Live Theatre

[TheatreDirector]

Hi, I'm a professional theatre director with very little experience in photography. I have never taken a photography class (I probably should at some point, although I have been told that you don't necessarily need classes to perfect digital photography). I have a digital camera that is VERY out of date. It is a Fugi and I bought it about 5 years ago, when digital camera technology was nowhere near as advanced as it is today. Ideally, I like to hire a professional to come in and do the photo shoots for my shows. However, there are times when I really want to take my own shots quickly and easily during the run of a show without the bulk of equipment that a professional brings. I really don't know how many megapix I need or anything like that (I am really ignorant of digital camera technology; I'm a front-end user). I want to spend about $500, but could go higher if necessary. Any suggestions?

[speaklightly]

TheaterDirector-

As you may have already noted there are two threads on theater photography. In a nutshell, it is not impossible to take digital photos in the theater venue. However, due to the fact that most fixed lens digital cameras are limited to a maximum ISO of 400, the results generally are rather poor.

The best alternative is to use a digital single lens reflex camera where the maximum ISO numbers range up to 3200.

Sarah Joyce

[TheatreDirector]

Thank you for your reply. Are there cameras that come with that lense, or do I have to buy it separately and put it in? How do you know which cameras have replaceable lenses?

[speaklightly]

TheaterDirector-

I have spoken about two categories of digital cameras in my post. The first are fixed lens digital cameras that top out at about $500. A good example of this caegory would be the Panasonic FZ-series.

The second category of digital cameras that I referred to were digital single lens reflex cameras. A good example of this category would be the Canon 350XT camera, sometimes called the Digital Rebel XT.

Fixed lens digital cameras by and large are limited to a maximum ISO of 400. In contrast, digital single lens reflex cameras generally have a maximum ISO setting that can go as high as 3200. Meaning that they can theoretically take excellent photos with just 1/8 of the light that the fixed lens digital cameras might need to take a good digital photo.

Fixed lens digital cameras with their much lower usable ISO settings can barley take stage photos. In contrast, digital single lens reflex cameras with their much higher available ISO settings, are, by and large, the much better choice for theater, or stage photography.

The cost of digital single lens reflex cameras run from $800 to 1,000 dollars.

Hopefully I have clarified the issuue.

Sarah Joyce

[TheatreDirector]

Thanks so much for the information and for your patience. As you can see, I clearly have no idea what I am doing.

[gary_hendricks]

If you want to know about the number of megapixels you need in a camera, check out this link (http://www.basic-digital-photography.com/how-many-megapixels-do-you-need.html) . :)