johnrwoods

Fast Wide Angle = Sigma 24mm f/1.8, pretty cheap ($300), I find it to be the most useful for me when shooting concerts, with my 10D. Im usually pretty close, either right in front of the stage or on stage. Im not sure if youre shooting at small clubs, or large venues. If you need something longer, the Canon 35mm f/2 is nice as well, but I still like the 24mm and the 50mm better. If you need really wide go with a Sigma 15mm fisheye (got mine for $350).<p>

 

Fast Telephoto Zoom - pretty much limited to the 70-200 f/2.8 as others have mentioned. Otherwise get 1 or 2 fast telephoto primes.<p>

 

Canon Speedlite - 420ex, never have felt like I needed anything more, especially for concerts. Both because a lot of venues dont allow flash, and most of the time I do use flash its for fill (especially when doing slow-sync).

Fast wideangle - I find my Sigma 24mm 1.8 the most useful, because I mainly shoot in smaller clubs, where im right in front of the stage and sometimes on stage, fisheyes are fun for overalls, and so is a 50mm for tighter crops. But the 24mm seems to find its way onto my 10D most often. <p>

 

Fast Telephoto Zoom - obviously the 70-200mm 2.8, no question. Wish I had one.<p>

 

Good Speedlite - 420ex, ive never found much need to have a 550ex, those things are dang heavy too. Although I like shooting without flash too.

save yourself money, and get the sigma 15mm fisheye.

This is my area of, well not necessarily expertise, but definite familiarity. You DEFINATELY do not want to settle with a p&s digital for low-light work of any kind, especially concerts. A DSLR is the only way to go, the cheapest way is going to be what .[. Z mentioned, a digital rebel + 50mm f/1.8. Between that and a memory card (or two) and a card reader, you should be good to go.<p>

 

As for the flash debate, it has to be done with care. There are few exceptions where "freezing" flash works well at a concert. Slow-sync can do wonders though. But sometimes there is nothing sweeter than a crisp and clear natural lighting concert photo.

you have a digital camera.<br>

digital cameras display the pictures you've taken on the lcd screen.<br>

they also transfer rather easily to a computer to be viewed on a computer monitor.<br>

now go take some pictures with your flash and experiment with different WB settings and see which one looks the best.<br>

its easy and free, and you will get your answer right away.<br>

or just shoot in RAW and worry about WB later.

"That's odd, Bas, I usually recommend folks NOT to use the flash if they want decent looking pictures. If they want flat, hot, and harsh then flash it is!"

 

Sounds like someones never heard of using bounce flash, diffusers, softboxes etc. Its not THAT hard.

I often hear good things about the Sigma 24mm f/1.8, which I plan on getting soon, for low-light concert work. Could be something to look into for yourself..

the only way I see this happening is if you have a custom white balance setting, with that it is possible to get a pink cast for white balance, if thats not it, I think you should be taking it to get repaired...

Let's start a new trend...<p>

 

My 70-200mm f/4L focuses perfectly !

Giampiero, I think Volker was referring to being able to use the upcoming 10-22mm EFs that would only currently fit on the 20D and 300D.

Well when I was there, there was no barricaded area for photographers, so you're either gonna be right in the mix of things in the front (this might be hard, if youre going to a street punk show or something similar). So in that case youll want wide to normal coverage, in the 20mm-24mm-28mm-50mm-85mm ranges. Or you can take a nice seat at one of the tables and shoot from there with a telephoto. You can use flash, at least they didnt mind when I was there, might depend on the band though. Other than that get some fast film 800iso or higher and shoot away, make sure to keep some of the moody stage lighting though, dont blow everyone away with your flash :)

I've been quite pleased with my new Sigma 15mm fish on my 10D. I threw the lens on my 7E for fun and found it much too wide to be able to use regularly (unless you're able to get within 3-5 inches of your subject regularly). However, its just what I was looking for, for a wide-angle on my 10D (even de-fishing it with panotools has produced great results and still wide enough for my uses). Like others mentioned, you might want to wait and look at the Canon 10-22mm, since its specially made for the 20D (and 300D), more expensive than the Sigma 15mm, but if you really need the zoom the price shouldnt be a factor.

And tucking you in at night, so you can <b>keep dreaming</b> <p>

:)

Canon G3. Can be found used in great condition for around $300 now.<p>

 

Large aperture of f/2.0 and relatively light in weight, and 200iso (which is more like 400iso, are usable), which would be ideal for a point'n'shoot digicam in low-light.

You will be quite pleased with the high ISO performance of the 300D/10D/20D, I know I was.<p>

 

Canon 10D, 50mm f/1.8 @ 1.8, 1/80, 800iso...<p>

 

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v20/theoperativeword/gjgchain_06.jpg">

You can also try a monopod or tripod even. Or if there is a nearby tree or sturdy object to brace yourself on, you should be able to get sharper pics.

The 50 f/1.8 and 70-200 f/4L are incredibly great lenses, especially for their prices, I couldn't recommend them enough (I use both on my 10D).<p>

 

I think you also can't go wrong with the 17-40 F/4L. Im planning on primes for my wide end though (15mm f/2.8, 24 f/1.8*, 35 f/2*). I need the speed and light weight for low-light concert work.<br>

*Don't have the last two of those primes yet, soon though :)<p>

 

I think I might end up buying the 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS, for a walk-a-round/general purpose zoom. Heard many good things about this lens for it being a "consumer" lens, plus you get IS. Might be worth looking into for yourself.

Just get a cf card, if you really think that $99 for a Sandisk 1gb Ultra II (60x) is a lot of money, then youre crazy, because its dropped in price over 50% in the last month or so.

If you want to go with Canon, Id go with:<p>

 

Canon G3 (you can probably get a mint used one for $400 or less)<br>

Canon 420ex Flash ($175)<br>

Youll have to get a memory card too, but those are way cheap now, you could get a 512mb for like $40 or so.<p>

 

So youll be under or at your $600 budget.

You can get the upcoming Canon 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 for the 20D, if you can live with those apertures, so youll have a 16-35mm.

Unfortunately the two things you mentioned are the limitations of a compact, point and shoot digital camera. You might be able to find some with a faster start-up time, but youre probably not going to see dramatic differences with speed unless you moved up to a DSLR (but then you lose the small size). Im sure most of latest p&s cameras offered by the major companies will outperform your Nikon Coolpix 2500, which is pretty outdated now.

David, I have both a 1gb card and a 512mb card, I find that the 512 fills up too quickly for my tastes. I prefer the size of the 1gb card, and will probably get another 1gb card soon (Sandisk 1gb Ultra II's are 99 bucks now!!!). I probably wouldnt go higher than 1gb though, both because its not smart economically (more than double the price of a 1gb card) and as you mentioned, I wouldnt want to put that many eggs in one basket. I guess it depends on how much you shoot, but I would recommend a 1gb card.

All I know is that I plan on getting the Sigma 24mm 1.8, I need it for low-light work at concerts. Most reviews of it have been positive, and has some neat features (internal focusing and MFD of 7.1 inches). Something to look at if you need the speed.

"I've heard rumours too... except the rumour I heard was a camera in between the digital rebel and the 20D."<p>

 

Yeah its called the 10D <br>

:)<p>

When they have the D30, D60 and 10D, I highly doubt they would release another one that is similar in that category.

I just ordered a Nikon 5T close-up filter (with 67mm to 62mm step-down ring) to use on my 70-200 f/4. Ive heard good things about this set up, so im eager to try it out. Might be worth looking into for your 75-300.