Nikon D5 & Fuji X-E2 Shooting Live Theatre

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 who is in theatre and I have been enjoying using my photography to connect with her through her plays and musicals.

I have been shooting the latest performance using Nikon D5 and my Fuji X-E2. Let me just 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.

Nikon D5, Sigma TC-2001 2x, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM | S, ISO 45600, ƒ/5.6, 1/500

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

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 800, ƒ/4.4, 1/60

Now the Fuji lens has image stabilization that as long as the actors were somewhat 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.

In theater they often dim the lights to where you need a much higher ISO.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/4.8, 1/200

Now I did try shooting with the Nikon D5 in Live View and this let you shoot totally silent. It grabbed a screen shot. However it is only a JPEG and most of all the auto focus sucked. Even Nikon tells you as much. This is on page 45 of the manual.

The only reason I disliked 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 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 sound of the camera more than anything else.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 1600, ƒ/4.8, 1/200

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



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Fuji X-E2 the camera system for Live Theater

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 1600, ƒ/4.8, 1/100

For the last performance of Into The Woods I shot with my Fuji X-E2. I was shooting with the electronic shutter mode, so it was completely silent. I had also learned from earlier tests that I needed to shoot below 1/100 with this stage lighting to avoid blurring of the image.

Now this is a pretty tricky lighting, but I could tweak the image before I shot it. I was seeing the results I would be getting and in theater the lighting changes so much that this is a blessing to shoot with the mirrorless Fuji X-E2.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 1250, ƒ/4.2, 1/100

I dialed in the best white balance using the Kelvin settings. I knew from past custom white balance that the Kelvin was around 2900º K so I just dialed that in.

I had confirmation because I could see the results before shooting in the viewfinder.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 5000, ƒ/4.8, 1/100

Silence Your Phones & No Texting

During theater productions just texting will light up your face to everyone around you. To avoid this problem with the camera's LCD I turned that off and just used the EVF and had it set to only work when my eye was at the viewfinder.

Now since I had done the latest firmware upgrade for the Fuji X-E2 I now had the electronic shutter which allows for me to shoot in total silence.

I also put a small piece of gaffer's tape over the light that shows the files being written on the SD card.

I wanted to not draw any attention to me shooting the performance.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 5000, ƒ/4.8, 1/100

I am convinced that I can shoot this setup in any theater and also due to fully silent use this on movie sets in the future. There is no need to use a Blimp to put your DSLR in to remain silent.

The Fuji X-E2 is my go to camera for live theater.