Will reply to this and all the other wonderfully helpful posts after I'm out of this meeting, but just wanted to note that "Dad turning up with his Sony battleship" strikes precisely the *right* note!
rob_ww wrote:
As a dad and granddad with decades of taking the dad photos you describe, I would recommend an aperture of f2.0 or wider for indoor shots of moving children. Not only for speed in low-light, but also because you have almost no control over the background to that 'great' shot you just captured. The shallow depth of field really takes the background out of play -- and these days you can do a lot in post-process to take that effect further.
For indoor distances, 35 to 50 is the focal length range, so that means a 35GM or one of the 50GMs. You wont be sorry. It's rare that a 24 or 28 group shot works well for everyone in the group, and longer reach is not needed unless your house is really, really large.
Another advantage of using a prime is that you are less imposing. Everyone is having fun. No-one wants to think about 'formal' photos. Dad turning up with his Sony battleship just strikes the wrong note.
I get the need for longer reach at a different venue, e.g. a park, concert or sports ground. 70-200 is great for that, although a 135 prime will give you excellent reach and becomes 200 with APS-C crop.
PS my 'dad photos' are now prized by the whole family. So I am glad (and they are too) that I owned and used great equipment 20,30 years ago. Curiously, the pics become more precious with time. Show them the week after the gathering and no-one says much. Show them 5 years later, people pause over each and every one and declare it amazing!
Jul 12, 2024 at 10:46 AM
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