Gig photography with Nikon D200

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purplepaul

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Paul
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I have managed to secure a press pass for a small music event in manchester in march. From what i understand from reading other threads etc is that flash is normaly a no go, but i have a D200 and im a little worried about noisey images. My lenses are all quite fast ( Sigma 24-70 F2.8 Nikon 80-200 F2.8 and 50 F1.8)

Has any one shot in a similar situation with the D200?
and how did you get on?

Plus any advice on shooting the event would be great

Paul
 
Noise on the D200 over ISO400 is bloody awful mate.

Be hard work for you.
 
I'd say the 80-200 and try to keep the shutter speed up with the iso down as much as possible, maybe sort out some manual settings early on, then keep using them checking occasionally.
Shooting Raw is probably an idea so you can sort out the wb later with experimentation as it will most likely change shot to shot
 
Shoot RAW with the Siggy 24-70... or invest in a new body! Haha!

Honestly, you are going to need to push the ISO up so high. This might work however to your advantage for B&W shots, give them an added feel.

Mike
 
Agreed - you're doing to struggle with the D200. I would go the other way and purposefully make them noisy, then convert the majority to black and white.

Photos don't always have to be totally 'clean'. Gets a bit boring really, and a gig atmosphere can lend itself well to noisy shots anyroadup...
 
you could always crank up the ISO and then use noise filtering software like noise ninja after the fact.
 
paulc said:
you could always crank up the ISO and then use noise filtering software like noise ninja after the fact.
Click to expand...

Second that one - noise ninja is pretty good actually. I've used it a few times to rescue some D200 shots that really did need cleaning up a bit. But, it can make pics look a bit 'plastic' if you're not careful. Worth a bash though...
 
I never found the noise to be a problem in itself, as has been said B&W can hide it well and even suit it. The bigger problem was the way the noise made the shots softer than I'd like, which noise reduction software would then compound :shrug: Still, noise is less desirable than camera shake, so crank up the ISO as high as you need :thumbs:
 
purplepaul said:
I have managed to secure a press pass for a small music event in manchester in march. From what i understand from reading other threads etc is that flash is normaly a no go, but i have a D200 and im a little worried about noisey images. My lenses are all quite fast ( Sigma 24-70 F2.8 Nikon 80-200 F2.8 and 50 F1.8)

Has any one shot in a similar situation with the D200?
and how did you get on?

Plus any advice on shooting the event would be great

Paul
Click to expand...


You could look into hiring a D300 from Calumet (for example)?

I'm not sure the prices are up to date but the daily rate on their website is @ £70.
 
actually the 200 will be cool you know, 800 is ok, My mate used to shoot all his music stuff on one, few years ago and hes pro, still sells the prints from it!

M
 
Pretty much what everyone has said here. Shoot RAW, work in manual, iso 800 should be fine even on the d200, spot metering, try and achieve a shutter of 1/100 at least. If its a small event, flash may be allowed, if so, use a external flash, power it down to keep some of the ambient light.

I think thats everything, good luck and have fun!
 
I shoot in a venue so crap that i shoot ISO1600, f2.8 and with shutter speeds around 1/50th! I then fire a burst of three shots per "shot". 1 to eliminate camera shake, 1 to capture the shot and then another as back up.

I have however shot larger gigs in better venues and have used stuff like ISO1000, f2.8-4 with shutters of around 1/80th - 1/200th depending on how good the light is on the night.

This shot was using ISO1000, f2.8, 1/200th

2938479653_c7baf9746a.jpg


but this shot was shot in a small dark local venue, settings were:
ISO1600, f2.8, 1/50th

2924860930_6987353d34.jpg
 
mattwardle said:
actually the 200 will be cool you know, 800 is ok, My mate used to shoot all his music stuff on one, few years ago and hes pro, still sells the prints from it!
Click to expand...

Absolutely. I've done loads of low light shooting at comedy gigs with a D70s and though noise becomes an issue over ISO 800, beneath that you should be fine.
 
purplepaul said:
Thanks for all the input. I am in the process of tying to contact local promoters to see if i can get any experence first.
Click to expand...

If your looking for experience, contact local bands, theyll be more than happy to get some free images.
 
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