Panasonic MZ20 or.....?

[ConcertPhotographer]

I am seriously considering a Panasonic MZ20, but heres the lowdown....I am an avid concert-goer, and love to photograph them in part for a website that I run, and also providing photos of shows for many of the artists.
Here's my dilemma...

As many people know there is nine times out of 10, a no-flash rule. I have a basic digital camera that really has no way to set aperture, shutter speed, etc. I typically go to small to mid-sized venues in the San Francisco area (The Fillmore, Orpheum, Bimbo's, Grand Ballroom, Great American Music Hall, Cafe Du Nord and places in LA like the King King, Viper Room, etc.)

I am never more than 25 feet from the stage (seated) and if standing I am within 10 feet. While the stage is lit well enough to see the artist (even at close range without a flash) the results are minimal, and even when run through photo editing programs, I only gain mediocre results where it is still much too dim to make out -- or its much too bright.

I would like a decent digital camera ($700-900 range) that will give me what I really need. A good optical zoom (greater than 3-4x) would be helpful, but also one that has image stabilization (since getting in a tripod would be next to impossible). I've been told to use cameras (Sony) with night vision but have only found those to be as good as what I have now, and the night shot does nothing to capture the photo using existing lighting.

There was a guy at a show I was at at the Grand Ballroom sitting at the table with me who had a Sony MVC500, and while I liked the results the Mavica produced (captured the picture nearly perfectly) I dont like the idea of having to write to a CD-R and having the lag time (not to mention the Mavica line has been discontinued)

If anybody out there can provide any suggestions please reply here or email me. I'm looking to get the camera in the next week or so ahead of a weeklong trip back to CA where I'll be attending numerous shows in the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas.

Thanks in advance
Marc

[elliowb]

Hi Marc,

I only have in-store experience with the FZ20, that you mention, however given your price range, I don't think it would be the ideal camera for you. All of the consumer/prosumer digitals have very high noise levels at high ISO levels (200 and above). Most of them also have fairly slow lenses (with the exception of cameras like the Oly 8080, f2.4; and the Canon G6, f 2.0). This adds up to poor low light performance (either blurry images or images with excessive noise).

It seems to me that your best bet would be a camera like the 8080 or the G6. The 8080 has slightly greater resolution and is more capable than the G6, but the G6 would certainly fit the bill (both can be had for less than $650 on-line; I've personally purchased 3 cameras from the discount merchants on-line with very good luck; just look for the ones that are highly rated by customers and don't buy any accessories from them; the accessories are where they will burn you).

Another direction that you might go is with an entry level dSLR like the Canon Digital Rebel (just under $700 after rebate) with the kit lens. This camera will allow you to shot at much higher ISOs without the noise of the consumer cameras. The down side is that it's bigger and doesn't have a movable LCD screen and has a slower lens (the slow lens is more than offset by the higher usable ISOs).

Just my 2 cents worth,

-- Bill