best camera for niteclub band

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.zlr (More info?)

Any recommendations for the best digital for shooting a live band in a
niteclub setting? I would prefer a superzoom.

Thanks,
Dale

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.zlr (More info?)

measekite <inkystinky@oem.com> writes:
> Dale Craft wrote:

>> Any recommendations for the best digital for shooting a live band
>> in a niteclub setting? I would prefer a superzoom.

I assume "nightclub setting" means "dimly lit setting".

Superzoom cameras have tiny sensors. This means a lot of noise
when you push their sensitivity. This is not what you want.
And their lenses are slow. A max aperture of f/2.8 or more is
not what you want.

I know that this is a ZLR group, but for this type of work, you really
need a DSLR with a fast single focal length lens that can handle low
light. Assuming a 1.5x or 1.6x crop, I would recommend a 35mm or 50
mm f/1.4 (or f/1.2 if you can afford it). Push the sensor to ISO 1600
and post-process to remove noise. Canon is generally considered the
brand that has the edge when it comes to low noise at high ISO, but
the latest DSLR offerings from Nikon, Pentax, and Konica-Minolta are
also quite capable in this area.

> I think there will be many people that will recommend a Nikon D70
> because of its high sync flash.

A Nikon D70 is a great camera and I would also recommend it - but not
because of its flash. Using flash to record a live performance will
destroy the ambience and disturb the musicians and audience.

The link below is to a nightclub shot I did of jazz pianist
McCoy-Tyner. It is from my film days (Kodak Tri-X pushed to
ISO 3200) but I think it shows how important the ambient lighting
is for the "mood". Using flash here would have killed the image.
http://foto.no/cgi-bin/bildegaller [...] ?id=172819
--
- gisle hannemyr [ gisle{at}hannemyr.no - http://folk.uio.no/gisle/ ]
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