taking concert photos

does anyone have any advice for taking photos at concers? I've been to several with my camera and don't have a lot of luck with good photos. I've got a Kodak Z740 digicam. 10X optical zoom. I try to stay away from the full zoom. I'll zoom in a little, but the pictures still don't look good. I was wondering if there was any specific setting that would make for better photos (fireworks, children, night, etc). The camera has nice manual controls where you can change the f-stop, apeture, etc. But I haven't found a good setting for concerts. I have noticed that in my best shots, something was in the shot between the lens and the subject (a person sitting in front of me, someone's hair, etc). In those photos, the stage/performer looked good, I just had to crop the photo. Weird!! I actually noticed this with another camera as well. When something catches the flash, the picture turns out really well. Anyone have a suggestion? I've tried most of the presets, with flash, without and I haven't had much luck.

how do you even get your camera past security?

I've been to a dozen concerts and never had a problem taking it in. Even when the ticket said "no photography or video" they didn't even hassle me.

high ISO setting will help with the light. try 800. I know this camera...you'll really need a anti-shake of some kind to really get good shots, but since you can change the shutter speed on those, set the shutter speed to a decent quickness and with the ISO< when the back lights are on, shoot away!

other than testing it at night in your neighborhood where the lighting scheme is the roughly the same, it's about all the luck you have. Setting to the night preset will only cause a slower shutter speed picking any shake or movement. your best bet is to control the shutter speed and ISO so you can experiemnt and see what shutter speed is fastest.

oh right, set the WB (white balance) to...um...incandescent might work. daylight seems to be generic for better WB, but it's hard to say cause i know how that camera works, but not the exact specs. sold one the other day. couldnt convince the guy out of it...poor guy.

high ISO setting will help with the light. try 800. I know this camera...you'll really need a anti-shake of some kind to really get good shots, but since you can change the shutter speed on those, set the shutter speed to a decent quickness and with the ISO< when the back lights are on, shoot away!

other than testing it at night in your neighborhood where the lighting scheme is the roughly the same, it's about all the luck you have. Setting to the night preset will only cause a slower shutter speed picking any shake or movement. your best bet is to control the shutter speed and ISO so you can experiemnt and see what shutter speed is fastest.

oh right, set the WB (white balance) to...um...incandescent might work. daylight seems to be generic for better WB, but it's hard to say cause i know how that camera works, but not the exact specs. sold one the other day. couldnt convince the guy out of it...poor guy.


Hey, thanks for the great response!!! What exactly do you mean when you say "set the shutter speed to a decent quickness?" Are you saying I should try setting it high? Just need some clairification on that.

I bought this camera over a year ago. The main selling point for me was the large zoom at the fair price. It's been a good camera for everything I've done....except concert photos:banghead: . I've got great shots of flowers and people, it just falls short on anything in poor lighting and movement due to the lack of "anti shake".

I'm not really in the market for a new camera, but since it's not doing what I need it to do, I would certainly be willing to do more research on one. Do you have any recommendations for me? I really don't want to lose that big zoom, and I would only be able to spend around $200. If I were able to make this one get some decent concert shots, I'd keep it, but it's not been good in that category since I've had it (probably 5 or 6 concerts).

spending around $200 will not get you anything...much. Try $250 - $300 and you'll be surprised.

Panasonic Lumix TZ1
Nikon S10
Canon S3 IS

All three are great cameras for a good price. The first two have 10x and the Canon has 12x. I love the Canon and it's now available for around $300. Froogle it. The other can be found from roughly $250 to $300. All have anti shake.

As for the shutter speed, yes, set it high. Obviously not too high or it'll be too dark. Since there is such brightness on the stage, it might not do too bad on a high one, but like i said, create a setting and experiment. Best thing to do. I'm not sure what the Shutter speed can be set to on there. High might not actually be so high. I'm used to SLR's.

Back to the camera. The first two aren't like the Kodak you have or Canon. They are...advanced point-and-shoots. High zoom, anti-shake, high speed continuous shooting and I think an ISO up to 800. You wouldnt need more than that or it starts to get grainy anyhow.

The Canon is like the Kodak. They are what I like to call, mini-SLR's. They look like it, have the same functions, just not to the same extent. I know the S3 does great vid too. Had two friends take that with them over to Afghanistan.

Well, actually, if you can find it. Although you have to buy an XD card. Fuji's S5200 (which is cheap cause they're retired) is good and of course the new model the S6000 is great! Not sure what prices run, but about the same. I know we sell the S5200 for $269 but it goes on sale for President's Day week for like...$229 so if you can find a Ritz near you starting sunday, go get a S5200. Like i said though, you'd have to get a XD card which is a downer.

Anything else, feel free to hit me up man.

thanks again for the great responses!! I'll do a little research over the next few days and get back to you with my findings. In the meantime, if you have anymore suggestions please post them.

hey damien, I did a little research on those cameras you listed. I like what I read on the Canon S3IS. Looks like what I have but with a lot more features and a lot more functional! I'll probably wait a while until the price comes down. I have a question though. It appears to use standard SD cards, but I read something about an SDC card...what is that? I get my reviews from Stevesdigicams.com
Another question, it mentions that it has separate buttons for recording video and still photos. Is it possible to record a video and go back and take a picture in REVIEW mode? In other words, I want to get a still picture from a video (after recording). Is this possible? Any other information you find helpful for me would be great!! thanks

Any still image from video is possible, but that's computer software, not camera. Not to mention, these aren't video cameras, so quality ain't the highest thing, but it ain't bad to just have on your computer.

As for SDs. I should've mentioned this, be sure to get high speed SD. Just 'cause it says high speed means nothing. Make sure it says at least 6mbs for a 6 mp camera. Keep checking on Lexar. They offer rebates a lot on the 133x speed. RIght not they off a...I think $32 rebate. I know at Ritz they're $60 after the rebate for a 2GB which is about 2hrs of video and...um...a schiz load of pics, around 600 I think. I can't recall my numbers.

Well, i gotta go to work and i can't finish what I was talking about.

http://www2.butterflyphoto.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=S3IS&cm_mmc=PriceGrabber-_-Canon-_-Full%20Featured-_-S3IS

awesome, thanks. I'm gonna do more comparisons with regards to my Kodak, but the more I read about that Canon, the more I want it!! Under the DESCRIPTION, and then CONTINUOUS SHOOTING, it says:

high speed: approx 2.3 fps
normal sp: approx 1.5 fps

is this the equivalent to the "burst mode" on my kodak camera?

thanks again!! I'll PM you with more questions soon

STAY AWAY FROM BURST MODE!!!

Burst mode is a one frame picture. It will take 16 or w/e, but place it under one frame, not 16 seperate pictures.

lol, I lost track in which camera thread I was talking in. The other one the guy's not spending more than $100. But yeah, that S3 is sweet sweet sweet!

To tell you what 2.3fps is like...well, the Nikon basic DSLR (40 and 50) have a 2.5fps. So yeah and like I mentioned, get a high speed card!

what are some of the drawbacks with the S3? From what I've read in reviews a lot of people don't like the Manual Flash. My kodak's flash pops up automatically and I actually find THAT annoying!! Some people mentioned that it doesn't take good low light photos....could that be helped with the manual mode?.....using a high ISO setting? Seems like I should have better luck with that on the S3 because of the Anti Shake feature. I'm gettin' excited!!! woo!! have a good one!

800 will be the max on the ISO really. The flash, that's your pic really. So people don't mine others do. Low light...well, really no camera takes good shots in low light. It's a variance, especially without a tripod. i've never heard many complaints.

Overall, it wins. Everything has it's ups and downs.

true true. Know anybody who wants to buy a lightly used Z740? haha

Man...tryin' to sell a kodak. Gag me. Ok, so it was the other thread. Someone had a Kodak there too. But this guy syaing he works for them or something started going on about how Kodak is the best digital camera there is right now.

Yeah, too bad Best Buy, Ritz, and I believe Circuit City are no longer selling them except for what they currently have. And Kodak is going to stop making them all together switching to printers.

Hey Damien, I'm still drooling over that canon, but I found a used Lumix TZ1. Just wonderin how much is too much for it....used.

about $250ish new. TZ1 ain't a bad camera and being smaller, it easier to carry.

How much they sellin it for???

around $75....I might get it even though it's used

why are they already selling it? it just came out???

not sure why. it's a second-hand kinda thing. Used electronics

shoot, if it's legit go for it.

when you're talking about new-ish compacts, you can't really go wrong for $75. check everything works first though. take a few photos in the store and check them out. if you buy it and it doesn't work, they're fun to take apart! (i did it to my old Sony the other day, it hasn't worked for over a year.)

well the drawback is that the battery nor the charger are included. The only thing it has included are the camera, neck strap, and AV Cable. NO manual, or software. But the price is still reasonable. What do you guys think>

find a battery and charger first. im sure they're online, but check it out to see how much you'd still put out. Another thing, I think Best Buy may still have it, but I know Ritz has a Damage protection plan. Covers everything up to fire and theft and for the TZ1 it's like...only $48, if i can recall, for the first year. $83.60 for 2 years. Killer deal.

So if you have memory cards (if not go online and buy them or something. You can find legit 1GB of like $20 or less. Got 3 1gb for $50) with the DPP, it's $300 but for a year you can break the thing as often as you want. And while you're at if you do this, my associate # is 94385! lol

But seriously, see what the price would be with the battery and charger.

_nate

Hi, I just noticed this thread, and I've had the exact same problems with taking concert pictures with the Kodak Z740. Could you tell me anything more about this Panasonic TZ1? What I've read about the anti-shake and the zoom sound promising. How is it for low-light situations?

If anyone could tell me if this would be a good camera for concert photos, I would really appreciate it. I've been trying to find a good concert camera for years.

Thanks very much for any help!

No P&S is great in low light especially if they tell you no flash. Fuji is proabaly the best because of the sensor size therefore you can raise the ISO higher and the picture will not be as grainy.

If you have questions, ask. Panasonic's TZ1 is a great camera being kinda thin and 10x optical zoom. The higher ISO levels are pretty good and Dell had this for less than $200 for awhile. I think only for Dell account memebers, not sure. Aniwho, as I was saying about Fuji, the only Fuji worth getting for that is the S6000 or better because you'll get the zoom. They're also much bigger.