Concert photos

stephanie13

I just got my camera a month or so ago, so I haven't had the opportunity to use it in a concert setting up until this point. I only have the kit lens. Any tips and advice on how I should do things would be extremely helpful and greatly appreciated.

ohyeahar

If you’re a beginner with just the kit lens, you’ll have to manage your expectations. Shooting a concert is very tricky even for pros with pro gear. Here’s the best I can come up with given the circumstances.

Turn on Auto-ISO. Choose your maximum ISO. Generally, I would pick 6400. You can ignore the minimum shutter.
Switch to S (shutter priority) mode. Turn the rear dial to pick a shutter speed that is just fast enough to freeze the action; 1/200 is probably more than enough. This depends on how active the performer is so you’ll need to experiment. Shoot at the slowest shutter speed you can. Slower shutter means more light entering the camera which means you can shoot at a lower cleaner ISO. If you’re shooting the drummer and you want to capture a sense of action, you may want to blur his hands/sticks by slowing the shutter down even further.
Use single point AF with the center point selected. Crop later on for composition.
Use spot metering.
Turn off the AF-assist lamp.
Get as close to the stage as you can. You don’t have a very long lens to work with.

With S-mode and Auto-ISO on, once the camera adjusts the ISO above 100, the maximum aperture will be selected for you. That’s what you want.
Your kit lens’s maximum aperture varies depending on how much you zoom. At 18mm, the max is f/3.5, and att 55mm, the max is f/5.6, so you should try to shoot at the wide end for maximum light gathering capabilities. But of course, zooming in will create more interesting and intimate shots. You’ll need to weigh the pros and cons yourself.