Marc Binkley

Vintage Canon

What is a good fast lens for low light photography?

I have a Canon EOS Rebel T1i. I’m leaning toward the Carl Zeiss Planar T 1.4/50 ZE but it’s a fixed focal length and I’m not sure if that’s the best for concerts and stage events. However I’ve been a big Zeiss fan since I got my first vintage Rolleiflex with Zeiss lenses. Would one of the Canon lenses be better for a lower price point?

For concert and stage events you will unlikely see any image quality improvement over a Canon f1.4 lens. And I would hate to give up auto focus in that situation.

You typically are shooting either too large an aperture (with little DOF) or too slow a shutter speed (motion blur) due to the low light levels. These are compromises you will be making. Many situations you will be shooting ISO 1600. You will not be getting the best out of any lens.

If you want to do this kind of shooting then get a 5D II camera. The low light capability will help you a lot more. And your concern about the fixed focal length is valid. It is limiting. A fast f2.8 zoom will not give be enough in really low light but in reasonable light (it always will be lower than you would like) it will be much more flexible.

Also consider the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 for low light work. It will give you some more reach and is very good wide open on a cropped format sensor. For concerts I use 50 and 85mm and 17-55mm f2.8 for a zoom.

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