Photographing a gig with a Nikon Coolpix 7900

[Dr.Rock]

I'll be attending a rock gig this weekend and could well be given a photopass to photograph from the press-pit - since the band know me. Armed with a Nikon Coolpix 7900, can anyone advise which setting would be best to get snaps under gig lighting conditions? I need to know some settings either with or without flash, depending on what security allow. If security says "no flash allowed" then I'll need to be prepared for it.

Thanks in advance.

[mr jones]

if its a big gig it will more than likely be the standard "3 songs, no flash" rule.

you need to use a high iso and as wide an apature as possible, so try to keep away from the optical zoom on the camera as this will reduce the apature and lead to longer shutter speeds, which you dont want.

your camera will hate it, it might struggle focusing as well, but its entirely possible. 20D and a 50mm f1.8 lens is my weapon of choice for gigs, but it is entirely possible to get decent shots with a compact/prosumer camera, but it takes alot of patience.

good luck!

[JayCee]

Originally Posted by mr jones

if its a big gig it will more than likely be the standard "3 songs, no flash" rule.

you need to use a high iso and as wide an apature as possible, so try to keep away from the optical zoom on the camera as this will reduce the apature

I'm not trying to be a smart a**e here so don't go off on one...but any newcomers looking in need to know the word is Aperture

[mr jones]

yeh because picking holes in peoples spelling is cool man, officially one of my pet hates with the internet

[JayCee]

Originally Posted by mr jones

yeh because picking holes in peoples spelling is cool man, officially one of my pet hates with the internet

Look at it this way Mr Jones.
Dr.Rock is the student asking you...the teacher...for a piece of your knowledge.
What chance does he have if you can't even get it right.
It's not as though it's a rare part of camera equipment.

[mr jones]

im taking that its also your opinion that "dyslexic people are stupid" as well, after all, an inability to spell makes everything someone says wrong doesnt it..... shall we take a look back in history at all the people who have advanced science, medicine, engineering etc yet they have a problem with written english.

i think the above comment is a good reason why alot of people have stopped posting round here, and i visit this site infrequently now. you give someone some advice, only to be attacked by someone else who doesnt actually bring anything (bar an attack on peoples spelling) to the thread.

a question for you, exactly how many times did you read over your reply to ensure it was spelling and grammar correct?

so i cant spell, who REALLY gives a ****? apart from the spelling police of course, it doesnt exactly make any difference to the information within does it...

[barongreenback]

Agreed. You don't need to know how to spell aperture, just how to use it.

[mr jones]

bingo

[JayCee]

Originally Posted by mr jones

im taking that its also your opinion that "dyslexic people are stupid" as well, after all, an inability to spell makes everything someone says wrong doesnt it..... shall we take a look back in history at all the people who have advanced science, medicine, engineering etc yet they have a problem with written english

You don't know me well enough to make that statement, nobody mentioned anything about Dyslexia.

Originally Posted by mr jones

i think the above comment is a good reason why alot of people have stopped posting round here, and i visit this site infrequently now. you give someone some advice, only to be attacked by someone else who doesnt actually bring anything (bar an attack on peoples spelling) to the thread.

I wasn't attacking you...just correcting a piece of important information.

Originally Posted by mr jones

a question for you, exactly how many times did you read over your reply to ensure it was spelling and grammar correct?

Once.

Originally Posted by mr jones

so i cant spell, who REALLY gives a ****? apart from the spelling police of course, it doesnt exactly make any difference to the information within does it...

It does when the person who asked the question can't understand the answer.

[mr jones]

yeh because spelling aperture as apature is really gonna **** things up isnt it....


get real

[JayCee]

Originally Posted by mr jones

yeh because spelling aperture as apature is really gonna **** things up isnt it....


get real

I would have thought that someone who has been posting for so long in a Photography forum would know by now how to spell it...I think you're using Dyslexia as an excuse for Lazyness IMHO

[bowenjones]

Good grief man, lighten up! Why pick holes in other peoples spelling mistakes? Does it bother you that much? Apature / Aperture - sounds the same to me. Even if you were to do a google search for apature you'll get the message "Did you mean: aperture" for those who might have spelt it wrong. To be honest, I didn't even notice that mr jones had spelt it wrong until you pointed it out. If you have such an issue with spelling, why are you on these formus?

[JayCee]

Originally Posted by bowenjones

Good grief man, lighten up! Why pick holes in other peoples spelling mistakes? Does it bother you that much? Apature / Aperture - sounds the same to me. Even if you were to do a google search for apature you'll get the message "Did you mean: aperture" for those who might have spelt it wrong. To be honest, I didn't even notice that mr jones had spelt it wrong until you pointed it out. If you have such an issue with spelling, why are you on these formus?

Look, I'm not a bad guy or a "Mr Angry" type.
I simply pointed out (and told mr.jones not to take it the wrong way) that he had spelled it wrong for the benefit of any buddng newcomer to photography.
It is a word you will see very often on any camera/photography forum and in books, magazines etc and I just think it is important to get it right.

[bowenjones]

The trouble is that when you point out that someone's spelling isn't correct, that someone may take offence even if you put a disclaimer in your point. This, in turn, can lead to a bit of a ding-dong slanging match. I've read a number of your posts and know that you aren't a "Mr Angry" type but the way you pulled mr jones up on a spelling mistake after he had given good advice to the OP was a little uncalled for imo.

[mr jones]

now lets get this straight, im not dyslexic, i just have always had trouble with written english and spelling. i used dyslexia in my above post to point out that you seem to have this opinion that the information i provided to the thread starter was negated by the fact i made a spelling mistake, i.e everything you said is wrong because you cant spell apature (hey i spelt it phon-et-ic-all-y, oopsy daisy!). (i.e people that suffer from dyslexia or mental illnesses or just simply because they are not bothered about perfect spelling on the internet, cannot provide anything of any use). the information is valid, the thread was in no way unreadable because i hadnt written it in L33T speakn or anything.

BUT this is the internet, a place for people to share information, it is not is a published peice of work or a university thesis, if that was the case then spelling would come higher up the list of priorities.


just a thing about your "disclaimer", writing that IS a way of saying something but trying to get away with it, along the same vein as "dont take this the wrong way but i think your heavily overweight and you smell" (the person is gonna get offended arnt they, thus by typing "i dont want to be a smart arse but..." you do want to be a smart arse, otherwise you would have typed it.


granted if i had typed my original response as "hay u wanna put de kamera into apaturre prioriti mod n set de apature as loww as posibl, set der iso as hi ass posibl n tak sum pix. tri 2 ceep de shutr spede azz fasT azz posibl 2 avoyd blerin" then yes flame me as much as you goddamn want, but i didnt, my response was factual and readable (spelling mistake or no spelling mistake) and you seem to have taken offense at the fact that someone beat you to provide the answer to the question first.


dislaimer- any spelling mistakes in this thread are down to my own stupidity, thus do not taking anything in this post as true as im far too stupid to even turn a camera on, let alone to use a camera in any sort of conceivable fashion