Go to Lens combination: Nikon 14-24mm ƒ/2.8 & Nikon 28-300mm ƒ/3.5-5.6

Impact 360 Institute’s Campus Expansion Dedication [Nikon D5, 14-24mm ƒ/2.8, ISO 2200, ƒ/8, 1/100]

One of the types of photography I do a great deal of for clients in event coverage. This is the type of coverage that you are capturing the photos with available light and an occasional on-camera flash for a quick grip and grin.

Impact 360 Institute’s Campus Expansion
Dedication [Nikon D5, 28-300mm ƒ/3.5-5.6, ISO 100, ƒ/5.6, 1/500]

In these situations, you need to go as wide as possible to pretty close up. I find that the Nikon 14-24mm ƒ/2.8 is the best lens for capturing those super wide and wide-angle shots.

Impact 360 Institute’s Campus Expansion
Dedication [Nikon D5, 14-24mm ƒ/2.8, ISO 5000, ƒ/8, 1/100]

With a new campus dedication, I needed to show tour groups going through and around the new campus. I used the 14 -24mm to capture the room interiors with people to give a sense of perspective and to capture as much of the room as possible.

Now I was also using the 28-300mm because I was needing to capture moderate to telephoto shots of people around the campus and the speakers at a podium.

Larry Cox
Impact 360 Institute’s Campus Expansion
Dedication [Nikon D5, 28-300mm ƒ/3.5-5.6, ISO 11400, ƒ/8, 1/200]

Now, this lens combination works great for just about any situation. Now for a smaller venue, I am often using the Sigma 24-105mm ƒ/4 when I just want to carry one camera.

Impact 360 Institute’s Campus Expansion
Dedication [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm, ISO 100, ƒ/5.6, 1/400]

If you are to cover things where you have speakers and need to capture rooms where you cannot back up enough then the 14-24mm and 28-300mm lenses will help you do a great job.

I am also loving my Fuji X series cameras and lenses. I am finding shooting with the Fuji X-E2/X-E3 with the 10-24mm and the 55-200mm lenses will give you a similar lens coverage.

Fuji X-E3, 10-24mm ƒ/4, ISO 10000, ƒ/4, 1/200]

The Fuji is a much lighter system than the Nikon.

[Fujifilm X-E3, 55-200mm, ISO 1250, ƒ/5.6, 1/1000 – Flashpoint Zoom Li-on R2 TTL & Flashpoint R2 TTL transmitter]

It is much easier to walk around at an event all day with the Fuji system.

I haven’t tried the Fujifilm XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 R LM OIS. I would love to try this with some high school football games to see if it could work. However, I am super confident with the Nikon D5 & Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 with the TC-2001 converter keeping up with the action.

I am also more pleased with the Nikon D5 having microphone and headphone jacks for recording video. The Nikon D5 is the camera system that does it all and my only complaint is the weight.

My recommendation is to have lenses for covering events that are at least 20mm wide to 30mm for a full-frame camera. As far as a camera I cannot see ever buying a camera today that doesn’t have an ISO of at least 51200 and a low of 100. This will let you shoot in almost every situation without the need for a flash. The reasons I use my flash today are to add light to improve the photo where often there is no light.

Shooting events requires you to be ready for just about everything, so be sure you have the lenses, camera, and flash to deliver to the client.