Lens for group shot? (150+)

bigtel

bigtel

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Hi,

I've been asked in work would I take a photo of all the members within the factory. Not sure on the numbers but if it was operators, support staff, managers etc it would easily be 150-300.

I imagine it would be outside our hanger to show where we work.

Can anybody recommend a lens?

We have steps in work so I shall be able to get a couple of meters above everybody.

I'm worried to fit everybody in I might need to be far back with my 18mm.

I have a 55-300mm telephoto. Would that work if had nothing in my direct line and was able to stand far back?

It would be easier if it was flat outside the factory building but theres banking etc

Thanks
 
Any lens will fit them in depending how far back you go!!!


If you have a lens which goes to 18mm then that's already quite wide, assuming you're using a crop camera?

The only other lenses will be things like the 10-22 or 11-18 which are a lot wider, or even a fisheye which is 180degrees!



Your other option is to take multiple photos like a panorama and stitch them together :-)
 
Or a whole bunch of yellow pages so you can get a row sat on the floor, a row kneeling, a row standing and a row behind them on the yellow pages :-D
 
You're going to want a short/wide lens. Not only so that you can fit them all in, but also so you can maximize the depth of field and get them all in focus.

I would use hyperfocal settings because you are also going to want the BG (hangar) in focus.

An easy ROT for hyperfocal distance is: when using f/16 DX or f/ll FF the hyperfocal distance is the lens's focal length as a percentage of the focal length.
i.e. 10mm: 10% of 10=1ft, 50mm: 50% of 50 =25ft. if you cut the aperture in half (f/8, f/5.6) the distance is doubled.
You then have to estimate the distance to place the focus (since distance scales are inadequate/missing on most lenses), and since this ROT is also an estimate, estimate the focus distance a little long (much less penalty than estimating short).
 
You could also shoot vertical/portrait & stitch them together. (`pano`style)
 
Thanks for the advice. Still trying to get my head round that sk66!

So if I used my 18mm:

18mm: 18% of 18 = 3.24ft and this is at f/16DX.

So if I f/8 this would be 6.48ft and then f/4 12.94 ft?

Now for a large group I imagine I will need to be far back, 40ft???

So are you saying I can calculate which f stop etc I should need and distance before hand? Sorry, never used this method before :thinking:

Also like the stitching idea, would that print more like a panoramic though?
 
No, hyperfocal distance is the distance from you that you focus the lens on. When that's done, everything from 1/2 that distance to infinity will be in acceptable focus.

So @ f/16DX 18mm focused at ~3.25 ft (I't's actually 3.4ft, remember to estimate long) everything from 1.6 (1.7) ft to infinity wold be in focus.

Worked differently, if you are 40ft away and want everything from the front row to infinity in focus You just need an aperture that puts the hyperfocal distance at less than the subject distance, and then focus on the front row. With an 18mm that would be around f/1.4.

If shot in portrait you would want to use about 3 frames to stitch together a "normal" composition. When doing people use A LOT of overlap on the frames because people don't stand still...it won't be an easy "auto stitch."
 
bigtel said:
Also like the stitching idea, would that print more like a panoramic though?
Click to expand...

Yes it would if you took several shots, but you might be able to do it with 2 shots, depending on how `wide` your group is positioned. Don't forget to overlap by 25-30% though.
Microsoft ICE is a great (free) prog btw. Really quick & easy to use.
 
adamdavi3s said:
The only other lenses will be things like the 10-22 or 11-18 which are a lot wider, or even a fisheye which is 180degrees!
Click to expand...

Here's a good example of a fisheye in action - at a wedding.
Just click the Showcase on the right hand side, look at the images then go back and read the text :)
http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content...k_13&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter
On full-frame this lens has 180deg circular coverage at 8mm, and 180deg corner to corner at 15mm.
I know it's a Canon, but I'd be surprised if there isn't something moderately similar for your system. Remember you can hire specialist lenses :)
 
Thanks for all the advice and support, definitely a friendly group on here :)

We had a walk around today and chose this as the best location. There is too much banking and street lights in the way around the side and this is the clearest area with nothing blocking the view.

I plan to move a bit to the right than the photo below to get the building drifting off into the background which I may get a bit of dof.

I'm going to be on big steps about 2 metres high and hope to attach my tripod to them so with my remote I can be on the photo.

Tomorrow I'm going to try a photo with my 18mm on the ground to see how it looks.

Looking at this the range might be 2-10 meters??


IMAG3352 by Terry Moran Photography, on Flickr
 
You should be fine with 18mm being your widest, I took a photo of the whole of my year with them standing only around 5 meters away - but I had to stitch two separate photos together - stitching is ok just you can see the barrel distortion more prominently imo especially in the right hand photo that I stitched, here in-fact have a look:


IMG_0040-Edit.jpg by ChristianJ-R, on Flickr
 
I think you have your answer.

Height is the key to getting everyone in and not having to stand so far away that you get oodles of sky or foreground.

Get as high as you can and look down on everyone (like many wedding shots you see). Should do the trick.
 
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