Taking pictures at concerts

[silvbult]

Hello all,

I have a Canon Rebel XTI and would like information on taking good pictures at concerts. (ones that will still allow you to bring this kind of camera in)

It does not seem to matter what I do most of the time the shutter speed it to slow to get a good picture.

I am of course in no way a pro not even close so if anyone knows of the best setting for this situation any help is appreciated.

Michael

[TheWengler]

Raise the ISO, open up the aperture and see what kind of shutter speed you can get. Shoot RAW so you can tweak the white balance later.

[silvbult]

Thanks Lukas,
Seems I have a lot to learn on this.

[TheWengler]

What lens are you using?

[David Metsky]

What lenses do you have? Some simply aren't very good at low light.

But basically you want to open up the aperture as much as you can to allow more light. You can put the camera in (A)perture mode and set the f/stop by hand. You want lower numbers, which means bigger aperture.

If that doesn't give you enough light to keep the shutter speed low you should start bumping up the ISO higher until the shutter speed allows you to freeze the action.

[silvbult]

Depending on how far from stage I use the 18-55 that came with the camera and I have a 300mm zoom but it is not Canon's it is another brand (that escapes me at the moment), of course that is the one I find myself using most of the time.

[David Metsky]

Which 300mm zoom? It may be a very slow lens that's going to make concert photos nearly impossible. What is the brand and the maximum aperture (it should be written on the front of the lens)?

[silvbult]

I will have to check when i get home tonight, I do not have the gear with me.

[silvbult]

it is a Tameron AF 75 - 300 maximum number 672D I do not see the maximum A is has on it 1:4-5.6 LD and Tele-MACRO(1:3.9)

[TheObiJuan]

Sadly, anything short of f/2.8 of f/4 with IS will not be enough.
And that's at ISO 1600!
I'd recommend getting a prime lens for low light work, like the Canon 50mm f/1.8 or Canon 85mm f/1.8.

[TheWengler]

it is a Tameron AF 75 - 300 maximum number 672D I do not see the maximum A is has on it 1:4-5.6 LD and Tele-MACRO(1:3.9)

4 is the max aperture at 75mm and 5.6 is the max aperture at 300mm. Pretty slow. Camera shake will probably come into play too with the long focal lengths and no IS. You need 1/120 sec at 75mm and 1/480 sec at 300mm to avoid camera shake. Probably not very realistic on concert lighting conditions. You might need to find someway to support the camera.

[silvbult]

OK thanks for the info.
Are you familar with the Exilim High Speed EX-FH20?
Would this work in this situation?

[silvbult]

I know it's not a lens but is is a camera with a good zoom that will be allowed in concerts. :-)

[David Metsky]

it is a Tameron AF 75 - 300 maximum number 672D I do not see the maximum A is has on it 1:4-5.6 LD and Tele-MACRO(1:3.9)

The 4-5.6 means that at the short end (75mm) the maximum aperture is f/4 and at the long end (300mm) it's f/5.6. Unfortunately, that's not great for shooting in concert light, even with a DSLR that can shoot at high ISO. I agree that a faster lens would make your concert shots much better.

[David Metsky]

I know it's not a lens but is is a camera with a good zoom that will be allowed in concerts. :-)
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/casio/exilim_fh20-review/

Short answer: No. This isn't a low light concert camera. Image quality, especially in low light, is not this camera's strong suit.

[tim11]

Do they allow the flash? If they do it might change the story. Buy an external flash which is cheaper than buying a lowlight lens. But you still need to learn to use the system.
DSLR which include XTi is the best for low light. No point and shoot, FH20 include will cut it. Not even close.

[stanj]

For good concert photos you will need a lot of improvements in your system since concerts have some of the worst combinations of lighting environments in photography. As one poster mentioned, shot in RAW because the mix of light need to be compensated for outside the camera in post processing. You need more light, either from a fast lens, remote slave flash units if flash is allowed at all, or your need a stage pass, possibly all 3.
You will also need some sort of image stabilization or mount (unlikely to be allowed in even if you can get a press pass to get away from the audience).
Canon makes a good 70-200 f/2.8 that would be a good start. The Xsi is not great at high ISO so faster lens is essential.
I use a Nikon 70-200 VR f/2.8 which when combined with high ISO settings gives fast enough shutter speeds to freeze normal stage action. The VR helps a lot. But such a telephoto will be stopped by security 90% of the time. To avoid that you will need to get press passes or event passes, which is more politics than photography. I generally do not go to concerts where I have to buy a ticket, if someone wants me there, they will have their management clear all the hurdles and provide all-access passes....but that is politics again, usually it is a group who I recorded or a group that wants me to record them and has nothing to do with photography.

[shoeytennis]

Fast Lens and a flash
Everything on my website band wise was shot with a nikon d50 sb200 and sigma 28-70 2.8
www.brianshoemaker.smugmug.com

[mjsneddon]

The suggestion for a fast prime lens is probably a good one. I have a 50mm f1.4 which is an excellent lens. Inasmuch as you have been using a 300mm lens, you must be sitting in the "cheap seats" in which case, the 50mm lens may not have enough reach for you. You might consider still using the 50mm fast lens anyway and doing some severe cropping to achieve the image you want. However size of the image so severely cropped may not make a very large print (unless you upsize using Genuine Fractals or some other upsizing software).

The shallow depth of field may or may not cause you problems.

I assume that you have already increased the ISO as high as you think is acceptable. I personally use ISO 3200 frequently and don't find the noise all that objectionable on either of my SLRs (20d and 5d).

That's it for me.

Mike Sneddon
Mattoon, IL