f2.8 vs f4, bokeh and stop motion?

[iGas]

I'm an old schooled person with most of my experience with 35mm film instead of digital, hence I tend to shoot at or below 200 ISO. And, I'm contemplating at an upgrade or getting the 70-200L f2.8 IS II to complement my 70-200L f4 IS, or get the Sigma 85mm f1.4. Or should I just start shooting at higher ISO speed?

I found that many of my photos have motion blur due to subject movement when I shoot in shady area at 100-200 ISO, at f4 and 1/100~1/200s with my Canon 5D mkII. However, the 70-200L f4 IS produced damned good bokeh, and so as the 100L macro bokeh.

Can someone please post their 70-200L shots at f2.8 and f4 bokeh, as well as 85mm at f1.4~f2.

Thanks

Canon 5D mkII, 70-200L f4 IS, shot at 200mm and f4, image is cropped, subject is around 12'~15' from camera, and background is around 20'~25' behind subject.

Canon 5D mkII, 100L f2.8 IS macro, at f2.8, subject is around 6'~8' from camera, and background is around 25'~30' behind subject.

 

[finbarqs]

the first image is @ 200mm correct?

 

[iGas]

the first image is @ 200mm correct?

Yes it was shot at 200mm

 

[fralexandr]

I think to negate motion blur from moving subjects, you need at least 1/600 shutter speed?

ISO mostly depends on how much you hate noise and how much detail you need (and obviously, your shooting conditions and subject, i.e. if shooting a "night sky" you want ISO 200 or less).
What's an acceptable amount of noise for you?
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos5dmarkii/21

You should be able to go to ISO 1600 or maybe even 3200 (there's some detail lost at 3200 compared to 1600) without significant loss of detail (depending on where the pictures going, i.e. large prints/full resolution pictures on web/etc)

Even ISO 6400 should still work for generic 1920x1080 or 1024x600ish pictures or small/medium prints without noticeable issues.
After 6400 quality seems to dive off a cliff.

Most APS-C cameras of that era imo are only good up to ISO 1600ish, with up to ISO 800 being excellent.
I'm only shooting a pentax K-r (APS-C), so i can't help you with the pictures part.

 

[iGas]

It mostly depends on how much you hate noise.
What's an acceptable amount of noise for you?
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos5dmarkii/21

You should be able to go to ISO 1600 or maybe even 3200 (there's some detail lost at 3200 compared to 1600) without significant loss of detail (depending on where the pictures going, i.e. large prints/full resolution pictures on web/etc)

Even ISO 6400 should still work for generic 1024x600ish pictures or small prints without noticeable issues.

Thanks, by the look of things ISO 1600 look quite good with the 5D mkII.

 

[elitejp]

Motion blur can only be stopped by upping the shutter speed. I believe for a human stationary portrait you need to keep the ss above 1/60. Lower than that you might see some movement depending on how much they may move and how jittery you are holding the camera. Now if someone is waving their arm or something like that then you need something above 1/200. This doesn't take into account what focal length that you are shooting. With your ff camera you need to keep the ss at about the same as the mm. So if your shooting at 200mm you need to be around 1/200 (higher being better) for shutter speed to avoid motion blur when shooting a stationary subject.

You might maybe perchance have unsteady hands causing some camera shake, its common enough. But you have a very very good camera that can easily shoot up to iso 1600 with very little noise. So bump that iso up and increase the ss. Shoot in raw and use dpp for post processing to control the noise. Your pictures will be excellent.

 

[randomrogue]

You have a markII and you're worried about going past ISO 200? You can and should be bumping the ISO. I shoot at ISO 6400 with almost no noise on my D600. The markII can handle at least ISO1600 without excessive noise right?

To me, the bare minimum shutter speed is 1/focal length. Many can go slower but I don't have hands steady enough for this. A heavy telephoto requires me to faster. If I'm at 200m and taking pictures of a moving subject I'm at 1/320 to 1/500 most of the time.

You could do a small experiment to convince yourself what you need by putting the camera on a tripod and having someone run around while you change the shutter speed. Find what works best for you to freeze the subject. Then you're going to have to go even faster while hand held.

 

[iGas]

I shot at ISO 6400 for the last 2 nights and I'm very pleased with the result from it.

50mm at f1.8, 1/60s, ISO 6400.