[poonnassunlix]

Ok - so I have a shoot coming up in November - where I will be covering the concert of a band in which a colleague is playing. Low-light stage environment. Don't want to use flash as I want to preserve the stage lighting. (I don't have flash gear anyway!)

I shot this event for fun back in 2006 using my 30D and 50mm F1.8:

http://www.picturepunk.com/index-music.html

That time I was only located at the back of the crowd. This time I have free range of the location including back/side stage, and front of stage. I'm also the primary photographer.

Question is - whats going to be the best combination with my 5D MkII: - the 50mm F1.8 or the 24-105 F4L/IS?

The 50mm has the advantage of being faster, but it does tend to hunt for focus in low light conditions and does not always get it right - and it does not have IS. The 24-105 will be slower, but I can jack up the ISO on my 5D MkII to 3200 and beyond and the noise is still minimal. IS will help I think, as the stage performers and band won't be moving much, so 1/100 or thereabout should do it.

I do also have the 100-400L IS which might be interesting to use from a tripod at mid/back audience distance, but I'm not sure how that will work. I think I might just be better off getting closer with my 24-105.

I'm leaning towards the 24-105 as my primary lens for the shoot, but a fellow photographers advice would be most appreciated!

[nAKMzyBN]

That 50mm with 1.8 f stop sure is light monster. But I have no experience with it and as you said if it doesn't find focus reliably it wouldn't work.

Any chance to get your hands on 24-70mm 2.8?

[replrobin]

That 50mm with 1.8 f stop sure is light monster. But I have no experience with it and as you said if it doesn't find focus reliably it wouldn't work.

Any chance to get your hands on 24-70mm 2.8?

Not really unless I rent, which I'm not keen to do.

Might play around a bit with my 24-105 in low light conditions to see how the focus is, and exactly how high I have to take the ISO to get usable shutter speeds.

[konanoileaski]

Try auto iso and limit the highest iso to 3200 ish. That way you can set the shutter fixed.

[lizadax]

After much thought, I think I'm going to pick up the Canon 85mm F1.8 prime. It seems to be the lens I'm missing in my current lineup, especially for low light situations. I'd love something like the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM, but thats simply too expensive (especially when you consider that I have the 24-105 F4/L already).

My current lens collection:

50mm f/1.8 II
24-105mm f/4L IS USM
70-200mm f/4L USM
100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM

[GoblinGaga]

I've had a chance to play with 100mm f/2.0 and it was amazing. I'm sure that 85mm f/1.8 will rock, eh...