What Lense should i use:

Hey everyone.

I have a question, tomorrow i am doing some photos for a University Ball. I have two cameras which will be used for different jobs the d5000 will be used for inside the ball on the dancefloor and the d7000 will be used to take backdrop studio shots. (both cameras will be in use at same time)

The question i have is what lens should i use for each situation?

i have a 35mm 1.8f and a 18-270mm 3.5-6.3f

i also have an external flash for that will have to sit on the hot shoe of the d5000 as i dont have a sync cord. and for the d7000 have all necessary studio lighting.

I am use to doing model glamour shots and this will be the first time tackling something like this, so any advice would be awesome.

Also if you know any settings or general rules of thumb for In Ball Photos that would be great, even just regular backdrop suggestions.

cheers

Sounds like you have the equipment you need to do the job. The 35mm, f/1.8 should work fine on the dance floor, natural light and flash if needed. I would use the 18-270mm set on 50mm (on a DX camera it has an effective 75mm) for the model glamour shots. For glamour shots and portraits like this you really need a 50mm f/1.8. I've seen backdrops that were very fancy and ones that were very plain. There may already be decorations done in the ball room that may work very well for a back drop especially if there is a dance theme.

You can pick up that 50mm 1.8 fairly cheap, too. It is by far the best bargain in the Nikon line up. I see them used, often for $90 . You just can't afford NOT to have one in the bag at that price.

If you do get a 50mm be aware that a D lens will not auto focus with the D5000. It will auto focus with the D7000. Nikon is just now introducing a 50mm AF-S lens which will auto focus on the D5000 as well as the D7000. The 50mm D lens will work just fine on the D5000 but you have to manually focus it. Using a manually focused lens might work out OK for glamour shots and portraits. You usually have a static focus distance for these types of shots without a lot of refocusing involved. Hope this helps.

Good call on the 50 auto focus. I forget about that sometimes. That is one of the reasons I bought a D90 for that focus motor in the camera body.

Forgetting things is easy, wait until you get to my age. I also bought the D90 for the same reason.

Thanks for the quick replies!!

So the general response is use the prime lense for the dancefloor and the 18-270 for the glamour but set on 50mm

Hope this goes well will show results by this weekend