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Question

Canon Rebel T3i settings for photographing a dance recital

Apr 26, 2012 6:32AM PDT

Hi everyone,

Would anyone be able to help me with the settings on my Canon Rebel T3i in order to photograph a dance recital? I am fairly new at this. I have a lens that is 55mm-250mm. It has a stabilizer that is on. I have tried with the running man (sports) = blurry shots. I have tried with automatic = not great and dark. I have tried with no flash = even worse. I have tried with AV = still blurry and I have tried with TV = still blurry. I really don't have anymore ideas. If someone could give me some suggestions it would be greatly appreciated. I am not very adept with Manual at the moment. My daughters' recital is very shortly and I would hate to ruin all the shots.

Thank you all for your consideration to this matter.

JPLD

Discussion is locked

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Answer
re: Canon Rebel T3i settings for photographing a dance recit
Apr 26, 2012 9:31AM PDT
Again?

OK, to be as straight forward as possible:

Tv mode
Shutter speed 1/200
ISO1600

The pics will be dark, but that's the best you can do with that lens (which is why I recommended some alternatives previously).

Mark

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Canon Rebel T3i settings for photographing a dance recital
Apr 26, 2012 3:05PM PDT

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my post. Your answer was quite helpful and I will absolutely try it. Thanks again!

JPLD

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Answer
Exposure
Apr 26, 2012 9:37AM PDT

You're discovering that just buying a better camera doesn't automatically make better photos. On the one hand, cameras are very smart these days, and can do a lot of things quite well automatically. But on the other, they can't read your mind. What you perceive with your eyes is not the same thing as what the camera sees. Your eyes are much more sensitive to light than cameras.

The 55-250mm lens is very good optically, but it doesn't have a large aperture. If you shoot in auto mode, the camera offsets the smaller aperture with a slower shutter speed. A slower shutter speed on a moving subject nets you a blurry photo. Image stabilization only works up to a point as well; if the shutter speed is slow enough, it can no longer counteract camera movement (image stabilization has no effect on subject movement). The built-in flash is relatively weak; it's fine for a subject 5-15 feet away, but is useless beyond that range.

For the dance recital, you will need to boost the ISO sensitivity of the camera. The higher the number, the noisier the image becomes, but the better chance you have of getting a sharp photo without motion blur. Try some test shots in P mode at ISO 1600 in lighting conditions similar to what you think will be at the recital. See what shutter speed the camera selects. If it is 1/125 or faster, that is good. If it is slower, then you need to boost the ISO higher. You may need to use ISO 3200, or even 6400 to get a fast enough shutter speed.

I don't know the size of the room, but your lens is twice as bright at 55mm than it is at 250mm. In other words, if you were using 250mm and getting a shutter speed of 1/60, if you moved closer and used 55mm on the same subject, the camera can select a shutter speed two times faster.

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Answer
Canon Rebel T3i setting for photographing a dance recital
Apr 26, 2012 3:06PM PDT

Thank you very much for your quick reply to my post. Your suggestions are very much appreciated. I will absolutely give them a try. Once again, thank you very much!
JPLD

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Camera Simulation
Apr 26, 2012 3:31PM PDT

You may find this animated tool helpful to you towards understanding the relationship of ISO, shutter speed, aperture, has on exposure, freezing or blurring motion, and depth of field. It also demonstrates how distance and focal length also has an effect on depth of field:

http://camerasim.com/camera-simulator/