choosing a camera

[mrma]

Hope this is correct section of forum to post this, i need a camera that can take excellent photos in and out of nightclubs. The camera need to be able to deal with flashin/moving lights and capture crowd shoots.

Ive been told to get SLR camera but have no idea which one would be the best one for me, can anyone help?

thanks in advanced

[tim]

You might get more replies in the Canon forum (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=9), but you'll get a few here too.

Photography in places like nightclubs is really hard, IMHO. The main cameras around here are the Canon 10D, 20D, and 300D/Digital Rebel, you can find prices at http://www.bhphotovideo.com , a good NY dealer. You also have to factor in the costs of lenses you want, memory cards, maybe an extra battery (buy aftermarket ones not genuine, eg http://sterlingtek.com ), a tripod (which is a MUST), and most likely a bag. For what you want you'll probably want a decent external flash too. That's probably going to set you back $2000-$3000.

Alternately, get a small decent quality point and shoot camera and a small tripod, and hope for the best. The quality won't be near as good, but maybe it'll be good enough for your needs.

[Tom W]

The SLR-type camera has several features that make it more suitable for nightclub shooting.

First, its larger sensor provides a very low-noise image compared to most any point-and-shoot. That means that you can boost the ISO setting up much higher and still get a clean image with very little "graininess".

Second, you can use "fast" lenses with large apertures that are very helpful in low-light situations as well. There are some point-and-shoot cameras that have fairly wide aperture lenses, but none can match what is available for the SLR cameras.

Third, most (there are some newer ones that are quicker than in the past) point-and-shoot cameras are very slow to focus - many will take a couple of seconds or more between the time you press the shutter and the actual picture. SLR's have a fast, high-performance focusing system compared to the P&S cameras.

Flash is iffy - it is shunned in some clubs due to the distraction. But if its allowed, all SLR cameras and several high-end P&S cameras allow for a powerful externally-mounted flash.

I think that you'd do well to look into something along the lines of the Digital Rebel (300D outside the US) with its kit lens and a 50 mm f/1.8 or 1.4 lens for those club shots. The Rebel, 10D, and 20D all allow shooting modes that are almost "point-and-shoot" as far as ease of operation, but also carry the benefits of the larger format that I've listed above.

[Olegis]

The camera need to be able to deal with flashin/moving lights and capture crowd shoots.

Small correction - it's the photographer that needs to deal with flashin/moving lights, not the camera. Even with the best camera in the world one can produce very lousy images, if he / she doesn't know what he / she is doing. What I mean is - you won't be able to produce the images you want right after you get the camera. You'll need to learn - to learn the advantages and the limitations of your gear, to learn to expose correctly, to learn to capture the action, to learn to post-process your images, to learn ...

I second the Tom W's recommendation - the best camera + lens combo for shooting in low-light condition will be Canon 300D + Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 MkII (of f/1.4 if you can afford it). For crowd shots you may need wide-angle lens, as 14mm f/2.8 or some kind of a fish-eye which can prodice some nice effects.

Also check out these tips (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=355878#post355878) for shooting for low-light conditions.

Good luck ;)