Best Camera for Night/Club photos?

Question

I'm trying to take pictures of my friend's band at a club for publicity but my 4 mp Casio camera doesn't seem to be doing it.

What kind of camera do you suggest?

Answer 1

You might be able to make the Casio work.

You don't say how you're taking the pictures or what's wrong with the results, but I'm guessing you're hand-holding the camera and shooting in Auto, probably with flash. Try this before you spend a fortune:

-- Buy or borrow a tripod. Your Casio is tiny and light, so you don't need some monster tripod, which would be a nuisance in a club anyway. $20 to $30 should do it if you have to buy one. You're acquainted with the members of the band, so you should be able to get the OK to set up a small tripod without getting other folks in the club all bent out of shape. Set the camera not to use flash -- consult your manual if you don't know how to do this. Mount it on the tripod and gently touch the shutter button to take the picture. If the results look blurry, try setting the self-timer for a two-second delay. Keep your hands off the camera and the tripod until after it fires. This way you won't be blurring the photo by jostling the camera during the exposure, which will be rather long in a dimly lit club.

-- Still using the tripod technique above, try the Best Shot settings that are programmed into your camera. There are several that could work in a club. Again, consult the manual if you don't know how to use Best Shot.

-- You can try jacking up the ISO rating, but the higher the ISO, the more digital noise will be in your pictures, especially in low light photos. The Casio pocket cameras go to ISO 400, if memory serves, which isn't all that high anyway.

-- Shutter speeds will be slow, so try to time your shots to catch the band when they aren't moving too much. A little motion blur can be nice -- the guitarist's hand moving over the strings, for example -- but it's no good if the guitarist was strutting across the stage and turns into a smear of color. Or not. You be the judge.

-- In all cases, get as close to the band as you can. Nothing is more boring than tiny little musicians shot from 40 feet away.

-- Shoot a variety of angles, including unusual ones, and see how things work out.

One of the great things about digital photography is that play is free. You can experiment as much as needed without paying a dime, unlike in the old days of film, when every click of the shutter cost money.

If you're planning to do a lot of club photography, it probably will be worth the money to go for a digital SLR such as a Canon Rebel XT or a Nikon D50. Their low-light capabilities, especially with a fast lens, are far superior to any point and shoot camera. Lighting in clubs is rotten, though, so the tripod would still come in handy.

Give it whirl. Let us know how it comes out!

Answer 2

tiger - It's sort of a silly question. I assume you want point and shoot capability that produces a perfect photo. That is, I guess you dont want to learn about photography and just want the camera to do it all. If so, I bet that the casio is fine for that. What distance are you from the band? Most of those cheapie point and shoot flashes are only good for 10-15 feet. If you dont want to use flash, then you have to mount it on a tripod to eliminate camera shake or else end up with fuzzy pictures. Good luck.

Answer 3

Nightclubs have terrible lighting for taking pictures. If you're serious about this, buy, borrow, or rent the following:
Canon Rebel XT camera ($700)
Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens ($200 used)
A fast 1 GB memory card ($60)
No flash!
With the camera set to ISO 3200 and the lens at f/1.4, you can practically take action shots in total darkness. If you want to save a few bucks, get a 50mm f/1.8 lens instead. Or get a Nikon system - the Nikon D50 is only $550. I use a Nikon D200 myself with a Nikon 50mm f/1.4 lens, but I readily admit that Canon is better at ISO 1600 and above.

Answer 4

fuji f-30 for low lght no flash

if flash is ok...any camera with a hotshoe and buy a bigger flash

if your willing to spend 1000+ and really get nice pictures canon 30d wth a good lens