Concert Photography

Hey all,

Will be using my 10D for shooting concert photos... something I've done extensively with my Elan II.

As life is somewhat different with a digital camera, does anyone have any tips on how to shoot indoor concerts, without the use of flash?

Lou

The 10D will save your but with its ISO settings!

Don't use higher than ISO 1600,.. but 1600 looks remarkarbly good!

What sort of lens do you have? Obviously the larger the aperture the better for low light,...

Are you a point and shoot person,.. or are you comfortable with manual settings?

I ask as the first dark concert I did with the 10D and a fast lens I was still pretty much point and shoot only,.. however as the show progressed i finally settle don a manual aperture and shutter settings,.. this was the right choice as the photos I took manual were far superior to the auto ones I took at the beginning of the show.

Use "Partial" metering most of the time,.. it looks like ( ) on the lcd display...

The way I settled on exposure settings is by metering (using partial) a model that ws dressed in medium tone colors,. Not bright white and not too dark,. (actaully I did this a few times) and read the shutter and aperture setting that the camera used in "P" mode,.. I then locked in this setting by swithching to manual and dialing them in,.. I confirmed that all was working,. and all the rest of the shots came out perfect.

The problem with this method is that this was a fashion show and the lighting did not change,.

at a concert it is very likely to never stay the same

So I don't know how well manual settings will work for you....

CDS, thanks for the response. Lens-wise I have a Canon 50mm/1.8; Promaster 28-200mm/3.6-5.6 and a Canon 75-300mm/4-5.6.

In terms of point and shoot ves. manual, yeah I've played in manual with my Elan, however sometimes the movement is so quick, I settle on aperture priority... but I am ok to using manual settings once I have a range in which to work with rather then trying to figure it all out - especially with all the light changes and brightness changes that go on.

Lou

I've done quite a bit of concert photography. Main question is what sort of shots do you want?
Are you looking for close up shots or full stage spread, and will you be in the crowd?
My concert photography experience is indoor rock concerts from the crowd so my preferred choice was the smallest lens, but this never gave me the tele I needed.

Trouble with long lenses is the shutter speed you have to use to avoid camera shake. If you can get close enough then try the 50mm (80mm effective on 10D) 1.8 at 2.8.

On my film camera I used an 35-135 lens that I didn't mind if it took a beating (and cos it was old canon quality, I know it could!). That offered me the best zoom range for all shots. In 10D terms that would be the 24-85USM. If you are going to do a few concerts I recommend you get something in this range.

Oh, and if you are in the crowd, make sure you are insured

I photographed Kiss at the recent "Kiss symphony" in Melbourne. I found that my 100-400mm with the magical "Image stabilizer" worked wonders at around 800 ISO. i used it with a Canon 1D.

Hi there,

I've got a Canon PowerShot A520. Can anyone offer any advice for the best concert photography shots with this camera (with NO flash)?

Thanks so much!