Gig Photography

rtjdesign

rtjdesign

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Ryan
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Hey everyone,

I am photographing a gig this sunday with a friend,

Is a Nikon 55-200 AF-S 4-5.6 Lens, and a 18-55m 4-5.6 kit lens substantial enough for the harsh lighting conditions and anyone got any tips or ideas of what ISO my camera should be on .
 
I'm not familiar with the D40 ISO performance but, your ISO should be set as high as you feel will give you acceptable results. In my opinion, a noisy sharp shot is better than a less noisy blurred shot (unless that is the effect you are going for.

Set your exposure manually as in the auto exposure meter is likely to try and overexpose and give you a much longer shutter speed than actually necessary.

If you're shooting at 200mm you'll want to achieve a shutter speed of around 1/200.

Good luck!
 
Yes, widest aperture you'll probably need to push it to at least 1600 to get a decent shutter speed.

It very much depends on the lighting at the venue. Sometimes you can have terrible 'disco' lights that swirl around and other times you can have proper theatrical lighting that has a fair bit of power.

If you're achieving the required shutter speed at ISO 1600, you can always try dialing the ISO down to slightly lower to increase quality.

You may want to consider getting close enough to shoot at 50mm allowing you to use f4 rather than at 200mm and using f5.6 - again, depends on the venue.

I shot a low light pub gig once on a D80 with a 18-135 f4-5.6 kit lens at high ISO and the results looked very grainy. Don't expect too much, but it's a great way of seeing how far you can push it!
 
The visibility of the grain very much depends on the exposure - a well exposed photo with a high ISO and you wont see nearly as much grain as an underexposed one.

The D40 wont cope well with ISO 1600, there are limits! - I would say dont go higher than 800 but obviously if you want to give it a go do!

I think the 18-55 is going to be your best lens for the night.. I dont think you'll be so far away you'll be needing 200mm.

Redeye - what ISO did you use? I can comfortably use ISO1000 in many venues as long as I nail the exposure... slightly under and the picture is useless.

Regards, James
 
Jamesbuk said:
The visibility of the grain very much depends on the exposure - a well exposed photo with a high ISO and you wont see nearly as much grain as an underexposed one.

The D40 wont cope well with ISO 1600, there are limits! - I would say dont go higher than 800 but obviously if you want to give it a go do!

I think the 18-55 is going to be your best lens for the night.. I dont think you'll be so far away you'll be needing 200mm.

Redeye - what ISO did you use? I can comfortably use ISO1000 in many venues as long as I nail the exposure... slightly under and the picture is useless.

Regards, James
Click to expand...

The lighting was terrible so had to push to 1600. Grain galore!

Do miss using the D80 actually, the results at ISO100 were lush!
 
completly depends on venue :) i shot a gig in a pub last week, where f1.4 and iso 1600 were a minimum... :D wo!
 
Jamesbuk said:
Yeah - Ive tried going above 1000 but the grain just ruins the shots!

Whats the D300 like at ISO100 then? Must be better than the D80!
Click to expand...

Well the native lowest ISO on the D300 is 200. The equivalent of ISO100 on the D300 is a simulated mode so I don't really use it. I reckon the D80 at ISO100 just gives such smooth shots that I never seem to achieve with the D300.

However, the D300 performs much better than D80 at high ISOs, has a great AF system, writes real fast to card, has weather sealing and has much faster FPS and has all the controls in the right places so can forgive a little grain (which usually is barely noticeable in print or web sized images).

Loved my D80 though!
 
inaneredstripe said:
i regularly have to shoot at 3200 at f2.8. but my local club is darker than a very dark thing.
if you can beg/borrow/steal a .faster lens, it may get you some better results. f4 is a bit slow for poor light.
Click to expand...

Exactly... even with fast glass, you still have to push the ISO.
 
all depends on the venue as has already been said above mate. i'd advise visiting the venue first and giving it a practise with a band you don't know or use one of the support acts to set up your camera
 
If the band are an active lot a shutter speed of 1/125 should freeze the action for you.
Highest ISO that will give you acceptable shots
And the widest aperature
Shoot in RAW
And pray for good lighting

A couple of mine.

8.jpg


1.jpg


13-1.jpg


01-3.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3537/3352553762_cea7c65bd1_o.jpg

Good luck and post your results

Phil
 
Hey.........before i brought a D300 i used my D40 ALL the time....and got some great shots too. Id say i over used the D4o and grew out of it, so to speak. I shot a lot of gig photography, with bad and good lighting. It's such a bummer when theres not much lighting at the venue, as the D40 tends to not cope without it.......but if theres good/great lighting, then you'll be fine.

Here's a few images that i took using my D40:


20hpto3.jpg
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10mvrqo.jpg
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5d15l0.jpg
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flivdf.jpg
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I used 'A' (aperature) mode, and depending on the lighting, my ISO was at 1600, or at most times the one after that.....(oops cannot remember for the life of me what it was....slightly tired today..lol). As i chose the 'A' mose, the shutter speed pretty much done it for you because of the light around me. But, before i shot any band, i would do a few test shots before they came on just so i could get the correct settings! As you dont want to be fumbling around while theyre playing.....think of the shots you'll be missiong out on!!

Hope this works for you......it did for me but i guess every tog is different! Let me know how you get on!! :)
 
And if all else fails there is noise ninja, the results really are remarkable, I used to have a D70 and couldnt use anything above ISO 800 without running the images through noise ninja...not an ideal solution but certainly a help.

If it is a little venue like a pub whack the flash on for some shots, desperate measures an all that, perhaps use it on slow or rear curtain for some wacky shots too.
 
I agree with the above. Shoot as many pics as you have memory. Play with the settings. You'll get some good arty shots with a bit of blur that the band might like and as stated, use the flash occasionally, they can always be made monochrome.
Personally, I wouldn't go above iso800 and seeing as they're mates, get there early when they're sound checking and get them to do some posed shots. You can't hear the music in the photos.
Also, be brazen. If you are the official tog for the night, act like it - get behind the guitarist etc to get the shot you want. (just let them know that you might do it before they start)
Sometimes little light is good (just wish the mike wasn't in the way or this one)
daveykeenan.jpg
 
I just love the lights and atmosphere in number 2 but 3 is my fave.:thumbs:

hope your friend was happy with his shots.
 
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