Party photography

[Sam M]

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Apologies, I was not sure where to post this but am looking for advice on how best to take some photos at an upcoming 21st party for my niece. It is a fancy dress party and I would like to get some photos of the family all dressed up.

 

I have

* an M10 with 35mm Summicron

* a Q (28 mm f1.7)

* a Canon 580 EX II from my 5D days

 

I'm wondering whether I should try to use the flash with the M10 (probably fully manual and adjust the flash power until I get something usable) or go for available light only or something else.

 

If folk think I should give the flash a go, any suggestions on starting settings? Perhaps ISO1600, f2.8 and 180th of a second with the flash at 50% to see what happens?

 

I've never shot manual flash before so don't really have a feel for it. If it is all too hard, I will likely just revert to available light and not worry too much.

 

Cheers

[Maxx71]

I'd go for available light as I always do and only bring the Q. I would also shoot shutter priority at 1/60 most of the time. The Q as you know would be more versatile and carrying just one body and lens would "free" you more to create and get candids. Also, 28mm vs 35mm is not a huge difference IMO.

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[Sam M]

Cheers, I think you are right. The other thing is the M10 with a hulking great 580EX II strapped to the top is quite unwieldy and unbalanced. My main job for the night is to chase around after my kids trying to prevent them doing too much damage!

 

I do like the look of some flash photography at parties, but will save that for another day

[TX400]

Sam,

 

I just checked the 580 guide, and it looks like it has an awesome distance scale built-in along with that nice wheel. The rangefinder plus guide-number readout is the killer combination to calibrating yourself for manual flash use. The key will be entering your camera ISO so the guide numbers are correct, p. 30 of the flash manual. 

 

With the flash and camera both set to manual and your ISO, you can use the rangefinder and guide number to see if the suggested guide numbers give your images the flash exposure look you want. The guide number of the flash is merely a helpful starting point. 

 

I did the same thing with an SF20 at home, just shooting a shelf of objects at home at 1.5 or 2m until I felt that I had internalized what the flash would do at common distances at that power. I transferred those numbers to the film M and ended up with a good roll.

 

My recent case was 35mm lens, ISO-800 film, f/11 ,1/8 power (lowest setting) on the old leica SF20 flash, and 1/50 shutter, the max sync speed.

This gave my desired overexposed flash by 1 stop at 1.2m away. I used f8 for 2m, or f16 for super-close.

[Sam M]

Cheers, will have a play tonight.

[tonyniev]

I dont know if this helps:

Chinese wireless triggers on a simple bracket

 

[Simon]

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Is that an M10 Ti?

[jlindstrom]

I'll second the Q only, because:

 

- 35mm might be too tight for close interiors

- AF will be your friend for fast situations

- You can be more adhoc with it and enjoy the party (I know, lazy & all...)

- I'd go aperture priority & set auto iso shutter speed to 1/125 & enable image stabilization in the menus. The iq difference won't be a concern.

- others could take a shot or two with the camera as well, so you could be in the photos as well

- 28mm will be better for any group shots

- you could also play around with face detect AF

 

With the M10 I'd probably test & see if I could get away with zone focus. In essence with your 35mm, set aperture to f4 and focus to 3 meters -> you should have everything in focus from 2.3 to 4.2 meters. Then play around with shutter speed & iso to find a useable combination.

 

The distance might sound big, but with a 35mm anything closer and you're shooting 1 person head & shoulders.

 

 

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[brill64]

With the M10 + 35mm, try iso 800 or 1000, 1/30s or 1/60s (to mix some ambient light with your flash fill), f4 or f5.6 to start with. Experiment. Do a few test shots beforehand & adjust the shutter speed & aperture if its under or overexposed. With your flash in manual mode, start at a low power, say, 1/128, then 1/64, then 1/32 & chimp until you get a photo with exposure that you like. When you do, just keep all those settings, fire away & enjoy the party. If that all sounds too complicated, set the 580ex to auto & point it directly upwards to bounce light off the ceiling.

 

If you decide on using the wider Q, use above manual camera settings & switch the on board flash (I think it has one??) to auto or use the 580ex as above.

[Peter H]

I don't own a Q but I nearly always use a 28mm Summicron on my M without flash (for the most part) for parties and the like,  so a Q sounds ideal.

 

I do sometimes also use a 75mm for faces and the like, but it's hardly essential and you can always crop anyway.

 

Have fun!

[pmendelson]

The Q is great for this.  Fast AF, silent shutter, and you can use the rear button to switch to 35mm / 50mm if needed (if you don't mind a smaller file size - for casual party photos the smaller file sizes work fine for me).  I brought the Q and the M10 and 50 Summilux with me to a party the other night.  Both worked well although with the M10 I was constantly refocusing and losing focus because people were moving around a lot and there was very low light...

[TX400]

It also occurs to me that the Q is great not just for 28mm, but the ability to switch to fully automatic mode for when you're one-handed.

 

An M is pretty difficult to use properly in one hand.

[Sam M]

Cheers all. Took both but the M stayed in the bag and the Q was perfect. As people have said, very quick and versatile and capable for such a role. One handed away from the body tourist style was the most effective in a lot of ways!