I'm going to see a choir concert tomorrow @ a college I used to go to. I have the Olympus E330.?

Question

What setting would be best to take pictures with?? I'll be in the first or second row.....so rather close......but they'll be some movement....singers, and the director......I want the people to look CLEAR from where I'm sitting and want the moments to be Clear as well!!! Hints would be great!!!!!!

Answer 1

I have the E-330. I'll assume you have the 14-45 kit lens. Shoot it wide open as suggested. That'll help with hand holding in low light. It's also when it's at its widest aperture of 3.5. I'd leave it in P mode and see what you got after a shot. Use the blow up feature in shot review to see if you're getting motion blur. If you have the aux. fl-36 or fl-50 flash, see if you can use it. That would help a lot. In fact, I'd use a flash unless told not to. But unless you're within 10ft, I don't think the little on camera flash will do much.

Answer 2

These are general rules, I am going on the lack of knowledge of the lenses you have.
Normally concert halls do not have the best lighting. I know someone who has this camera, but I don't.

1) Set a high ISO - 800 or 1600 if you can.
2) Get there early if you can and set the proper white balance for the lighting(take test shots) - doesn't affect claririty, but just a nitpick of mine.
3) Shoot as wide as you can(between 17 and 50mm) and with the largest aperture you can(shoot in "A" mode and use the thumb dial to make the number as small as possible f/2.8 would be ideal, but if you have a kit lens, it's probably going to be f/4 or f/5.6)
4) If you can use a flash, use it - preferrably a hot shoe mounted flash. The built in flash is not much good past 10 feet.
5) If you can use a tripod and a shutter release that would be optimal. If not, try and keep yourself as steady as possible.

After all these things, try and see if the shutter speed is twice the focal length. If it is and you have to hold the camera, you should have a good shot of getting sharp images. i.e. - if the lens is zoomed to 50mm, the shutter speed should be 1/100th or faster.

Good luck!