Dance recital settings -- need help please

[jburly]

A little while back I asked for help with my indoor settings. All of your input has helped me a lot!! Now I'm asking for help again... :lol:

Tonight is the dress rehearsal for my daughter's ballet performance. We are allowed to bring cameras, but no flash photography. I am trying to decide which lens to use.

#1 - Canon EF 70-200mm f4 L USM
#2 - Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II

Now I used the 50mm before & had such soft images in low light. But that was because I was shooting with 1.8. I have found that it isn't really sharp (in low light) until I stop it down to around f4. If I'm going to be shooting at f4, would I be better off with the L lens? It would definitely be nice to zoom in!

Has anyone ever used ISO 3200 on their 20D? I've shot with 1600, but never 3200. Would you recommend this with these lenses? Also, what type of white balance would you use with stage lights? I would love to be able to shoot RAW so that I wouldn't have to worry so much about WB, but I only have a 1 gig card & I'm afraid of limiting the number of shots I take.

I am aware that the odds are stacked against me here. I'm going to take my monopod & would appreciate any suggestions that might improve my chances of getting a couple good shots. She'll only be on stage for a couple of minutes so I won't have much time to experiment.

Thanks!!

[gpgyo]

If you shoot RAW with small JPEGs you should be able to get well over 100 shots on a 1 GB card. I think experimentation is a must. Take a lot of pictures before your daugher comes on, just remember to format your card right before she does. Review what you take with the on camera screen. Its not the best but its all you can do.

I have the 50 f/1.8 and I have used it at f/1.8 in a gym with great success and sharp pictures. Make sure your shutter speed is high enough to stop the action and if you can use a monopod all the better. If you have to shoot high ISO you will need to use noise reduction software. I like Noise Ninja but there are others, some of which are free.

Have fun,
Greg