Shooting a concert. Lots of questions

[Sachis2112]

I have friends that are in a Genesis tribute band. Early Genesis (Peter Gabriel, before Phil Collins) was very theatrical and that's often what you see with tribute bands. I've done some shots before with a flash (in smaller venues where this really wasn't a big deal) but this venue is larger and I would prefer to use my flash as little as possible. Also, I'd prefer to be able to capture the mood of the lighting etc.

So... I have a Rebel XT, a Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS zoom and the 18-55mm f/2.5-5.6 zoom kit lens. I have a fairly good Sunpak flash (This one. Guide Number: 42, Lens Coverage: 24mm - 105mm) and I'm JUST starting to learn how to use it properly. I'll be picking up a small softbox the day before the gig, just because I want one and not necessarily to use for the gig...

I know the best solution is "fast glass" but am definitely out of my element there. I hear that my 28-135mm sucks for speed. I have never used it in this sort of situation but I believe it will, indeed, suck inside this venue. I will not have the cash to rent a faster lens. I'm fairly certain the kit lens is not much better. What can I do to preserve concert lighting colors? Sure, I can jack up the ISO but how much is necessary?

My friend told me to turn down my flash... which I only sort of understand and will be practicing as soon as I get to my camera. I'd prefer no flash of course but it's starting to sound like that's not possible with my current lenses. And I feel like I'm talking myself in a circle...

HEEEEEEEEEEELLLPP!!

[inkista]

Faster lenses aren't all astronomically expensive. Get the EF 50mm f/1.8 II. It's $100. They don't get much cheaper. And the image quality is going to be better than your kit lens's.

Alternatively, renting an EF 100 f/2 USM, or EF 85mm f/1.8 USM might not be as expensive as you think. You don't have to get an L or an f/2.8 zoom.

Or jack up the ISO, and invest in some noise-correction software.

Your problem is that with a smaller aperture, you're going to have to either jack up the iso, or use a really long shutter speed to get a good exposure without the flash. And the long shutter speed is likely to be slow enough to show subject motion blur. IS won't help you here--it's only going to help with the camera shake blur, not the subject motion. For that, you simply have to get a faster shutter speed.

If you do jack up the iso, the main trick is remembering not to underexpose. It's better to choose a higher iso level and expose properly than it is to use a lower iso level and underexpose, when it comes to noise.

Flash is tricky, but not impossible with stage lighting. The main difficulty is that the color of the light coming from your flash is unlikely to match the colors being used on stage, so white balancing is going to be tricky. If you aren't already, shoot RAW, and use some kind of post-processing software that will let you adjust the white balance in post.

[Sachis2112]

You know, I had it in my mind that my next lens was going to be 50mm f/1.4 that it never even occurred to me that I could buy the f/1.8 and use it for a year or two. In all seriousness, that pretty much solved my problem. i.e. now I know it's possible for me to pull this off and get all the shots I want.

My concern was primarily that I'm already going to be climbing all over the stage (which I used to do all the time in small venues). It is distracting to the audience and I didn't want to compound that by having my flash go off several hundred times through the night.

Thanks for the reminder on not underexposing. Sometimes I get so excited I forget myself so that was an apt reminder.

[inkista]

Glad to help! The Plastic Fantastic is well worth its price, despite the build-quality complaints people have about it. And if you compare it to the 50/1.4 on a crop body, it's actually a little sharper, going by dpreview's test data.

The one big drawback to using the 50/1.8 II in low light is that its autofocus performance can get a little wonky/imprecise. You may want to consider using only the central AF point, and learning to aim it at an area of high contrast (ideally where black meets white at a sharp edge) to help the AF system out.

Also, it's at its softest wide open. If you need to go to f/1.8 for the light, do it, but the closer you are to f/4 (the 50/1.8 II's sweet spot), the sharper the lens will be.

[Sachis2112]

Wow! Great info! Thanks so much. I'm flying to LA on Friday which is where the gig is... I checked and Bel Air Camera (my former shop of choice) happens to carry the lens. I will have just enough time to stop, grab the lens and take it for a quick test drive to make sure all is well before the concert.