[kira]

I am starting to take pictures mainly at nightclubs where light are limited.
I know that I like to purchase some cameras that are great to begin with (so it doesn't have to be the top of line) and preferably something by Canon.
Anyone has good opinion on it?

[Wedding Shooter]

Hi Kira,

The camera body is not as important as the lens you use on it. In a dark place like a night club you will need a fast aperture lens. Fast primes are quite affordable as long as you don't need them to be super fast.

Maybe if you could suggest a budget it would be easier to help.

[kira]

Hi,

Thank you for your reply. My budget is 1000USD including external flash. I was thinking about Canon EOS rebel.

[NT73]

I have a Rebel (350D), but can't help you regarding night club settings. I haven't been in one for over 15 years. :/
If you don't use flash then you need a fast lens (as near f2 or less, as possible.) And even then, using a medium to high ISO, you may still need some post processing, with a program such as Adobe Photoshop. There are so many variables to consider.
Using a tripod will allow you to take (long exposure) photo's in the dark, but anyone moving around will be blurred.
Image Stabilisation (with some brands such as Canon it is part of the lens, and others part of the camera) should help a little bit with hand held shots.

[matthew]

Well, if you're set on a "rebel" camera, that's fairly easy:

T2i
T1i
XSi
XS
XTi
XT

Deduct the price of a 430exII or 580exII from your budget, and go down the list until you find the one that you can afford.

The 18-55mm lens - with a flash - will be fine for the dark-bar-party-shots genre. If you find that after six months you're rolling in cash, you might want to upgrade to a more professional constant F/2.8 zoom lens, like the Tamron 17-50mm. The Vibration Control (VC) model is more exotic, but could be worth the extra expense. Shop around and you might get a deal.

(added: NT, we wrote our messages at the same time. I love how we're giving completely contradictory advice - anyone who saw it might think that someone's being intentionally contrarian, but honestly, this isn't scripted. )

[NT73]

Your advice is most likely much better than mine, Matthew, but with having the 350D I just felt a little bit of info is better than none at all.

I don't have any IS lenses. I have to justify to myself what I get. I have no family to leave them to, and it is only a hobby for me. I can manage without taking birds on a 600mm, or landscapes without a 14mm and 1DS or better. It is not the cost, but will I get the value of them before I kick the bucket.

[kira]

Yay~! Thanks for great information! I'm gonna start my research on each Rebel camera now

[Irma]

Here is a post of Keith with some pictures of a night club. He took those pictures with a 50mm lens. You might like to read his comments.

http://www.shuttertalk.com/forums/viewto...3544#73544

[matthew]

Your advice is most likely much better than mine, Matthew, but with having the 350D I just felt a little bit of info is better than none at all.

I doubt it's better - I've never used a rebel 'for real' - but we are thinking about different ways to use the camera. I can picture your advice as being perfect for catching the ambiance in a smoky jazz club, or the musicians in venue with just a little bit of elbow room. I'm mostly thinking of a setup for the 'party blog' school of photography. But who knows what it will actually be?

[EnglishBob]

I have the rebel 350, it's low light quality is VERY noisy.... the 50D is so much better, but also out of budget.

[Toad]

Don't stress over the hardware. Rely on Matthew - he sells hardware and he "gets it". Get what he says - you will be finr.

[kira]

So I am finally narrowing my decision down to either Canon ESO XSi or T2i.
Still trying to figure out what are the significant differences between those two cameras...

[Toad]

Kira:

There are excellent reviews of both these cameras on dpreview that will tell you more than you probably want to know about them:

XSi: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos450d/

T2i: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos550d/

The most significant feature improvements of the T2i over the XSi seem to be:
- higher resolution sensor (18 mpx rather than 12 mpx)
- higher resolution LCD
- ISO extended to 12800
- HD video
- many new video oriented features
- improved metering

So, I would agree that *most* of the new features relate to video, but you may find the extra mpx is something that you want. Bear in mind that most club shooting will involve low light situations, and it isn't necessarily a good thing in low light to cram a lot more mpx on the same size sensor..

[NT73]

You can get various lens reviews from http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/

And for best prices then shop around on the internet. :/

[matthew]

To play devil's advocate (just a little), having more megapixels on the sensor at the same output size might not degrade noise performance - it may even be an improvement. (Ugly-bad noise, with banding or blotching, being a huge exception.) Not that more megapixels really improves anything at a normal printed size, let alone web-sizes, but that's another story altogether.

Having video might be a nice feature - short video shout-out clips, band samples, and so on. But that opens up a whole other layer of problems, both in capturing the footage (need a good low-light lens and/or video light, not a flash; on-board audio is bad but an external mic adds complexity and bulk) and in post-production and hosting. Dealing with audio, timelines, and movement is immensely more difficult than taking a still photo.

But while I'd choose a T2i over an XSi in isolation, I'd choose an XSi with a 430exII flash or a brighter lens over a T2i with the kit 18-55.

[jChoiPhotography]

I used an XSi in nightclubs before I went pro, and it worked out well for me. I used a 50mm 1.8 with no external flash, and I still got functional pictures.

If you can attach a flash, then the high iso isn't that big a deal, I normally shoot at ISO-800 with flash (I work in really dark clubs, I use high iso to catch the ambient) and the XSi looks fine at that iso.

Go to my website to find techniques and gear I use for nightlife photography. Here is a couple examples of my normal set up when I go out to nightclubs:

http://lastphotographer.blogspot.com/201...unnel.html
http://lastphotographer.blogspot.com/201...party.html

You can swap the 7D for a XSi (~$400)
Swap the 580EXII for a 430 (~$200)
buy a sigma 30mm 1.4 (~$300) or tamron 17-50mm (~$400) or 50mm canon 1.8 (~$100)

Then buy a 32gb transcend memory card, and a HAND STRAP.

Anyways, I can vouch for the Rebel XSi. It's awesome. Only reason I don't use it anymore is because I do a lot of video.