Sorry, I was wrong, you can get this lens cheaper in a grade I still find acceptable.....
http://www.adorama.com/US%20%20%20%20629563.html
At that price, its a STEAL!
I cannot recommend this lens more highly to you for what
you are trying to accomplish. I shot Bobby Rush in Memphis
one night almost exclusively with this lens, at least ON STAGE.
If you see a guitar in his hand, it was shot with this lens.
http://olsart.blogspot.com/2014/02/b...-southern.html
Suffice it to say it was MUCH darker in this room than in your
ballet stage. If you learn to work the aperture by hand and
focus by hand, get perfect exposure indications on your light
meter and STILL HATE manual focus, send it to me and I will
buy it from you for $50.
And no, Dave, I don't shill for anyone, and I know you were mostly joking.
But I do know where the best price is, and I try to make sure none of the
people I know from here ever pay more than they have to, no matter who
has the item. And Helen, since you brought her up, just helped me with
the second issue in a row on the same order, my mirror taking a flyer
during a shoot. I brought all that business here by using the wrong word
in a sentence. But again, she helps people while she guards their reputation.
Better that it didn't happen at all, but this was not a debacle in the end.
You see where that second link went, don't you? Not Ado, but B&H. I am fair.