Suggested camera for concerts...

Not sure if this is the correct place for this, so sorry if I make someone angry But yes, I now have an S2 IS and have gotten some pretty good shots with it, but I am going to begin applying for credentials, and feel like I may be taken more seriously with a higher quality camera. However, I am an 18 year old who has a car payment and school to pay for at the same time With that in mind, can someone suggest a nice camera and lens that will work well in vunues for concerts, that you may not not flash for. Something that will generally work well, and if you can post the price range as well, that would be amazing. You guy's are awesome, thanks!

-Bradnon

cheapest thing going i'd say would be a used 350D (digital rebel xt) w/ a canon 50mm f/1.8 lens. you could likely get the entire setup for ~$450 or so.

Awesome. Say I am extending my budget to $600-$650... what might I get for that. And if anyone has any examples pf photos with the camera they are suggesting, you will amaze me even more...

i think that price range is still gonna get you about the same thing. $450 seems just slightly low for what narlus mentioned. $650 might get you that setup with the 50 1.4 instead of the 1.8. i think that would be a wise upgrade. you might be able to find a cheap 2.8 zoom - non-canon to fit in that range too.

Look around for a used 10D. As you can see by my list below, I love this camera. They're CHEAP now, too! IMHO, it's better than an XT, albeit for silly reasons, like it's more like the 20D/30D, so upgrading will be easier, plus it's not a plastic body, so it can take a beating. keh.com has good deals on them.

I agree with getting a 50mm (either the 1.4 or the 1.8). If you get the 1.8 now, you might be able to swing a 85/1.8 or a 100/2 alongside it, but you'll be upgrading to the 1.4 soon enough. Getting the 1.4 right away would save you that hassle, but it'd be your only lens for a while.

I would go with at least a 20D, 350D or newer. The 10D doesn't (officially) support EF-S lenses.

Ok, I am still fairly new to a lot of this. Just really got the hand of my S2. So what is the final camera and lens ( I would prefer the lense to be canon as well ) I should look into getting. Also, can someone maybe explain a tiny bit about the lenses as I am still learning. It looked like an excess of numbers. But if I am correct, the smaller the number, the better the lens?

quick lens primer:

if you see something like 85 f/1.8 or 24-70 f/2.8, the first number is the focal length, and the 2nd number is the largest aperture (smallest f stop) the lens will allow. the larger the aperture, the bigger the 'hole' to let light in; a smaller f stop is 'faster' and will allow more light into the camera, so that you can get a higher shutter speed.

in the examples i gave, the 1st lens is a 'prime' lens, or fixed focal length; it has no zoom. the 2nd (24-70) does have zoom capability, but as you can see, it's a slower lens. so there are tradeoffs.

hope this was remotely helpful.

If you do or want to buy a DSLR, I would highly recommend reading this post:

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=249006

Quite helpful for a beginner. If you know any or all of that though, sorry!

Brandon James wrote in post #2785694
Awesome. Say I am extending my budget to $600-$650... what might I get for that. And if anyone has any examples pf photos with the camera they are suggesting, you will amaze me even more...

Look at anything I've taken and posted in here. I did it with the Rebel XT and a decent lens.

gcobb wrote in post #2793158
Look at anything I've taken and posted in here. I did it with the Rebel XT and a decent lens.

Same with all of my shots...

Everything taken with a Rebel XT (350D in Australia) and mostly a 50mm f1.8 that cost me A$85!!

Total cost of every piece of gear i've bought is about A$1,300 and thus far the only gear I really want to get is a Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L series, which would about double my total spend!

Thanks to everyone for the comments and help, I really appreciate that you are willing to help someone you don't even know, especially some beginner who knows practically nothing, lol

There is a wealth of information in this one forum alone. Read until you can't any longer then next time you're out, give different things a try.

I will echo the others in regards to the 50 mm 1.8. It's the lens I use most. A 50mm 1.4 would be nice, but the 1.8 is really economical.

^ What do both of those lenses go for?