Good concert camera?

arrrggghhh

Hello! I am new to the world of photography and have been having a great time taking my camera to concerts. I have a Olympus D-560 and it, at times, produces great results. However, due to the lack of a manual shutter, keeps me from getting good photos at some venues. I was wondering if anyone here could recommend a good "concert" camera, possibly one that would require me to use the flash as little as possible, if at all. Also, the cheaper the better! Thanks for your time!

ian408

arrrggghhh wrote:

Hello! I am new to the world of photography and have been having a great time taking my camera to concerts. I have a Olympus D-560 and it, at times, produces great results. However, due to the lack of a manual shutter, keeps me from getting good photos at some venues. I was wondering if anyone here could recommend a good "concert" camera, possibly one that would require me to use the flash as little as possible, if at all. Also, the cheaper the better! Thanks for your time!

Canon S50. Complete with full on manual. All black.

But then what are your expectations? Do you want close ups? Something
with an interchangeble lens?

For starters, read a few camera reviews at www.dpreview.com.

My guess is you want small and stealthy?

Ian

arrrggghhh

Oh, I forgot to mention that, but SMALL and STEALTHY preffered. I've been looking at the Sony DSC V1. The size seems good, plus it seems to have some low light features. I will use it for close ups mostly. An interchangeable lens would probably not work, I would still like it to fit into my pocket (or at the least my girlfriends purse). Thanks for the help!

rutt

arrrggghhh wrote:

Oh, I forgot to mention that, but SMALL and STEALTHY preffered. I've been looking at the Sony DSC V1. The size seems good, plus it seems to have some low light features. I will use it for close ups mostly. An interchangeable lens would probably not work, I would still like it to fit into my pocket (or at the least my girlfriends purse). Thanks for the help!

I evaluated this and ended up buying a Canon S500 instead. The Sony is very very nice in every way except it takes a long time between shots. The shutter lag is good, but then you have to wait almost 3 seconds to take the next shot. With the S500, it's under 1 second. It's sad, because in every other way the DSC V1 is so cute.

The images from the S500 are very good, IMHO. On the other hand, there isn't much in the way of manual control. But I have my DSLR for that.

Here is an unretouched S500 image:

arrrggghhh

How well would I be able to take low light pictures without a flash? Thanks.

HarveyMushman

arrrggghhh wrote:

How well would I be able to take low light pictures without a flash? Thanks.

Look for camera with a fast lens, ie with a maximum aperature of 1.8 or 2.8. Also look for one that allows you to adjust the ISO setting to 400 and above (and will take relatively noise-free pics at those settings).

gus

What ever Andy uses....& take andy with you.

fish

Humungus wrote:

What ever Andy uses....& take andy with you.

And let him take the photos. :lol

cletus

fish wrote:

And let him take the photos. :lol

Quite possibly the best advice ever given on dgrin

wxwax

The more I think about Andy's pics of Sting, the more jealous I am. I tried shooting a performance by a band a few weeks ago, and despite having close access to the stage, the shots were miserable.

Flash lit up everything, revealed the ugliness of the setting, was horrible. But non-flash was impossible - only two of the performers were in enough light for my cam to get crisp shots. The bass player, a co-worker, was in a darker area, and there was no way to get a good shot. Getting anything on the drummer was out of the question.

I'm wondering if anyone has any tips? I moved to a higher ISO and shot wide open. One of the big reasons I want to upgrade cameras is to be able to shoot at high ISOs in low light without having a lot of noise. A used Canon 1D is looking pretty good to me right now.

cletus

wxwax wrote:

I'm wondering if anyone has any tips? I moved to a higher ISO and shot wide open. One of the big reasons I want to upgrade cameras is to be able to shoot at high ISOs in low light without having a lot of noise. A used Canon 1D is looking pretty good to me right now.

You could try retrofiting your camera with a CCD cooling system

I have yet to shoot digital at a concert. I've shot a couple concerts on film and had very good luck with T-Max 3200. I'd usually rate the film at ISO-3200 or 6400 and shoot with the camera in aperture priority at f2.8.

T-Max 3200 is a very grainy film, but the grain has a cool sharp-edged characteristic. I've often wondered if it would be posibile to use Photoshop to manipulate a high-iso digital shot so that the noise started to look like sharp-edge film grain.

Here is a the look I'm talking about:

wxwax

Why is it that film 'noise' (grain) looks so good, whereas digital noise looks like crap? I really like your shot. And it discourages me that you had to reach all the way to 3200 to get it. :cry

gus

wxwax wrote:

Why is it that film 'noise' (grain) looks so good, whereas digital noise looks like crap? I really like your shot. And it discourages me that you had to reach all the way to 3200 to get it. :cry

Maybe cause film is silver & dig is coloured dots.

cletus

wxwax wrote:

...it discourages me that you had to reach all the way to 3200 to get it. :cry

This one was Fujichrome 1600 (click for larger image):


I got to thinking about this last night. I used an 80-200 f2.8 for these shots. Since the dSLRs that we mortals can afford have a 1.5x focal length multiplier, an 85mm lens becomes a 128mm lens. That's right in the middle of the range I was using. So a dSLR with an 85 f1.8 should be able to get similar shots, albeit with less depth of field, at an ISO in the 400 to 800 range.

wxwax

That's another nice shot, Cletus. Right then, I'm off to the store!

pathfinder

cletus wrote:

So a dSLR with an 85 f1.8 should be able to get similar shots, albeit with less depth of field, at an ISO in the 400 to 800 range.

Cletus - you keep thinking this way and the next thing you know, we will be seeing concert shots from Cletus shot with his new Canon 85f1.2 L monster lens - Now that would be a concert lens fer sure. Or even a 135 f2.0 L Both are great glass - then you will be out looking for a 200 f1.8 there all time granddaddy of near tele high speed glass. This can be an expensive way to fly, Cletus.

Seriously, the little 85f1.8 is the one I chose to buy - for the reasons you mentioned - fast enough, not as expensive as L glass, and smaller and lighter and focuses faster. Takes 58 mm filters too if that is important. And it is sharp once you close down one stop.

pathfinder

cletus wrote:

You could try retrofiting your camera with a CCD cooling system

I have yet to shoot digital at a concert. I've shot a couple concerts on film and had very good luck with T-Max 3200. I'd usually rate the film at ISO-3200 or 6400 and shoot with the camera in aperture priority at f2.8.

T-Max 3200 is a very grainy film, but the grain has a cool sharp-edged characteristic. I've often wondered if it would be posibile to use Photoshop to manipulate a high-iso digital shot so that the noise started to look like sharp-edge film grain.

Here is a the look I'm talking about:

Have yoo looked at Fred Mirandas new Pro B&W conversion plug in. It has a set of buttons to allow the addition of noise as shown here


http://www.fredmiranda.com/Buzz/Inteface.html Might be worth a try for $29.90. Not spamming - I bought it myself and it seems like it might add the noise you desire.

wxwax

Ya know, I'm kicking myself. I signed up there a few weeks ago, got an offer to get the thing for free... until April 3rd. I've been so jammed at work until today that it completely slipped my mind.

Andy

concert pics - sting
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=701

for these shots i used a nikon d100 and also a sony f828

the 828 is very stealthy and gave me excellent results. any dslr will, also....

:andy

Andy

wxwax wrote:

Why is it that film 'noise' (grain) looks so good, whereas digital noise looks like crap? I really like your shot. And it discourages me that you had to reach all the way to 3200 to get it. :cry

dig noise can look good, imo ... it's a technique that you should practice. if you bug me i'll dig up some examples and write an explantion :andy

Andy

fish, 'gus, wax, cletus

cletus wrote:

Quite possibly the best advice ever given on dgrin

aw you guys are the best! thanks for the cool compliment. sooo what concert(s) am i going to? heheheh

andy

Phil Holbrook

Good Concert Camera
Hi, I have read good and bad about the Sony F828 which I have just purchased.
Can I use it in Auto mode with the flash off for concert photos or is it best in manual mode?

Michiel de Brieder

well
As for a cheap solution:
I've been using the V1 for some concert/festival stuff, you can check this out:
http://www.pbase.com/giel/arrow_2004&page=all
http://www.pbase.com/giel/chumbawamba_2004
As for a more expensive solution I've been using a D30 with 70-200 F4, 50 F1.4, 28-105 F3.5-4.5 to shoot these:
http://www.pbase.com/giel/d30_events
And I'm hoping to do some very nice shooting next saturday with my brand new 20D
For dark venues there is no cheap solution.... ISO 1600, 3200 or even 6400 are certain to be used... Not nice, but necessary nonetheless (depending on the lens of course but fast lenses are very expensive... except perhaps for some good primes, 50mm F1.4 85mm F1.8 100m F2.8 and the like). You might even consider a film body with T-max 3200 film (even pushed to 6400 when necessary)

Well I hope his has helped Let me know if you need more info on my experience (not much, but I'm very interested in concert shooting, I hope to set up www.rockpages.nl soon, the domain is already mine )
Enjoy your Sundy!!

bkriete

Hey Andy,
I'd like to hear more about creating attractive digital noise...seems like part of the problem is that film noise is in highlights and digital is in shadows...