Fascinating thread from my perspective. I have two major needs: bird photography and I write and take pics for an online music/festival magazine. After selling my Nikon F's thirty years ago, I only got back into photography when I retired 8 years ago. Although I could afford a lot more, my camera/lens combos have been....shall I say....thrifty. Birding: 7DII and usually a Sigma 150-600 lens, which has worked very well for me. Concerts: even more thrifty, I've shot most concert pics with an M50 with adapted 24-74 2.8, a 70-200 f4 and the occasional slow wide angle M series zoom and the the 18-150, which works great for daytime use but useless at nightime concerts, etc. So now I am considering continuing my thriftiness. My major need right now is a 70-200 2.8 for concert photos, so instead of loading a giant lens on my M50, I'm thinking about an RP with the RF 70-200 2.8. It's small, fast, and exactly what I need for concert photography. I've managed do quite well with the relatively inexpensive gear I've been using, and for my uses, I don't think I'd be willing to get anything larger than the RP (I'll still be using my M50 with 24-70 2.8; I usually carry both cameras at night). I realize the RP has an older sensor, but as I said, I've done just fine with a much older 7Dii sensor. Wonder if anyone has any insight into my plan? I actually am renting an RP/70-200 2.8 next week to try out before I purchase one for three festivals I'm covering in September. Any comments would be helpful.
I've gotten into the habit of shooting night/indoor shows with a 24-70/2.8 and a 135/2, each with it's own FF body, particularly if I know I'll have more freedom to roam that the typical 2-3 songs and done from the pit that a media pass will get you. Sometimes even a 35/2 or 50/1.4 and the 135/2. A lot depends on how much confidence I have in the lighting contractor. If I have shot shows produced by them before and they're usually lit bright enough (and with more or less full spectrum lights) sometimes I'll use a 70-200/2.8, maybe even with my 7D Mark II. But lately I've tended to stay with FF bodies unless it's a daylight show. (As an aside, I've not seen a decently lit small to medium size show when the lighting contractor is based out of Nashville in forever. That market seems to be so oversaturated with new folks willing to slash prices that the best techs have moved to other regions and markets.)
This show was shot in a large hotel ballroom/convention hall but lit by a top-notch local company in the Muscle Shoals, AL area. It was a small enough show (2,000-2,500 seated at banquet tables) that I had total freedom of movement, including back areas, thanks to my working relationships with a couple of the performers. I used a 5D Mark IV (Same sensor as the EOS R) and an EF 135mm f/2L (1990s design with no IS) plus a 5D Mark III with an original EF 24-70mm f/2.8L (2002 design with no IS). There was enough light to use a 70-200/2.8 with the 7D Mark II but when I can get away with the 135/2 I like the look of the images so much better that I left the 7DII + 70-200mm in my car's trunk.
Had I taken this shot with the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II at 135mm the background and foreground would be more than a bit 'harsher' or 'busier' than the result I got with the EF 135mm f/2L at f/2.5. Even at f/2.8, the 135/2 is considerably smoother with details in out-of-focus backgrounds than the 70-200/2.8 IS II zoom. The 135mm totally melted the fan's smartphone in the lower part of the frame to the right of center.
Howell Sledge sings with his father Percy's handkerchief in his breast pocket.
Muscle Shoals studio veteran Noble Thurman and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Member Dewey "Spooner" Oldham still rocking backup vox on "Mustang Sally" 55 years after Spooner played the piano at Wilson Pickett's session not far across the river from the venue.
This frame of "everyone" during one of the closers was an over-the-head "blind" shot at 24mm from behind the many guests who were dancing in front of the stage. The tilt screens on the Canon R-series bodies would certainly come in handy for shots like this if you haven't developed enough muscle memory to pull it off shooting blind. [From left: John Paul White in silhouette, (The Civil Wars), Will McFarlane (toured with Bonnie Raitt, Muscle Shoals session player), Howell Sledge (Percy's son), unknown bass player, Travis Wammack (hit the Billboard chart with instumental 'Scratchy' at age 17, MS session player in 1970s-80s, Little Richard's guitarist and bandleader from 1984-95), Mike Dillon (MS session player and road drummer for various acts), Christine 'The Beehive Queen' Ohlman (Saturday Night Live house vocalist), Jerry Phillips (Sun Records founder Sam's son), Kelvin Holly (Little Richard's bandleader and guitarist 1995-2020), Noble Thurman (MS songwriter and session musician for decades), Dewey 'Spooner" Oldham (R&R HOF songwriter and session musician, worked with Aretha Franklin, Percy Sledge, Wilson Pickett, Bob Dylan, CSN&Y, many others)]
