Camera for dancers in poor lighting?

[ivebeentangoed]

Due to the overwhelming amount of information out there that I'm unable to process, I thought it best to come here and ask for advice on my specific needs. I'm looking for a camera that can cope with moving bodies in poor lighting conditions. I have a budget of around £300 - £400 and I don't need the very latest toy, just something that is brilliant compared to what I've been using. I've had a series of digital, compact cameras that give me some interesting and arty shots but rarely the clarity I desire. Although I'm capable of reading and understanding a manual, I'm more of a point and press kind of photographer so please keep it simple, people

[wave]

hi to be honest you will need a DSLR to get the results you are after and a fast lens to go with it and that alone will break your budget you could look at the second hand market but to be really honest i think you need to re think your budget

[Chris Cool]

Hi and welcome.

Wave is quite right. Shooting good details in poor light takes some serious money. However, when my brother's friend wanted to shoot something in a small hall. I suggested they just bought some cheap 500 watt lights and light the place up so they could use their standard cameras and lenses..

They used something like this http://www.oceanlighting.co.uk/secur...ing%20ads#9618

Cheers!

[ivebeentangoed]

Thanks chaps. I think I will up my budget on this one as the suggestion of bright lights at an Argentine tango event will go down like a lead balloon and I will lose all credibility What then are the basic equipment requirements and what sort of budget am I starting at? Throw me some model suggestions.

[wave]

how far away are you is the next question
camera suggestions i would like at a 650d it will do want you want and i would look at a 70 -200L f2.8is lens if the budget is tight look at sigmas 70-200os f2.8

[ivebeentangoed]

That almost sounded like a foreign language, Wave. I get that I need different lenses for different distances (closest being about 10' away from subject. That's the ideal) but I don't know what you mean by "at a 650d". If I'm going the whole hog should I not get 2 lenses and hang the budget? I can actually afford to do so but have been reluctant as I'm not very, very serious about it. Yet.

[Chris Cool]

I think Wave has started his New year celebrations early

What he was trying to say was to look at the Canon 650D for the camera.http://www.photographyblog.com/revie...s_650d_review/

I would stick with a zoom lens if you and your dancers are always on the move. Because of the Crop factor http://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/tec...uivalents.html I would also look at Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8L II USM Lens http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-24-70m...6980893&sr=1-1 Multiplying by 1.6 gives you 38.4mm x 112mm.

Beginners DSLR, CSC, Bridge or Compact tutorial to get you on the right track!
Just got a new DSLR, CSC, Bridge or compact? Then take a look at Canons basic tutorials and learn how to use your camera.
This applies to all makes of camera, but you can skip to part 2 when you've seen enough.

In Part 2 you can learn how to get the most out of your photography and find out about ISO, Exposure, Depth of Field, Aperture priority, Shutter priority etc in picture form
http://web.canon.jp/imaging/enjoydslr/index.html

And don't forget. Post processing is an important part of photography and should be used to sharpen and enhance pictures taken with your camera. If you don't have an imaging editor, then use the one in my signature below. There are http://ictpublish.com/pixlr/ to get you started. The most useful is the http://ictpublish.com/pixlr/Videoes/...06_Levels.html and for even more adjustment. The http://ictpublish.com/pixlr/Videoes/...07_Curves.html is a must (it's my favourite all-in-one adjuster). My Resize-Crop-Sharpen tutorial below, will get your pics ready for the internet or whatever

Cheers!

.

[wave]

now i should read what i have typed before i post it happy new year all

[ivebeentangoed]

Chris Cool indeed! That was just perfect. It looks and sounds ideal for me and I can have hours of fun editing and beautifying. I've owned 4 Canon compact cameras in the past; one grew moss on the inside of the viewfinder, the next was annoyingly rubbish, with another the lcd display turned pink and stripy then it refused to record no more than a few seconds of video. I'm hoping that in this price bracket with the latest technology, I'll be a very happy bunny Would you say that your Curves tool is better than the image editor I use on iPhoto? I find the "retouch" a bit clunky. Thanks for your time and effort.

[Chris Cool]

Would you say that your Curves tool is better than the image editor I use on iPhoto? I find the "retouch" a bit clunky. Thanks for your time and effort.

The Curves tool is just part of many tools in most image manipulation programs. The link is for Pixlr Editor which runs in Windows. Not sure if it runs on an iPad.

Anyway, do come back and let us know how you get on

Cheers and a happy dancing New Year!