best lens to shoot low light

R

robshameless

New member
so i just got a GH2 and all i have in a3x Zoom Lens--14-42mm F/3.5-5.6. and i am going to be shooting a lot of live concerts with rack to low light venues. what is the best lens to get to shoot these kinds of places?

this is what i have shot


this is what i want it to look like


how can i do this? or close to it with the lens i have? i am new to the game and am more a hands on guy so if there are some vids i can watch please post.​
 
Lenses with a wide aperture, f.1.4, 1.8 etc. You can pick up a 50mm 1.8 on eBay for pretty inexpensively, such as the old Canon FD mount lenses. You will need an adapter to attach it to your GH1/GH2 though. Since this lens is a 50mm, aswell as the 2x crop sensor of the GH1, the fov will be pretty narrow, maybe not the most ideal option, when shooting in a small venue. Vivitar also make a 28mm f2 i believe.

If money isn't an issue, than you may also consider the Panasonic 14mm f2.5, its not as fast as the others, but it is a much wider lens.
 
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If you're shooting at ~f3.5 in your sample above, I's say you're under by about one and a half stops to get the look you want. Search for F2 or better.

Expensive zoom: Olympus 14-35/2. Really the only wide F2 zoom available for anything.
µ43 primes: SLR Magic 12/T1.6, Olympus 12/2, Lumix 20/1.7, Leica Summilux-DG 25, Voightlander 17.5 and 25 /0.95.
Other primes: Smattering of other <24mm f1.4's available. Fast 35-50's are easy to find in a wide variety of makes.
Odd Zoom: Tamron 4-12/1.2 C-mount. Have to use it in ETC mode, but it can be wacky. Lots of other fast C-mount prime lenses.
 
You'll see several on eBay. I have one from rainbowimaging that was under $20 and it works fine. Definitely pick up an FD 50mm f/1.4 - you can find them under $70. The Lumix 14mm f/2.5 is a great lens and you can get it new for $160.
 
Ive got a Pentax CCTV 1.8 12.5 to 75mm ( about 50mm-300 FOV in ETC mode only way to use it.) Had it declicked and shaved barely a mm off back ring to get infinity focus on my Kipon m 4/3 C mount adapter. It's $300 bucks, not cheap at BH but it's small, well made and the glass is exceptional and with ETC mode gives a great 16mm DOF feel to it. In the sun it flares like crazy mostly blue, have no idea why but tend to use it with B&W mode for music video's etc and have used it in a doc I just shot when I needed a very discreet set up hand held. I sold my Tokina 16-50 as it was soulless.

Otherwise shot almost an entire doc feature with the Voigt 25mm 0.95 in Jan and just moved in or out when selecting best FOV. Looking at the vera Criz stuff, on stage getting into the scene, I would save my cash for the 25mm Voigt (you can find it for $900) and you will not be disappointed.
 
If you can afford it, the Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95 is an incredible lens. It's like full color night vision, especially combined with the latest hacks that have improved ISO performance considerably. They're also going to release a 17mm f/0.95 soon, which may be better for recording from on-stage. I'm in love with Voigtländer, they just ooze old-school optical craftsmanship.
 
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