Help! Advice re concert camera settings

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

10/16/2004 12:18:20 AM · #1

going to a concert tonight and taking cameras. Have never done this before. Equipment available rebel, kit lens, incamera flash, 90-300mm 4.5-5.6 USM lens and Sony 717. I really need advise on what settings might get better results.

This is just for fun, but want to get the best I can with the equipment available.

thanks
sue

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

10/16/2004 12:22:04 AM · #2

Unless you're right up by the stage your flash won't do much good (other than light the heads of the people in front of you). The 90-300 is a rather slow lens so watch your shutter speed. You'll probably have to bump the iso. It might be helpful to take a monopod (depending on how crowded it is).

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

10/16/2004 12:27:49 AM · #3

can probably get fairly close up to the stage (I hope) .....so use the flash? ISO up to 400? Camera mode? Sorry for all the questions........

sue

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

10/16/2004 12:38:56 AM · #4

What ISO setting is going to depend on how well lit the stage is. You might get away with 400. Start there. The onboard flash will work only up to about 10 feet (probably less, check your manual).

If there is a lot of movement on stage then you'll probably want to try Tv (shutter priority) mode or manual. If you're shooting at 300mm then your shutter speed should be at about 1/400 or faster to avoid camera shake.

Message edited by author 2004-10-16 00:45:50.

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

10/16/2004 12:44:17 AM · #5

Thankyou so much Colette, be interesting to see the results. Will take both cameras, am still more comfortable with the Sony, though haven't tried it under those circumstances either.

sue

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

10/16/2004 12:48:30 AM · #6

I'd like to see the results. Also, shoot in RAW if you can and use AWB.

jazzmik

Nikon D300

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Nikon

10/16/2004 12:50:41 AM · #7

when i shoot a concert I start in shutter priority mode at 1/125 and spot meter off the performer's face, then check the results and adjust the ISO to keep it at the lowest level possible. If necessary, you can bump shutter down to 1/60, but I wouldn't go any lower than that. I have found this gives the best results with the constant light changes etc. forget the flash - you lose all the effect of the concert lighting.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

10/16/2004 01:02:55 AM · #8

you guys are awesome :) thanks

HRoxas

Canon EOS-5D

10/16/2004 01:28:07 AM · #9

You might want to read this article Concert, Stage and Low-light Photography.

Contains info on equipment, camera settings, and whatnot. I had one chance to shoot a stage performance (Burlesque show) last August. It was really challenging, the lighting being very erratic and with performers constantly moving on stage, I had to wait until they stopped moving or during slow movements unless you want to catch a lot of motion blur. I took 2Gb of raw images during the 1.5hr performance and only a handful was decent.

Les Coquettes (ok to view, no nudity)

MAK

Leica CL

Leica 18-56mm f/3.5-5.6 Vario Elmar-T ASPH

10/16/2004 02:48:00 AM · #10

Here in Japan they do not allow flash photography in the theatre. so I would need a very fast lens indeed. being close to the stage with a nice camera like you have (BOTH OF THEM) then i dont think you will have any worries even if you use full auto mode. but the advice to shoot in RAW mode is good because then you can set it again afterwards on your pc as if you were taking the pic again.. RAW is a great thing I have just started to use it myself and i love it to death just need a bigger card now I think i have outgrown the 256mb card i first got.

Best of all ... please enjoy the show

atsxus

Canon EOS-10D

Sigma 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6 DC for Canon

10/16/2004 03:48:31 AM · #11

Sue;

the best thing a security guard ever told me was to turn off my flash! I was in the front row, and the security guard said it was too distracting. So I turned it off and got some pretty increadible images, because of all of the colored strobe lights. If you can get close enough, the lights on stage will be very good as a light source. I've never had any problems in that regard. But you'll want to put your ISO up to 800, because no doubt they'll be running around on stage and you want to be able to freeze your shots.

I'd put your camera on shutter priority, if you have that feature, and set the shutter to 1/250. take a shot, see how that looks on the display, and if you've got good lighting, you can probably bump it up to 1/350. But I wouldn't go any higher because it is still a very dark situation. Play around. The concert is long enough that you'll be able to experiment and wind up with some excellent shots.

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

10/16/2004 06:18:45 AM · #12

Well......that was tough, but what a buzz!!!! Lighting was not the best, no flash allowedm ummmmmm music was interesting LOL, but ohhhhh it was fun!

Learned a huge lesson....didn't take the 18-55mm lens as I thought I wouldn't need it(I know, dumb!!!!!) and there was very little room at the front of the stage, was too close for the lens! Got better results from the Sony.

Have only edited a couple of shots so far. This was taken with the rebel, not sure on what ps to do.....have done levels, adjusted brightness/contrast slightly and resized.

sue

BobsterLobster

Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro

10/16/2004 06:25:50 AM · #13

Originally posted by bruchen:

You might want to read this article Concert, Stage and Low-light Photography.

What a great link!
This is a field that I REALLY want to break into, especially as I'm also a musician. My advice: NO flash whatsoever, not only is it annoying for the performers, but you'll get better pictures without it.
Try and anticipate good moments... during a song, a performer will often pull a great face that you'll miss. Wait for the same lyric if it's a chorus the next time round and grab it!

If you're right in front of them, and they have a microphone, try to anticipate the moment when they move their face away from it. The best time is in-between songs. In the following shot, this must have been the only moment she moved her mouth away from the microphone... sooo frustrating!

Experiment with negative space and composition

Zoom in tight, but also try and anticipate what the hands are going to do so if they stretch the hands out you don't chop them off!

Look for background elements, and see if you can make them part of your shot:

Try and notice what is happening in the background... if possible, try and wait until there are no lights/ distracting elements in the shot... or if there are, make sure they don't detract from your composition.

If you're going for a shot of more than one person, try and show a relationship between them... especially if you can catch them glancing to each other. If they're looking in opposite directions, that's usually not good.

Show the crowd as well!

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

10/16/2004 07:03:07 AM · #14

Great shots Bob and very helpful advice too thanks :)

These were taken with the sony, came out a bit better

will edit the rest tomorrow
sue

BobsterLobster

Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro

10/16/2004 07:06:23 AM · #15

Nice shots, well exposed. I don't understand why they're all centered though... next time, if the performer is looking to your right, place them at the left of the frame!

10/16/2004 07:11:51 AM · #16

ok will do, can't wait to go back and try again.