What camera and lens features matter most for indoor concert photography without flash?
Asked 6/26/2011
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2 answers
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I’m looking for a camera recommendation for indoor concert photography where flash is not allowed. My priorities are responsive shutter performance and autofocus that works well in low light. I’m also interested in what lens types or apertures are most useful for this kind of shooting, especially if I’m shopping around the roughly $1000 body range.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
7
As usually in life, the best things are not cheap.
Given only the criteria of fast shutter and good focusing in low light, I suspect Nikon D3s is still unbeaten. It also has a quiet shutter mode, should you visit concerts with silent audience.
A Nikon AF-S 70-200 ED VR II 2.8 lens would be a good match for low-light concert photography. The big aperture helps your camera to focus in the low light, and zoom gives you more freedom of composition. It has weather sealing (just like the camera) in case you would ever visit an outdoor concert with sudden rain.
While the sensor of Pentax K-5 is also praised for its low-light performance, auto-focus has been Achilles heel for Pentax and while vastly improved on K-5, it still lags behind the big two. Also slowness of supersonic AF motors on their premium tele lenses is not encouraging.
Originally by user4390. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4390
15y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
For no-flash indoor concerts, lens choice often matters as much as the camera body. A fast lens — especially something like a 50mm f/1.8 or a 70-200mm f/2.8 — helps both exposure and autofocus in low light.
From the answers, most camera bodies around the $1000 range are broadly competitive for this use. Shutter responsiveness is generally a non-issue on DSLRs compared with point-and-shoot cameras, and differences in low-light AF at that price tend to be relatively small.
If budget is less constrained, the Nikon D3s was specifically highlighted as exceptionally strong for low-light autofocus and concert use, with the added benefit of a quiet shutter mode.
A practical budget-minded example mentioned was a Nikon D7000 with a 50mm f/1.8, which can work well for low-light, no-flash shooting, especially if you shoot RAW and use good noise reduction in post.
So the key advice is: prioritize a fast lens first, then choose a competent DSLR or mirrorless body in your budget with good high-ISO performance and reliable low-light AF.
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