Canon 450D and concert photography

waynef

waynef

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Wayne Fox
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Hello everyone :)

I am new here, but I have been reliably informed by someone already on here that you may be able to help.

I have been an avid photographer at music gigs and festivals for a few years now from the crowd perspective.
Here's a gallery that I have kept vaguely upto date: http://people.happyandlost.co.uk/wayne/

A friend of mine in the music industry has suggested that I try and build-up a more formal portfolio up, but from the press pit instead.

I am planning on buying a Canon 450D as it's the best I can afford right now, with 3,5fps and that. Bearing in mind that I'll be taking photos in low-light and dry-ice laden places, perhaps with deep/long stages, what lens would you recommend me getting for eventually? I would really like to get a Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM as it seems to love low-light situations from it's description. Question is, is it going to be too "tight" on peoples faces and make taking "whole of stage" pictures difficult without me changing lenses throughtout the gig? Ideally, I want to keep lenses switches to a minimum/not at all, as they're not the cleanest/dryest of places!

Also, to save the main lens from crud and perhaps enhance the image, what lens filter/cover would you recommend?

Finally, what bag would fit all this in nice and snuggly? I like brands like LowePro because I've found them trusty over the years hiking and cycling, but I am open to suggestions :) I guess that I'll need a little extra space below for a battery grip.

So yeah, fun!

Thank you for your help :)
 
Welcome to TP, Wayne.

Unfortunately that's not a particularly good lens for concert photography.

Why? Well, you'll appreciate that low light such as in concerts tends to lead to slow shutter speeds. That causes two problems: camera shake and blurred moving subjects. This lens has an IS system to cancel out the camera shake, but you still have a slow shutter speed and if the subject is moving then it's still at risk of being blurred.

Most people shooting concerts would prefer a lens with a fast aperture (eg f/2.8) to allow them to use faster shutter speeds. That solves the camera shake problem and the subject blur problem.

Trouble is, fast zooms are expensive. The EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS is great for concerts but it's £1200 new. The EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L and the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS are great wider-angle options, but they're around £800 and £600 respectively new.

The best option for low light is often a prime (non-zoom) lens. The EF 50mm f/1.4 and the EF 85mm f/1.8 are £200-odd each and way more capable in low light than any zoom. But of course you're losing flexibility there, and you're risking getting into that lens-changing scenario that you wanted to avoid.

As you've probably grasped by now, there's no simple right answer. It's all about compromises and about judging which features are most important to you.
 
I agree with the above
most of my kit is geared towards this, on the cheap-ish

17-50 2.8 tamron for about £250
30mm 1.4 £250
50mm 1.4 £220
option for 50 1.8 £68
50-150 2.8....yummy £390 ish
no IS which is always nice to have but nevermind. I can't afford it.
17-55 IS canon if you have the money
70-200 IS canon L also...

i've got some gig stuff on my webpage which may or may not be relevant
 
Welcome to TP! I agree with everybody else the 70-300 isn't the best lens for gig stuff!

Most of my gigs have been with 50mm 1.8 a 17-35mm 2.8-4 and some with a borrowed 28-75mm 2.8 or 50-150mm 2.8. Only the 50mm is a Nikon the rest are Sigma as i could get faster lenses by buying Sigma.

Have a look at some of the Sigma or Tamron lenses if your budget is tight as they are a bit cheaper than the Canon lenses.

If you are getting pit access you are probably never going to need 300mm and F4 is too slow for most gigs.

As for changing lenses i've done it at plenty of gigs and my gear has survived!
I've now bought a 2nd body so at last i can be a lazy git and just swap cameras but plenty of togs are swapping lenses during gigs with no problems.

As for bags it depends what type you want rucksack shoulder etc! Your best bet is to go to a shop and check out the bags and see what works best for you and your kit.

I usually use a Crumpler shoulder bag at gigs where i know i can safely leave my stuff with the bands gear or a smaller lowepro bag if there's a chance i might have to carry it around all night!

At one of worst the gigs i done there were 8 togs in the pit and nowhere to leave gear apart from the pit which was tiny.We all had large bags so it was impossible to keep the bag on or have all of them in the pit and climb over them.

We ended up taking turns to have 4 of us in the pit and 4 at the side watching the gear then swapping around every 2 songs.So don't go and buy the biggest bag for gigs just get one big enough for what you need to take!:D
 
Don't you get horrible DOF problems at f1.8 and f.14?

Obviously the wide aperture glass is good for focus, but you can't actually shoot people with those values can you? You are effectively shooting portrait and you don't do that then do you?

I'd have thought good high ISO would be the only way to fix the shutter speed in low light problem?
 
Welcome

I shoot alot of gig photography, and to be honest, i would get a cheap second hand 40d or 30d for the cash you want to spend on a 450d. The low light performance at higher ISOs is alot better then the 450d.

Also, look at getting a second hand Sigma 24-70 f2.8 and the you wont really need to worry about another lens for a while. Maybe if your in closer, the Tamron 17-50 f2.8 is meant to be a good lens and probably a strong purchase

Mike
 
Mike,

What f stop do you shoot at then? (just to satisfy my curiousity and earlier point...)
 
F2.8 for most of the time, unless i shoot at a decent sized venue, then i maybe drop to f4
 
Oh, with all this knowledge, you are really spoiling me! (Said in a "Ferrero Rocher" stylee).

Yeah, second-hand might be a good idea really, seeing as it's bound to get covered in lager/bitter/shandy/similar "crowd-based" yellow liquids. I'll use the spare cash from buying second-hand gear for a sowester ;o)

Keep your ideas (and excellent photos) coming!
 
Waynef, whats your budget?
 
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