What Camera for Night Club Photography?

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jess_snapper

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I want to do nightclub photography. I've taken photos with a normal digital camera in a night club before, but the pictures don't come out clear. So I would like to get a digital SLR, preferbly Sony or Canon.

I've got £350 to spend on equipment, so will probably check out eBay for some second hand equipment.

Which dSLR, lens and flash should I get? I'm a complete beginner so please give me exact models so I can search for it.

Much thanks!

P.S Is this one any good? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sony-Alpha-DS...6Gift-1YrWty-AB7B_W0QQitemZ230289291367QQcmdZ
 
That camera has a built in flash, but you'll probably want to get an external flash to get better quality shots. There's a lot of good information in this thread.
 
I've worked as niteclub photographer fro a coupe of month last year. I tried different combination of gears during that. At first I've tried a very cheap Pentax *ist DL2+Kit lens and found it's almost impossible to use the AF function in the disco light. So I went for a SMC 50mm f1.4 lens and Only found it's even worse, despite the wide aperture did helped alot and i didn't mind use it full manually.

The problem is whilst been used indoor, the 50mm (equivalent to 75mm approximate on my camera) Lens can only capture ones face. and it went even terrible if the club is filled up with crowded people- means you have no room to step back anymore...

then i tired a nikon D200 + 17-85 f2.8 lens, It's better but I really don't think it's worth of spend over a grand for a job like this, especially with all the drunken guys around all the time... So I went back to my pentax again.


If you don't wanna carry all the lighting stands and umbrellas with you, then the best thing for this job I can think of is, Sony dsc-717, although it's verrrrrry old, the
af assistant beam is very effective (and looks quite funky:-D ) It's cheap(But looks like something pro), and 5m pixel is far more than enough for the job. the only downside of this camera is, the battery life is not very long.

anyway.. you can use expensive gear or a very simple digital camera. BUT DO NOT buy DSLR from sony, You will regret it when you want to fit a cheap flash gun to it - It won't fit.
 
So with a 50mm f1.8 lens, I'll only get head shots?

What lens should I get then, or should I get 2 lenses?
 
jess_snapper said:
So with a 50mm f1.8 lens, I'll only get head shots?

What lens should I get then, or should I get 2 lenses?
Click to expand...

If you have a full frame camera 50mm will be a acceptable choice. otherwise a 28mm or 35mm prime lens will be great.
 
I found that the 50 1.8 on the 350d has to be used with manual focusing in the dark. The AF had major trouble focusing.

I would recommend getting a 350d with the kit lens and the 430ex external flash. You should just about get this in your budget.

Try Noise Ninja to remove noise from your photos

Sam
 
kit lens is the lens that comes with the camera. usually not the best standard of lens. theres a great artical in the web links section about lens.
 
I've been told not to direct the flash at people otherwise you will blind them, but to bounce the flash. How do I do that?

Would a diffuser help, lighten the flash directed at people?
 
i.shady - are going to try your Pentax with an external flash set to AF spotbeam mode?

That way, you can autofocus in dark conditions without triggering the flash. I agree that you wouldn't want the extra weight and fragility, plus having your view restricted when using the viewfinder, plus the comments "Ooh, are you a professional?" from many.

Doesn't your Nikon have the AF-assist built into the body? Pentax can use the pop-up flash, but the strobing will freak people out.

jess.snapper - I use a Tamron 24-135mm which is wide enough for small groups and long enough to poke through for faces. It's a walkabout lens so has to be used with flash. Something to think about, longer term. Kit lens or wider than 17 or 18mm is useful for full length shots at close quarters.
 
jess.snapper - get a flash with a tilt/swivel head, then you can point up towards the ceiling or behind you at a wall to bounce the light from the flash. Problem is, getting a white ceiling or wall in a club. Many flashes have a pull-out catchlight panel. That, or a white card bounce panel will help when conditions are less than ideal.
 
I used to work as a club photographer for fotoparty.co.uk, I know ALOT about this field and have plenty of experience.

You want to get a lens as wide as possible. Don't bother with a 50mm, waste of time, it's far to narrow. You will be taking group shots (often with 15+ people in it) so a 50 will be completely useless for that. Even for individual photos a 50 is still too narrow, you want to get the whole person in, not just their face. Also remember that there's often hardly any room to move about in clubs, so you need to have a wide lens.

A flashgun is ESSENTIAL. The most important part of your kit for nightlife photography.

I'd say, go for a 400D or 350D with kit lens and 430ex.

Got some tips on settings and technique aswel:

Flash
Always try and bounce the light from the celing or nearby wall. For the best lit shots, you want to bounce it off a low, white ceing. Gives a great natrual looking light from above.

A few examples of bounced flash. Both post processed in photoshop:

image02.jpg


image03.jpg


If you can't bounce it, then direct flash works really well if you have a flashgun. Also get hold of a diffuser if you are gonna be using direct flash. Attatch it and point the flash head at a 45 degree angle for the best results.

ISO
ISO is VERY important. DON'T set it low or you will just get the people with a black background - it looks rubbish and amuter. I used to shoot at about 400-500.

Shutterspeed
You want it low to ensure you get all of the background in. I shot at 1/6 - 1/10.

Apature
Wide open for odvious reasons. Bear in mind that you need to ensure you get everyone in focus so get them standing close together if it's a big group.

What company were you thinking of joining?
 
You could try something like the Canon G9.

Most of the controls of a DSLR, f2.8 lens 1600iso (or 3200 if you don't mind the graininess) and the big advantage is that it's very discrete.
 
i'm with 8utters any dslr (cheapest) and a flash gun with either a stofen filter or bounced off the nearest surface will do you best and any kit lens starting at 18mm should be ok

i'd go for a 2nd hand d70s, sb600 and 18-70 as it's an excellent kit lens myself but don't know if you can get all that for 350 probably should be able to

if you can get a side mounted flash gun like the metz 45 stylee then it's even better in some respects but can be a little intimidating and not amazingly cheap.
 
I would assume similar principles would apply to gig photography as well, very useful, thanks! :)

Im looking to get a Sigma 30mm F1.4 (Olympus E420, so thats ~60mm equiv.), which will be fine for the gigs im doing. Just need to research flashes, they are bloody expensive :o
 
Don't think flashguns are particularly expensive for what they are. For some types of photography they are essential.

£150 for a 430ex is pretty good, it's a very capable flashgun.
 
The 'entry' Olympus flash (FL36) is about £130-£140, but that is expensive to me.
 
I do regular weekend bar photography and I had a D80 before my D300. I use either my Nikon 18-200 or Sigma 18-50 lens. AF-S/HSM is a must otherwise the AF will hunt a lot in the dark. I use the pop-ip flash and settings around f5 and shutter speed of around 1/100 is fine. I also increase the ISO upto around 800 to include more of the ambient lighting.
 
8utters said:
I used to work as a club photographer for fotoparty.co.uk, I know ALOT about this field and have plenty of experience.

You want to get a lens as wide as possible. Don't bother with a 50mm, waste of time, it's far to narrow. You will be taking group shots (often with 15+ people in it) so a 50 will be completely useless for that. Even for individual photos a 50 is still too narrow, you want to get the whole person in, not just their face. Also remember that there's often hardly any room to move about in clubs, so you need to have a wide lens.

A flashgun is ESSENTIAL. The most important part of your kit for nightlife photography.

I'd say, go for a 400D or 350D with kit lens and 430ex.

Got some tips on settings and technique aswel:

Flash
Always try and bounce the light from the celing or nearby wall. For the best lit shots, you want to bounce it off a low, white ceing. Gives a great natrual looking light from above.

A few examples of bounced flash. Both post processed in photoshop:

If you can't bounce it, then direct flash works really well if you have a flashgun. Also get hold of a diffuser if you are gonna be using direct flash. Attatch it and point the flash head at a 45 degree angle for the best results.

ISO
ISO is VERY important. DON'T set it low or you will just get the people with a black background - it looks rubbish and amuter. I used to shoot at about 400-500.

Shutterspeed
You want it low to ensure you get all of the background in. I shot at 1/6 - 1/10.

Apature
Wide open for odvious reasons. Bear in mind that you need to ensure you get everyone in focus so get them standing close together if it's a big group.

What company were you thinking of joining?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Appart from the price what is the difference between the 350D and 400D?

I'll use all of those settings on my first night out shooting. I was thinking of joining tillate.

I don't like the look of the Canon G9, i won't look like a cool pro without a dslr! :p
 
I can vouch for the 350D used with 430 EX II. Use ISO 400 or 800, as that will produce little grain which will be unnoticeable for digital, web-based shots.

Diffuser is a must. White walls and ceilings seem to be pretty rare in clubs nowadays. Like 8utters said, angle it at 45 degrees. I use the OmiBounce, and found it excellent. Worth noting that the 430 EX II also has in-built diffuser, but I've had better results with the omni (£20).
 
photon said:
i.shady - are going to try your Pentax with an external flash set to AF spotbeam mode?

That way, you can autofocus in dark conditions without triggering the flash. I agree that you wouldn't want the extra weight and fragility, plus having your view restricted when using the viewfinder, plus the comments "Ooh, are you a professional?" from many.

Doesn't your Nikon have the AF-assist built into the body? Pentax can use the pop-up flash, but the strobing will freak people out.

jess.snapper - I use a Tamron 24-135mm which is wide enough for small groups and long enough to poke through for faces. It's a walkabout lens so has to be used with flash. Something to think about, longer term. Kit lens or wider than 17 or 18mm is useful for full length shots at close quarters.
Click to expand...


All the flash guns I had are very cheap. Which Doesn't help the AF at all. The built in flash isn't powerful enough for light up the entire room.

The D200 have af assistant lamp but it only work with Af lens, means I can never get advantage from the fast manual lenses i've got.
 
Can I use Auto Focus in a night club?

I know I won't look like a pro, but just untill I get use to the surroundings. As I can see it will be a bit fiddly trying to get groups of people together and in focus manually.
 
jess_snapper said:
Can I use Auto Focus in a night club?

I know I won't look like a pro, but just untill I get use to the surroundings. As I can see it will be a bit fiddly trying to get groups of people together and in focus manually.
Click to expand...


as said before, To use af in a very dark environment, you'll need a camera with af assistant lamp. a wide angle lens will come handy for group shot.
Resolution of the camera is not important at all - I've been using 2 mega pixel or under at all the time.
 
you're better off using mf most of the time in the club, and generally you'll be using the closest anyhow as the club will be full of people

also re gig photography you need something with a bit more length and theres a whole load of ettiquette re speaking to the tour manager and 3 song rules / no flash etc
 
Do I really need to spend money on a £150 Speedlite flash, as I see on the club photography sites like tillate, some people just use the kit, pop-up flashes on the camera and the pictures are clear and not grainy.

e.g. can anyone identify this Sony camera please?

DSC00023.JPG
DSC00035.jpg
 
I know the guy in the photo on the left, he's called Chris. One of the regional managers for Tillate.

Tillate arn't great, alot of their photos are overexposed or severly over saturated (to the point where everyone looks Orange). Dunno what they are like in all regions (and have seen loads of great photos from them) but in Manchester they are pretty crap.

I also know the guy who used to run Tillate (he now runs Fotoparty.co.uk who I used to work for) and invented one of their shooting styles.

Steven001 said:
Thanks for the tips, 8utters! But, can I ask... How do you get a decent shot using 1/6th and 1/10th of a second? Wouldn't they come out all blurry?

PS: Sorry if I sound like a noob :bang:
Click to expand...
You can becuase you are:

a) Using a flash which freezes the action.
b) In a club which will be very dark, so won't blur anything. You can however get blurred backgrounds which looks cool, but as long as you use a flash, you will get the people clearly. Especially since they don't tend to move whist you take their photo.

Oh and don't bother with manual focus for two reasons:

1) It's often VERY dark in clubs, you won't be able to focus it any better than the camera.
2) You need to take your photos quickly. People don't like to stand around for ages while you adjust your settings and focus.

If you have a flashgun, it will focus using the AF beams sent out by the flash unit, which work very well even in pitch-black darkness.
 
I used to work for Tilllate for quite a while, I'd agree with 8utters comments on them above, there is training in place for the photographers but its not great and depending on your region might not happen.

Have you chatted to them already? They'll lend you a camera generally when youre starting out so you dont have to go and buy a load of kit. I was using a 350D with the kit lens and external flash which gave good enough result for what they're looking for.
 
Yep for nightlife photography all you need is a 350D and 430ex really, does the job fine.

I used to do it with a 400D and 430ex.
 
Firstly I would like to greet you all with a heartily hello :)

On to the topic - I am managing an nightclub and we want to take photos of our guests. I have recently bought a D1000 for our photographer (note that he hasn't done any photography prior to working with us). I'm not 100% happy with how the photos turn out.

I would appreciate any advice on the matter (we cannot afford to hire a real photographer) - what camera to buy. We cannot spend more than £1000.

Thank you in advance :)
 
Last edited:
azzuris said:
Firstly I would like to greet you all with a heartily hello :)

On to the topic - I am managing an nightclub and we want to take photos of our guests. I have recently bought a D1000 for our photographer (note that he hasn't done any photography prior to working with us). I'm not 100% happy with how the photos turn out.

I would appreciate any advice on the matter (we cannot afford to hire a real photographer) - what camera to buy. We cannot spend more than £1000.

Thank you in advance :)
Click to expand...

Where about are you from? What style are you after?
 
azzuris said:
Firstly I would like to greet you all with a heartily hello :)

On to the topic - I am managing an nightclub and we want to take photos of our guests. I have recently bought a D1000 for our photographer (note that he hasn't done any photography prior to working with us). I'm not 100% happy with how the photos turn out.

I would appreciate any advice on the matter (we cannot afford to hire a real photographer) - what camera to buy. We cannot spend more than £1000.

Thank you in advance :)
Click to expand...

1000 quid will get you a real photographer for a fair amount of time. Pay for peanuts and you'll get monkeys.
 
Or at least pay for some training for the photographer! You can't give a complete novice an entry-level SLR and kit lens for use in tricky lighting and expect professional results.

If you only need photos from one or two nights, hire a pro. If you need photos from every week, get some training for the poor soul who's got dropped in at the deep end - but still don't expect the same results as you'd get from the pro. Photography is a skill, and whilst the 'right' kit will help, the person holding it needs to know what they're doing and have experience.
 
azzuris said:
Firstly I would like to greet you all with a heartily hello :)

On to the topic - I am managing an nightclub and we want to take photos of our guests. I have recently bought a D1000 for our photographer (note that he hasn't done any photography prior to working with us). I'm not 100% happy with how the photos turn out.

I would appreciate any advice on the matter (we cannot afford to hire a real photographer) - what camera to buy. We cannot spend more than £1000.

Thank you in advance :)
Click to expand...

Azzuris welcome to our forum.

I would recommend that your photographer invests some time and reads the following guide by bassjunkie

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=268784

The basics of nightclub photography are not hard, however it will take a lot of practice until a beginner starts taking professional shots.
 
Invest in your employee - if for no other reason than to give them confidence in themselves. If I were you I'd hire in a decent photographic tutor for a day to train up at least two of your staff. You should be able to find someone competent for a reasonable price.

Buy an upgrade on your current lens, if you are still using a kit one. Something in the 17-50mm f2.8 bracket.

Buy a decent flash unit for your camera - don't use the on camera pop up.

Budget: £300 for training, £3-500 for the lens, £100 for the flash.

That's come in at £100-300 under budget and will improve the photos 1000%

You don't need a different camera body, because it will just produce exactly the same results as your current one if you don't address the above.
 
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