best compact festival camera?

[sweaver]

Right, I have decided to upgrade my camera - its done me well, but is starting to annoy me that little bit too much.

I know some of the rubbishness is probably more down to me, and the settings I use in different light, weather etc, but there has got to be a camera, that is good at night, and during day, picks up lights etc on stage well (not just a blur). I see peoples screens when they are holding them up, and theirs seem to look great.

I really want to get some great photos this year as I didnt bother too much last year cos of the quality/blurriness (which in some cases looked cool - but wasn't the look I was trying to capture!)

I know SLR is the way to go - but I dont want to carry anything that big, nor do I want to spend that much money.

Ive been told Panasonic lumix, but dont know much about it. What recommendations do you have?

thx

[Kyelo]

How much you got to spend? £100? £200? £300?

[cejx]

Right, I have decided to upgrade my camera - its done me well, but is starting to annoy me that little bit too much.

I know some of the rubbishness is probably more down to me, and the settings I use in different light, weather etc, but there has got to be a camera, that is good at night, and during day, picks up lights etc on stage well (not just a blur). I see peoples screens when they are holding them up, and theirs seem to look great.

I really want to get some great photos this year as I didnt bother too much last year cos of the quality/blurriness (which in some cases looked cool - but wasn't the look I was trying to capture!)

I know SLR is the way to go - but I dont want to carry anything that big, nor do I want to spend that much money.

Ive been told Panasonic lumix, but dont know much about it. What recommendations do you have?

thx

[spikytom]

my girlfriend bought a lumix for glasto last year and it was really good for the price (was only about £70) - night photos weren't great but a damn sight better than my sh*tty £40 samsung one. Considering investing in a lumix myself this year

[coma girl]

I have a compact style lumix and they're pretty good for the price, easy to operate and the picture quality's not bad, had mine a while so I'm sure the newer ones are even better. I usually take a cheapy kodak digital camera to fests in case it gets lost/nicked but as my lumix is a few years old I'll probably risk taking it with me this year.

[sweaver]

How much you got to spend? £100? £200? £300?

[souldancer]

Iv'e been looking for a while and the lumix tz7 keeps popping up as the best compact digital camera. Loads of good reviews and not too hard to use, in your price bracket aswell.

[johnmcga]

Get one of the Lumix ones with the amazing zoom on - as far as I know they're the only compacts with a 10x (or so) zoom, and this makes an enormous difference when taking photos.

I took all mine last year with a Lumix DMC-TZ5: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmcga/sets...57621271301478/

[Kyelo]

Yeah as everyone is saying get a Panasonic Lumix TZ6 or likes if you want a proper compact. Start about £180, a TZ7 about £240. It's the decent zooms that make the world of difference to me and they are all round decent cameras.

They look like this....

Or if your willing to carry something a little bigger(inbetween a compact digital and DSLR)then get what I got-Panasonic DMC-FZ38 or any other 'bridge camera', start about £260 and in a review I saw "You won't get a better picture without an SLR"

They look like this....

Do review searches, go into shops and play about with them(even Tescos Extras have em!)and so on. Then after Glasto post yer pics for all of us to see!

Edited January 18, 2010 by BenchBuddah

[ukslim]

http://www.dpreview.com/ is good for detailed camera reviews.

It seems like you need to be looking through those reviews for low light performance.

You want decent pictures of the stages, at night. That's a challenge. Something a long way away, when there's not much light available.

When you're zoomed out, you're taking in a lot of the available light. Think of it, you're taking in "more" scene, and so "more" light. When if you zoom in 8 times, you're taking in 1/8 as much light. For the headliners, you're either going to get into the front few rows, or be satisfied with photos of the lightshow.

Remember there is NO POINT IN USING FLASH when your subject is more than 5 metres away. In fact it can do more harm than good, since the camera will expose for something brightly lit by flash, leaving whatever you wanted dark and useless. If it's dark though, most cameras will assume you want to use the flash, so you need to turn it off manually.

A lot of compacts now have presets for various scenes. Try the "fireworks" mode for shots of the Pyramid at night while there's a big lightshow on. Try "sports" mode without flash, if you can get close enough to make out performers' facial expressions.

[coma girl]

Remember there is NO POINT IN USING FLASH when your subject is more than 5 metres away. In fact it can do more harm than good, since the camera will expose for something brightly lit by flash, leaving whatever you wanted dark and useless. If it's dark though, most cameras will assume you want to use the flash, so you need to turn it off manually.

[sweaver]

http://www.dpreview.com/ is good for detailed camera reviews.

It seems like you need to be looking through those reviews for low light performance.

You want decent pictures of the stages, at night. That's a challenge. Something a long way away, when there's not much light available.

When you're zoomed out, you're taking in a lot of the available light. Think of it, you're taking in "more" scene, and so "more" light. When if you zoom in 8 times, you're taking in 1/8 as much light. For the headliners, you're either going to get into the front few rows, or be satisfied with photos of the lightshow.

Remember there is NO POINT IN USING FLASH when your subject is more than 5 metres away. In fact it can do more harm than good, since the camera will expose for something brightly lit by flash, leaving whatever you wanted dark and useless. If it's dark though, most cameras will assume you want to use the flash, so you need to turn it off manually.

A lot of compacts now have presets for various scenes. Try the "fireworks" mode for shots of the Pyramid at night while there's a big lightshow on. Try "sports" mode without flash, if you can get close enough to make out performers' facial expressions.

[rideincircles]

I am a proponent of Canon cameras and now have my 3rd one. The Panasonic looks really good and I have not heard any complaints about for the most part.

I like the SD Powershot Canons for pocket sized, but it doesnt have the zoom of the Lumix mentioned above. I have a Canon SD790 which is 10mp and takes great quality pics.

My other camera is a Canon SX1 which is a 10mp medium size camera (not pocket friendly) that has an SLR sensor, 20x Optical zoom, 80x Digital (non removable lens, I can zoom in and see spots on the moon) and has 1080p HD video recording. I usually take it to festivals and big concerts, but the zoom is better than my eyesight, and when recording video I can lift it up and see above people taller than me. That makes a difference when you cant see the stage and I can zoom in from any distance at a festival.

Both of my cameras take great pictures in well lit areas, but almost all non SLR cameras wont be able to get the night pics of an SLR. Its best to try during bright lights on the stage. Only really good cameras are fully capable of high ISO shots. Any exposure longer than 1/60 of a second can blur if your not holding the camera steady.

Also, I use my video recording heavily, and my SD790 records amazing sound quality no matter what volume, while my SX1 has really sensitive mics and cant take the volume of a really loud show. If you are considering youtube see what videos are good and ask what type of cameras they are using.

Your best bet is to go into a store that has them and fart with it and do your research online. I did a lot of research when I bought mine. Cnet.com is awesome for reviews of electronics. Also I am not sure if they have this product in Europe, but I got my extended warranty through squaretrade.com since it was way cheaper.

I am considering this years canon SD pockets size which has 720p video. I still plan on bringing my good camera, but it is a total bitch to worry about if your a ridiculous crowd like Crystal Castles or some insane mosh pit. One of my cameras got hijacked out of my backpack at Nine Inch Nails at Bonnaroo last year so I pay more attention now.

[rideincircles]

As far as using the flash goes, occasionally it will work on stage shots. You have to have a completely clear view, i.e. no heads in the way, and there cant be any smoke. If all your pictures are coming out blurry, this will work occasionally and get a dark image with the subject non blurry. Its very precise about getting it correct, for the most part i dont use my flash hardly ever. Also covering the flash and taking a pic fools the camera on light settings and can get pics it wouldnt want to take otherwise.

For the most part at concerts, stage lights will govern your pics.

Heres a couple examples of my SX1 (near SLR quality, pictures taken in same location)

Muse/U2 in Dallas

SD790 (point and shoot pocketsize)

Ghostland Observatory on Halloween in Dallas (not nearly as good, but decent)

I took thousands of photos last year at concerts, just take a bunch and you are bound to get a few good ones.

[sweaver]

ooh those photos look wicked - I am definitely gonna check out the sx1. My photos from Muse in Dublin are mostly rubbish I wasnt too far from the stage either.

Thanks for all the replies peeps, a lot of good advice there - maybe this year I will have good photos to look back on.....

[strudders]

OK been researching this for weeks now and I have finally pumped for a Lumix TZ7

Its the HD as well as the zoom that has been the tipping point and it does seem and all-round camera

However battery's are an issue as they are ID protected, however energiser do a spare battery thats 100% compatible at half the price of the Lumix ones...

Being taken to collect it now....

[ukslim]

OK been researching this for weeks now and I have finally pumped for a Lumix TZ7

Its the HD as well as the zoom that has been the tipping point and it does seem and all-round camera

However battery's are an issue as they are ID protected, however energiser do a spare battery thats 100% compatible at half the price of the Lumix ones...

Being taken to collect it now....

[r0cky]

My other camera is a Canon SX1 which is a 10mp medium size camera (not pocket friendly) that has an SLR sensor,

[Phil-itfc]

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/panasonic-lum...9&xtor=AL-1

fantastic price.

[ukslim]

I got mine from http://www.camerabox.co.uk/ and I was very, very impressed both by the prices and by the speed they got it to me (ordered lunchtime on a Thursday, had it in my mitts Friday afternoon).

This isn't spam!