S3 IS Concert Settings Question

[patdfan]

I have had my S3 IS for about 6 months but I haven't taken any night shots. I am going to a concert in 2 days and I was wondering what the best settings are for concert photography with this camera. I am still a beginner and I'm not completely familiar with all the manuel settings that I read about on here. My concert is at an outdoor amphitheater. Please help me!

[gravy graffix]

good luck, its gonna be tough.

[SaNdMaN82]

yeah, don't keep your hopes high, because it's gonna be extremely hard to get a sharp picture... not because of the focus thing, but due to the long shutter speed the camera will need to get the right exposure...

simply, p&s cameras like the s3 (yeah, it's a bit more complex that the other ones, but it's still a p&s), can't deal with those light (or lack of it) conditions...

[Jon]

Best luck - set the ISO as high as possible, set aperture priority and wide open, turn off the flash (it won't be able to do the job anyhow) and use as little zoom as you can to get the shot. And use anything you can to brace you and the camera. Try zooming to max. tele and taking a meter reading for manual exposure and shooting with that if you can.

[Elery Oxford]

Uh, would be hard for any camera don't you think? Use a tripod if allowed or a monopod at least. This is why a flash shoe is going to be nice on the S5. But sometimes flash ain't allowed neither. So, the IS is going to help. Shoot at the highest ISO and use Noise Ninja. Take a lot of shots and some may come out OK. Practice holding as still as possible before going...Sometimes conditions are going to make photography pretty much impossible for any camera...No light, no pic...E

[SaNdMaN82]

Uh, would be hard for any camera don't you think? (...)
not quite like that.... check the posts in here: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=81

as you can see, it ain't a issue for dSLRs ;) Those babies can use high iso without any problem, so they're perfect to those kind of shooting... dSLRs have a greate low light performance

On the other hand, ISO200> with my s3 is just terrible, even ISO200.

[gravy graffix]

s3 with 800 iso... just thought id see what neat image and shooting in raw could produce.

ill have to get out and try a dark venue some time...

was shot at 125th and like 3.5
Id shoot in M and set up like they said (about) 125 and as wide open as you can other wise the camera will want to hold the shutter open longer, where if you under expose a little you will get the sharper image and can adjust later in PP. you cant fix a smeared image.


http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1028/541818028_37eaf7bdff_o.jpg

[austinpowers]

I have had my S3 IS for about 6 months but I haven't taken any night shots. I am going to a concert in 2 days and I was wondering what the best settings are for concert photography with this camera. I am still a beginner and I'm not completely familiar with all the manuel settings that I read about on here. My concert is at an outdoor amphitheater. Please help me!

I'm not a professional by any means, but I've been shooting with the S1, the S2, the S3, and I'm sure soon with the S5. I have been taking a LOT of concert photos, which I post on my SmugMug site. I've been able to deal with the concert setting with some amount of success...at least for my liking. You can check out some examples on my site if you're curious:
http://austinpowers.smugmug.com

Just go down to the Music link and click through the Summer of Brad series....I didn't start getting the hang of it until June 2005, so most photos prior to that are poor. (95% of these photos were taken with the Canon...and I'm very far behind in posting, so many of the albums are waiting to be filled)

Also, if you're curious about the kind of video you can take with the S3, I post my S3 videos on YouTube, which you can check out here:
http://youtube.com/austinpowers61

This might give you an idea of what you can do. Would love to discuss this in more detail with other members in this thread, as I'm curious about what others are doing. For example....I rarely shoot higher than 100 ISO...200 is the highest. I got tired of dealing with the grain, and found that it didn't make an appreciable difference in my photos other than to be more noisy.

AP

[carguy1985]

i thought the lower the iso the better for less noise in pics ?

[Jon]

If the choice is between ISO noise and unwanted motion blur, I'll go for the ISO noise every time. You can mitigate the noise in most photo-editing programs or with dedicated tools like Noise Ninja, but camera/subject motion's forever.

[JeffreyG]

Uh, would be hard for any camera don't you think? Use a tripod if allowed or a monopod at least.

Hard yes, but the dSLR will do better for two reasons.

1. Lower noise at high ISO (1600) and the ability to go beyond 1600 (3200 for the 30D and 6400 for the iDMkIII).

2. If you have the money you can shoot with fast telephoto lenses. The S3 starts at f/2.7 and slows to f/3.5 at the longer ranges.

I have the 135 f/2 which gets me to about the 6X zoom spot on the S3 at 1.5 stops faster. No IS though, I mostly use this lens to shoot gymnastics and such without flash.

There is the 200 f/2.8 (~9X and half a stop faster)

300 f/2.8 IS (~14X and half a stop faster with IS). You could shoot from the balcony with this lens - if you could get it in the theater.

And the discontinued champ the 200 f/2. 1.5 stops faster at ~9X

[LotsToLearn]

I'd have to agree with the positive camp. I've been able to grab what I felt were decent shots using my old S1. And video even moreso. Sure they're not what I may be able to get with my DSLR but for memories of the event at 4x6, they're just fine.

As has been mentioned, jack up the ISO and use the largest aperture possible and shoot away.

I just upgraded my S1 for an S3 on Friday and am looking forward to taking that to future concerts.

[SaNdMaN82]

i have to say that i was kind of mistaken earlier...

i've been researching on how those softwares (noise ninja & neat image) works, and how good can they work... and i'm really impressed with the results so far...

having said that, i'd say that maybe i've been underestimating the capabilities of such programs.

maybe if you're close to the action, to minimize the chances of motion blurred pictures, you could actually achieve some fairly good photographs...

i surely would like to know how did this one result ;)