Concert photos blurred & grainy....

[aloe]

Went to the Gen Y concert. Tried to take photos using my Canon S50. discovered.... s50 zoom is sooooo pathetic!!! :cry:

Then when the photos turned out, it's slightly blurred and grainy and .... real horrible..... can anyone tell me how to improve the images of photos taken at concerts?? Cos I'm going to another concert soon and hopefully, the photos will not turn up as horrible...

I used the AV mode on the camera and set the ISO to 200 from an initial of 400... Actually I know nuts about all these... :dunno: Below is a sample photo, but I've cropped and resized it so that it can fit here....

 

[aloe]

Anyone can help??

 

[blurblock]

S50 don't have the capability to take the photographs, above ISO 200, the noise is unbearable, however, below ISO800, the lights are not enough, without powerful flashlights.

So either you buy a expensive ticket and sit right infront of the performing artist or invest in a SLR with high power Zoom lens and high ISO films.

 

[aloe]

ah... shucks.... I was already sitting right in front for this photo.... the zooming really sucks..... :cry: I need a camera with better zoom!! :cry:

 

[zekai]

with with a film slr with a cheap flash + fast film
likely to get better result

 

[amateur_photographer]

my experience of covering an event on stage... mostly I used 50mm f/1.8 and 80-200 f/2.8 with Kodak Supra Film ISO 800 push 2 stop. Result? excellent for me and the organizer is happy with the result.

 

[Belle&Sebastain]

most digicams are not capable to shoot event, night, concerts, you might want to think of using SLRs or DLRs with high iso(800 above) to shoot your subjects.

 

[cookiez]

Forget about bringing DSLR to concerts. DSLRs are considered as pro
cameras and the security/urshers will threaten to confiscate your memory
card if they spotted you shooting with DSLR. That always happen to me
whenever I bring a DSLR to concerts. However, it is okay if you use a
compact digital camera.

Too many restrictions on s'pore concerts, you paid for expensive ticket
yet cannot enjoy what you like to do (eg. photography), damn sickening..

 

[ordinaryless]

my experience of covering an event on stage... mostly I used 50mm f/1.8 and 80-200 f/2.8 with Kodak Supra Film ISO 800 push 2 stop. Result? excellent for me and the organizer is happy with the result.

Hi ama,

What do you mean by pushing two stops as highlighted in bold above.

u mean the EV meter?

 

[Prismatic]

Forget about bringing DSLR to concerts. DSLRs are considered as pro
cameras and the security/urshers will threaten to confiscate your memory
card if they spotted you shooting with DSLR. That always happen to me
whenever I bring a DSLR to concerts. However, it is okay if you use a
compact digital camera.

Too many restrictions on s'pore concerts, you paid for expensive ticket
yet cannot enjoy what you like to do (eg. photography), damn sickening..

Then you haven't been to a lot of concerts overseas yet. A lot of concerts in other countries ban cameras from even entering the concert location. And in many places the concerts are a lot more expensive, you can't choose your seats (That's if there are seats in the first place).

 

[cookiez]

are u sure ? I've attended concerts in HK, Taiwan, Japan and US. Concert photography is allowed in these countries, you can bring all your big papa
mama lenses and gears and no one will bother to stop you, I once saw some
guys brought a 600mm lens attached on a monopod during a HK concert.
Thats why the restriction in S'pore concerts really pissed ppl off.

Maybe u would want to share whose concert and in which country it was held
that restrict ppl with cameras from entering ?

 

[Prismatic]

In Japan for one, the standard ticket is 7500 yen.
For summer concerts, you just get a spot on the grass patch with your number printed on a piece of paper. If you are carrying a camera, you have to leave it at the lockers before you enter the spectators area.

Robbie Williams used to banned all cameras from his indoor concerts and restricted press photographers to only the first song during his concert.

I have attended a concert in South Korea where cameras are banned from the most expensive section of the concert (within 50m from the stage) at Seoul Stadium.

In Taiwan, many concerts ban spectators from bringing cameras too.

The truth is, it's really up to the organisers to enforce the ban on photography. The money you pay for the concert ticket doesn't give you the right to photography or record the concerts in any form. A concert is a privately organised function and you are liable to be sued if your pictures/video clip contributed to any loss of earnings from official reproduction of the concert, ie concert DVDs, 'live' albums etc etc.
Some record companies are really nitpicks, so you have to be careful.

For example:
Eric Clapton's concert at Madison Square Garden.Here
Look under General Rules

Another one:
Fuji Rock Festival at Naeba this coming July 30th.Here
Look under

. It's the 12th red dot.

In fact, I will be really surprised if any paying concerts don't have at least that clause somewhere in the terms and conditions of buying the ticket.

 

[Prismatic]

Anyway, to answer Aloe's question.
A longer zoom will be most useful for taking concerts pictures. However, in the low-light conditions at concerts, the shutter speed will often be slow and will cause motion blur as well as hand shake. This will be magnified by the longer zoom.

Though your best option is to get an SLR with high speed film, it doesn't mean you can't take pictures of concerts with a point and shoot. It just take a bit more practise and anticipation.

Learn to control hand shake by having a good handholding position. You may want to use the viewfinder instead, as the camera will be resting against your face then, which will be more stable.

Take shots when the artiste's movements is at the lowest, eg, when he's holding a note, at the end of a dance movement, or pausing in between verses.

Switch to ISO 400 instead. Noise is ugly, but it beats having motion blur. Having a noisy picture is still better than having no picture at all.

And of course, post-processing on Photoshop helps a fair bit too.

Here's some pictures I took on a Minolta Z-1 for your reference.
http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=62035

 

[aloe]

wow!! Great photos from Prismatic.... Thanks for the advice. I shall go see if there's any attachments to the S50 to make it zoom closer. Maybe should start saving up too... heheh... and learn more abt dig photography...

 

[cookiez]

In Japan for one, the standard ticket is 7500 yen.
For summer concerts, you just get a spot on the grass patch with your number printed on a piece of paper. If you are carrying a camera, you have to leave it at the lockers before you enter the spectators area.

Robbie Williams used to banned all cameras from his indoor concerts and restricted press photographers to only the first song during his concert.

I have attended a concert in South Korea where cameras are banned from the most expensive section of the concert (within 50m from the stage) at Seoul Stadium.

In Taiwan, many concerts ban spectators from bringing cameras too.

The truth is, it's really up to the organisers to enforce the ban on photography. The money you pay for the concert ticket doesn't give you the right to photography or record the concerts in any form. A concert is a privately organised function and you are liable to be sued if your pictures/video clip contributed to any loss of earnings from official reproduction of the concert, ie concert DVDs, 'live' albums etc etc.
Some record companies are really nitpicks, so you have to be careful.

For example:
Eric Clapton's concert at Madison Square Garden.Here
Look under General Rules

Another one:
Fuji Rock Festival at Naeba this coming July 30th.Here
Look under

. It's the 12th red dot.

In fact, I will be really surprised if any paying concerts don't have at least that clause somewhere in the terms and conditions of buying the ticket.

Thanks for the explaination. I've noticed that the "no photograhy" clause
was printed on the local & overseas concert tickets but seems like it has
been ignored most of time.

Here's one photographer with, IMHO excellent concert photography skill :
http://www.pbase.com/lin_temp/concert

Note, some pics were taken from the "hilltop" where the photographer sits.

 

[pianodancer]

Agree that for decent stage photography, you need DSLR, not because it's more pro, but because it is capable of shooting at very high ISO (e.g. 800) without compromising on noise.

Lens attachment are affordable, but only good onces produce pro-sharp images. I used to own S45, and has to use max ISO to take decently-exposed photos at full zoom due to reduced aperture. But I'm not bothered with noise, because it's the image momento that is more important than getting the cleanest shot.

Here's an example of what I mean - photos taken using S45 during Mambo Cabaret Show in Bangkok (and they do not restrict photog-taking) :
http://fun.musicsg.com/modules.php?...lery&file=index&include=view_album.php&page=4

 

[baiyun]

for me, i find film slr + the normal 70-300mm lens with high iso film is already quite good.........
the pics here taken with different cams, for ur comparison.

Concert taken with canon G3, only these few pics turn out ok...after some postprocessing..
Elva concert

concert taken with canon a40
Emil Chau

concert taken with canon eos300 and 50mm f1.8 and 70-300mm lens
aaron kwok

concert taken with canon eos300 and 50mm f1.8 and 70-300mm lens
Sammi

 

[amateur_photographer]

Hi ama,

What do you mean by pushing two stops as highlighted in bold above.

u mean the EV meter?

Hello.


I mean, I rate the ISO two stops higher than it is intended to.
So i rate it at ISO 3200 (800->1600->3200).