help using budget P&S camera at a concert

[roosta]

hi there.

ive been getting the weekly email for about a year now, and its helped me understand photography a lot. unfortunately, im still getting rubbish photos, mostly because im using a fujifilm F50fd point and shoot. it was the "best" i could afford, and so far its been a mixed bag. at very close range on portrait mode it can come out with some stellar shots, but anything out of the flash range or with the flash turned off disappears into noisy, blurred blackness.

i just want to know how i can get decent photos at a concert from the back. its got a 3x optical zoom, but 12MP's, so i could crop them after the show to get extra 4-6x zoom, but its the settings im worried about. ive played with the shutter/aperture priorities on it a lot so im comfortable using them, but because the camera is so poor the images blur very quickly, or get very noisy, or come out totally under exposed.

the settings im expecting are flash off, ISO 800, f2.8, and shutter speed as fast as i can get. then i might get 1 or 2 decent shots. tripods out of the question, but i might see if i can rest it on something stable.

alternatively, is there any free software that can remove sensor noise effectively, without losing too much detail?? (i dont own photoshop and being a non-photography student, i cant afford it) or any post processing that i can do in GIMP (i know how to use that)

or does anyone know a very good compact P&S for less than £200 and somewhere i can sell my F50 for a good price? i would be willing to buy second hand if someone can reccommend a good compact to look for. the concert is in 10 days.

thanks for any help.

ross

[sybren]

I'd go to full manual mode. With the changing lights that often accompany bands it's usually the easiest setting to work with. As far as shutter speed goes - if it's too slow then it's too slow. You'll have to either up the ISO or get more stability. Another thing you may try is to under-expose a stop, and then correct for that in post.

One other thing to try: convert to black & white. What is ugly coloured noise may become a nice black & white grain. All of a sudden ISO 1600 may be acceptable, who knows!

Noise Ninja is awesome in removing noise. A standalone home-use license costs USD 34.95, considerably less than Photoshop. And it's probably better at noise removal too.

[roosta]

ok thanks for that. i looked into noise ninja but i hate paying for software.

in regards to under exposing, i had thought of that but wasnt sure if post processing would add noise or anything to it. il giver that one a go, thanks.

black and white was the only solution to save a few shots from the last concert we went to. some of them came out pretty well in B&W, but most were too blurred.
is it better to set the camera to B&W or use post processing? what im asking is, is it easier on the camera to take in B&W or does it make no difference?

is exposure compensation worth using on a P&S or should i just do it in post processing?


thanks for the help!

[sybren]

Well, you don't have to buy Noise Ninja of course, but it's by far the best noise reduction I've ever seen. And I'm a big fan of Open Source ;-)

When you under-expose and then fix it in post, you'll get more noise. So try to under-expose by one stop at ISO 800 and fix it in post, and compare that to a regular shot in ISO 1600. Use the one that gives you the least noise

About black & white: I'd do that in post, as you can then tweak the channels before you do your B&W conversion. It's easier in-camera, but more powerful and rewarding in post.