EOS R are solid cameras to upgrade to, but that's really stretching my budget. Thoughts?

Thanks!

I used a Canon (from Rebel series to 80D in recent years) for all my HHN shots. I've used Canon 50m 1.4 since 2012 and the Sigma 18-35m 1.8 for the past couple of years and got some great results. I think as long as you get a low aperture lens, you'll be fine.

Some examples:

IMG_0360.JPGIMG_1252.JPGIMG_3776.JPGIMG_4851.jpgIMG_5155.JPG
 
If you're looking for a fixed focal length lens with solid low-light performance you can't go wrong with the Fuji X100F or X100V. It's a bit pricy for what it is, but it's one of the best street photography cameras on the market right now.
 
Your camera is fine, the lens is what makes all the difference. The joke is, "Asking a great photographer what camera they use to capture their awesome pictures is like asking a master chef what kind of oven they use." It's the interchangable tools and personal skills that make the difference :) You need some "fast glass" with an aperture of f/2.0 or lower.

If you're looking for economy lenses, a "Fast 50" or 35mm prime lens can be bought for around $200 at f/1.8. I bought a 50mm but find it a bit too zoomed in for horror nights if you're trying to take pictures of moving people so I'd go for a 35mm prime. Your current lens, starting at 75mm is already a pretty strong zoom which makes it even harder to capture sharp pictures.

A trick for getting good pics with slower glass is to use autofocus on something in a specific area and let it locked in, then turn it to manual focus and wait for your subject to enter the area you focused on. If you're like me and don't mess with manual focusing (my eye sight isn't great and I have trouble figuring out how in focus stuff is in real time), your biggest frustration is probably how long it takes autofocus to lock on to the target and you're panning the whole time making your shots even more blurry when it finally locks on and takes the picture. So if you have the focus set and the system doesn't try to re-focus when you hit the shutter, this will take the photo pretty much instantly with the focus more or less dialed in. If there's a portion of the scarezone where there is a spotlight, try to capture the subject in that area as the increased light will greatly help your shot. Not an issue if you have a scaractor posing for you, but often time they won't stay still so it's a "for dummies" cheat (since I'm a dummy and use the trick). If you can find something (tree, prop) to lean on to help stabilize your arms, that can help like a tripod. If that's not available, tuck your elbows into your chest as that reduces any natural motion you make that causes more blur.

Also, I'd HIGHLY recommend KEH for buying a used lens to save even more money. A professional photographer told me to purchase from them and I've bought almost everything I have from them with zero issues. If you know what you want and they don't have it, register for an account and sign up to be notified when they have one in stock and usually you'll get a notification within a week or two. I've never had to return anything, but have heard their return policy is second to none with no hassle at all.

 
Your camera is fine, the lens is what makes all the difference. The joke is, "Asking a great photographer what camera they use to capture their awesome pictures is like asking a master chef what kind of oven they use." It's the interchangable tools and personal skills that make the difference :) You need some "fast glass" with an aperture of f/2.0 or lower.

If you're looking for economy lenses, a "Fast 50" or 35mm prime lens can be bought for around $200 at f/1.8. I bought a 50mm but find it a bit too zoomed in for horror nights if you're trying to take pictures of moving people so I'd go for a 35mm prime. Your current lens, starting at 75mm is already a pretty strong zoom which makes it even harder to capture sharp pictures.

A trick for getting good pics with slower glass is to use autofocus on something in a specific area and let it locked in, then turn it to manual focus and wait for your subject to enter the area you focused on. If you're like me and don't mess with manual focusing (my eye sight isn't great and I have trouble figuring out how in focus stuff is in real time), your biggest frustration is probably how long it takes autofocus to lock on to the target and you're panning the whole time making your shots even more blurry when it finally locks on and takes the picture. So if you have the focus set and the system doesn't try to re-focus when you hit the shutter, this will take the photo pretty much instantly with the focus more or less dialed in. If there's a portion of the scarezone where there is a spotlight, try to capture the subject in that area as the increased light will greatly help your shot. Not an issue if you have a scaractor posing for you, but often time they won't stay still so it's a "for dummies" cheat (since I'm a dummy and use the trick). If you can find something (tree, prop) to lean on to help stabilize your arms, that can help like a tripod. If that's not available, tuck your elbows into your chest as that reduces any natural motion you make that causes more blur.

Also, I'd HIGHLY recommend KEH for buying a used lens to save even more money. A professional photographer told me to purchase from them and I've bought almost everything I have from them with zero issues. If you know what you want and they don't have it, register for an account and sign up to be notified when they have one in stock and usually you'll get a notification within a week or two. I've never had to return anything, but have heard their return policy is second to none with no hassle at all.


Tremendous advice, thank you! The only thing I'm questioning, after a lot of research, is if I should get a camera with a full frame sensor and graduate from one with a crop.
 
Tremendous advice, thank you! The only thing I'm questioning, after a lot of research, is if I should get a camera with a full frame sensor and graduate from one with a crop.

I still have a cropped sensor. Different people will have different advice on a full frame as well as mirrorless. Read up on the pros and cons based on what you want to do with your camera. Below is my personal opinion, but I've NEVER taken a photography class or anything and just like to figure out stuff on my own and take pictures of anything I find interesting, which is quite a range. So I am by no means any kind of expert, just passing on what I've learned in my own experience.

I'm just a hobbyist and have found it more reasonable for me to buy a fast prime, 10-24mm wide angle, and a 20-140mm VC (Vibration Control aka Image Stabilization) zoom lens, all used, for a total of about $1k versus spending over that much just for a full frame sensor body. Also, I have a Nikon so all my lenses are DX and if I upgraded to a full frame, I'd have to replace most lenses or would have black/blank areas in each corner. If your lenses are just for cropped sensor, going to a full sensor means your lens won't project an image onto the full sensor. Again, that's the for dummies version and might not be 100% accurate, but it's what I've heard. I'm sure a full sensor is much better and probably worth the investment, but only if you have money to spare and don't have several cropped sensor-only lenses that you'd have to replace.

Another thing to keep in mind about lenses is that 35mm is roughly what human eyesight is (that's why it's been a standard) but when you have a cropped sensor, I think that makes the magnification APPEAR to be 1.6x what's on the lens so effectively your images look as if they were taken at 56mm and not the number on the lens. I don't really understand how all that works, but I know that's an issue when you want to use wideangle lenses and don't get the results you expect. I think that's why my results with the 50mm f/1.8 wasn't what I was expecting as my results seemed more zoomed in and to capture scare actors in zones I had to stand further away than I expected and that leads to more people walking in between you and your subject. In hindsight, I should have gone with the 35mm for about the same price. But, as a plus, if you take long range photos of wildlife or anything like that, a cropped lens lets your very affordable 300mm deliver results closer to a 500mm lens that would cost double if not triple. That might just be me making lemonade out of lemons.

Lastly, and most importantly, if you buy the fastest lens you can find and the best full frame camera and go to HHN and just start snapping away, you're results aren't going to be amazing. If a little leager buys the same baseball bat Mike Trout uses, he's not going to hit as well he does. You have to learn how to use your equiptment through trial and error. The better gear you have, the better POTENTIAL for amazing photographs. There's a reason why product photographers get paid very handsomly for product photo shoots and Joe Schmoe can't just buy a $10k camera and $5k lens and take the photos themselves. Whatever gear you get, go out and try it BEFORE HHN to get used to it. During a pandemic, that's hard, but go out to a local area with night life and try taking some photos. Bring a friend to pretend to be a scare actor and have them walk around in a mostly dark area, then near a streetlight, etc. If you are near a big city where people don't care about their pictures being taken, take advantage of it. If your town has a fair, community event in a park, a church bizaar, or something else taking place at night, go experiment with it. Trail and error is the best education. If you find some photos turn out great and you don't know why, look at the EXIF data on it. That might give you some sweet spots for ISO, aperture, shutter settings that you can utilize.

Of course, if you have a real time histogram that can be really helpful...but I'm not smart enough to use mine and instead just try to get the pictures to come out decent, and of course in RAW format, and then fix them in PhotoShop/Lightroom.
 
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