Nikon D5, Sigma TC-2001 2x, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM | S, ISO 22800, ƒ/5.6, 1/500

I have a daughter in theatre, and I enjoy using my photography to connect with her through her plays and musicals.

I have been shooting the latest performance using Nikon D5 and Fuji X-E2. Let me start by jumping to the end for you. I wish I could blend the two cameras, and then I would be happy.

What I loved about the Nikon D5 was I could shoot at ISO 45600, which also let me use the shutter speed of 1/500.

What I loved about the Fuji X-E2 is that because it is a mirrorless camera, it is much quieter.

Now the Fuji lens has image stabilization. As long as the actors were still, I could get excellent images. However, most of the time, ISO 6400 was the top I could get out of the Fuji, which limited the shutter speed to about 1/200. This was only possible when the stage was well lit.

They often dim the lights in theater to where you need a much higher ISO.

Now I tried shooting with the Nikon D5 in Live View, which lets you shoot silent. It grabbed a screenshot. However, it is only a JPEG, and most of all, the autofocus sucked. Even Nikon tells you as much. This is on page 45 of the manual.

The only reason I wouldn’t say I liked the Nikon D5 was the noise of the shutter as compared to the Fuji. In every other respect, I preferred it.

The Fuji images put side by side with the Nikon D5 were very acceptable. As long as the actors were not running around, then they were excellent.

The main downside of the Fuji is the focus didn’t lock in as fast as the Nikon D5. If it went out of focus, it would hunt.

Then Nikon D5 was extremely quick with focus.

If I could have made the camera as quiet as the Fuji, I would have never shot the Fuji. In live theatre, you don’t want to draw attention to yourself and distract from the performance because of the camera.

I chose to shoot more with the Fuji based on the sound of the camera more than anything else.

Here are some more photos for you to see, the camera, and the settings.