I currently have a Canon Rebel T3i camera with an EFS 18-55 mm lens. It does not zoom very far. It's great for taking portraits of people. I would like to take good photos of stage performances for my school such as theatre and dance. Would you please recommend some lenses for me to do this? I usually am able to get pretty close to the stage but I would like to be able to stand at the back of the theatre not to disturb anyone.
Sumi
Stage work is very technically demanding and requires special equipment. This is due to the low-light levels commonly found in stage work combined with the motion of your subjects. Add in the fact that you can't use tripods and you will find that you need more than just a lens with a longer focal length.
For example, the 55-250 would easily be a great focal length which would allow you to zoom in on the individual actors. However, the 55-250 has a maximum aperture of only f/4-5.6. When you are at the wide side, the aperture is at f/4. Zoom in past around 150mm, and your lens' maximum aperture closes down to just f/5.6. This is just not large enough for stage work and you'll end up getting motion blur from you and/or the subjects. IS will help reduce YOUR motion blur, but it does absolutely nothing for preventing motion blur of your subjects; that's only prevented by a faster shutter speed. So, you'll end up having to use a very high ISO with a 55-250, maybe as high as ISO 3200.
If you were to use a 70-200 f/2.8 lens, then instead of ISO 3200, you would greatly lower your ISO to just ISO 800.
The right lens for stage work is a 70-200 f/2.8 with image stabilization. There are currently three options on the market (new) - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?atclk=Zoom+Focal+Lengths_70-200mm&ci=274&N=4288584247+4108103567+4109120025+4109120026+3991602361+4261208161
?
A very good, relatively economical telephoto lens is the EF-S 55-250mm IS STM.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5wZAvUmPUA
However, the f5.6 at the long end is not great in low light. Since you are doing this for the school, you can probably be provided with a good spot to set up a tripod, and maybe eliminate camera shake that way. Turn off IS when using a tripod. That won't solve the motion blur problem. Sometimes you can ambush the moment between when someone is moving one way and the other. If you can get the face sharp that is fine, even if limbs are motion blurred.
Some lenses with wider aperture could help, but with telephoto zooms that gets very expensive.
?
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
Love this Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens , use it for weddings, family, senior, wildlife, and pet photography. I would recommend others to purchase this lens!"
Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
"Solid construction. Good feel during use. Good combination of characteristics cover most every-day needs minimizing lense changing."
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
retiredPhil
Don't know how big your theater is, but 200mm should cover it. You might replace your kit lens with the EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS or for better low light performance, the EF 70-200mm f/4L USM.
BriaR
You need a fairly fast lens for that.
Depending how far away you want to be:
Canon EF100mm f/2
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-100mm-2-0-Telephoto-Lens/dp/B00007EE8G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1437986315&sr=8-2&keywords=canon+100mm
or the 135mm f/2
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-135mm-Fixed-Focal-Length-x/dp/B00007EE8H/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1437986655&sr=1-1&keywords=canon+135mm+f2
or if you are further away the EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-70-200mm-2-8-USM-Lens/dp/B0033567D8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437986438&sr=8-1&keywords=canon+70-200
If those are a little too rich for you then a very good lens now discontinued by Canon but available for good money ua=sed is the EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 (NB NOT the f/4-5.6 version!!)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Canon-Lens-EF28-105mm-Used-but-good-condition-/301675480279?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item463d4284d7