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HI,

I need a camera that would be good for shots of performers on stage that would
be printable with a good resolution.

Sometimes they are moving so need to get them frozen and sometimes the lights
are either too low or really bright.

I don't want an SLR just a small one.

I am in Sydney Oz so that is where I will buy. I don't have any biased towards
makes but need something I can download and that will take bigger cards for
bigger memory.

Am I right that the higher the MegaPixel the better the shot for larger printing?

Thank you

Rock

You are looking for a lot and I suspect you will have a hard time
finding what you want.

Most customers for non-SLR cameras don't look for the features you are
interested in. As a result there are few if any cameras that will have
those features. The manufacturers, understandably make what they know will
sell in quantity.

As you apparently know the features you are interested in are available
in SLR's, but they are generally more expensive, larger and noisier.

Hopefully someone here will have the experience with the cameras you
might be interested in and can offer you some specific advice. Sorry I
can't offer any real answers to your question.

"Rock" <> wrote in message
news:4753c5b5$0$872$. ..
> HI,
>
> I need a camera that would be good for shots of performers on stage that
> would be printable with a good resolution.
>
> Sometimes they are moving so need to get them frozen and sometimes the
> lights are either too low or really bright.
>
> I don't want an SLR just a small one.
>
> I am in Sydney Oz so that is where I will buy. I don't have any biased
> towards makes but need something I can download and that will take bigger
> cards for bigger memory.
>
> Am I right that the higher the MegaPixel the better the shot for larger
> printing?
>
> Thank you
>
> Rock


--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit

> I need a camera that would be good for shots of performers on stage that
> would be printable with a good resolution.
>
> Sometimes they are moving so need to get them frozen and sometimes the
> lights are either too low or really bright.
>
> I don't want an SLR just a small one.
>
> I am in Sydney Oz so that is where I will buy. I don't have any biased
> towards makes but need something I can download and that will take bigger
> cards for bigger memory.
>
> Am I right that the higher the MegaPixel the better the shot for larger
> printing?
>
> Thank you
>
> Rock

Will you be able to use flash?

MG

On Dec 3, 4:02 am, Rock <1...@pobox.com> wrote:
> HI,
>
> I need a camera that would be good for shots of performers on stage that would
> be printable with a good resolution.
>
> Sometimes they are moving so need to get them frozen and sometimes the lights
> are either too low or really bright.
>
> I don't want an SLR just a small one.
>
> I am in Sydney Oz so that is where I will buy. I don't have any biased towards
> makes but need something I can download and that will take bigger cards for
> bigger memory.
>
> Am I right that the higher the MegaPixel the better the shot for larger printing?
>
> Thank you
>
> Rock


Problem with stage photography is often the lighting is less than
optimal for photography, especially if motion is involved. The other
problem is that the action is a good distance away from the camera so
telephoto lenses are necessary, that means a slow f-stop on most
portable cameras. That is why most stage photographers use SLRs or
DSLRs. I believe Panasonic had a superzoom camera with an f2.8 lens
(as small as an f-stop as you would want) but I'm not certain of the
availability. The quietest shutter on a DSLR was on the Olympus E1,
not sure of the new E3, and Olympus has some fast lenses. Their system
is a little smaller than the Canon-Nikon-Pentax offerings and most
likely not much bigger than the f2.8 Panasonic. You have put out a
tall order for a camera, and P&S cameras are generally not made for
pro work.

Tom

Rock wrote:
> HI,
>
> I need a camera that would be good for shots of performers on stage that
> would be printable with a good resolution.
>
> Sometimes they are moving so need to get them frozen and sometimes the
> lights are either too low or really bright.
>
> I don't want an SLR just a small one.
>
> I am in Sydney Oz so that is where I will buy. I don't have any biased
> towards makes but need something I can download and that will take
> bigger cards for bigger memory.
>
> Am I right that the higher the MegaPixel the better the shot for larger
> printing?
>
> Thank you
>
> Rock

I don't think you are going to find what you are looking for.
Small cameras pretty much need a lot of light, at least if you are
photographing moving people.

Even for a DSLR you would need a good lens if the light was not good and
if the light was too low even that would not be enough.

Scott

Rock wrote:
> HI,
>
> I need a camera that would be good for shots of performers on stage that
> would be printable with a good resolution.
>
> Sometimes they are moving so need to get them frozen and sometimes the
> lights are either too low or really bright.
>
> I don't want an SLR just a small one.
>
> I am in Sydney Oz so that is where I will buy. I don't have any biased
> towards makes but need something I can download and that will take
> bigger cards for bigger memory.
>
> Am I right that the higher the MegaPixel the better the shot for larger
> printing?

Small inexpensive DSLR with a fast inexpensive 50mm f/1.8 lens. Zoom
will cost too much if it's fast.

Paul Furman wrote:
> Rock wrote:
>> HI,
>>
>> I need a camera that would be good for shots of performers on stage
>> that would be printable with a good resolution.
>>
>> Sometimes they are moving so need to get them frozen and sometimes the
>> lights are either too low or really bright.
>>
>> I don't want an SLR just a small one.
>>
>> I am in Sydney Oz so that is where I will buy. I don't have any biased
>> towards makes but need something I can download and that will take
>> bigger cards for bigger memory.
>>
>> Am I right that the higher the MegaPixel the better the shot for
>> larger printing?
>
> Small inexpensive DSLR with a fast inexpensive 50mm f/1.8 lens. Zoom
> will cost too much if it's fast.
Not a bad idea, but if the light is low then even this might not be
enough. I might not be a bad idea for him to either rent or borrow a
camera with that lens.

I took this shot with that very combination. This was a fairly dark bar
but not all that dark and even at iso 800 I was shooting at 1/50 sec,
not nearly fast enough if people are moving.

http://www.pbase.com/konascott/image/89844405/original


Scott

Rock wrote:
> HI,
>
> I need a camera that would be good for shots of performers on stage that
> would be printable with a good resolution.
>
> Sometimes they are moving so need to get them frozen and sometimes the
> lights are either too low or really bright.
>
> I don't want an SLR just a small one.
>
> I am in Sydney Oz so that is where I will buy. I don't have any biased
> towards makes but need something I can download and that will take
> bigger cards for bigger memory.
>
> Am I right that the higher the MegaPixel the better the shot for larger
> printing?
>
> Thank you
>
> Rock


Thank you guys. I know I am asking a lot but at least that's starting at the
top then working down to the compromise I will have to make.

I can use flash most of the times and I suppose mostly the light will also be
bright enough, what with follow spots and floods.

It is the stopping of movement which I think is more of a concern and still
getting a high res pix that can be used for printing at 600 plus.

I don't know how many great pix I have taken, which I can't use as they are too
blurred from the performer's movement or the res is just too low to print at a
reasonable size.

I do need high res so I guess a higher Megpix is needed. Is there much
difference between what an 8 or a 10 will do?

I have a Panasonic GS400 video which I have tried to use for stopping movement
looking at each frame, whilst this is a great way to get a good shot, the res
is not high enough although I'm still exploring how to do better.

Anyway I thank all of you for your wisdom and experience. You have taught me a lot.

Rock

Rock wrote <edited for brevity>:
>
> It is the stopping of movement which I think is more of a concern and
> still getting a high res pix that can be used for printing at 600 plus.

How many inches wide for the prints?

> I do need high res so I guess a higher Megpix is needed. Is there much
> difference between what an 8 or a 10 will do?

No, not much difference. There is a noticeable difference between 6 & 10
but not between 6 & 8 or 8 & 10. 5MP is pretty acceptable for so-so 8x10
prints, even 3MP makes decent 8x10's. Fewer mexapixels will actually buy
you better low light performance to an extent.

The other thing that buys you low light performance is large aperture
lenses (small f/stop number) at the cost of limited depth of field. The
shallow DOF can be useful for artistic effect by blurring out
distracting backgrounds though.

> I have a Panasonic GS400 video which I have tried to use for stopping
> movement looking at each frame, whilst this is a great way to get a good
> shot, the res is not high enough although I'm still exploring how to do
> better.


Video is generally extremely low res (well under 1 MP) and hungry for
light.

Paul Furman wrote:
> Rock wrote <edited for brevity>:
>>
>> I have a Panasonic GS400 video which I have tried to use for stopping
>> movement looking at each frame, whilst this is a great way to get a
>> good shot, the res is not high enough although I'm still exploring how
>> to do better.
>
> Video is generally extremely low res (well under 1 MP) and hungry for
> light.

I should have kept my trap shut here, it's possible low res camcorders
perform well in low light because of the low pixel count, I was thinking
of 'movie' cameras which need lots of light even with super fast lenses.