I work for a independent internet webzine, and I'm looking to get a digital camera to take pictures at concerts. I need one that will take good lowlight action shots, and that will produce crisp pictures /w lots of detail. I'm looking for a camera in the 500-600 dollar range. Any suggestions?

-- Chris Chervenak (chris@9mm.interspeed.net), November 30, 1999

Answers

Adjust your budget upward about 10x and wait a couple of years. In the meantime, any Nikon/Canon/Minolta/Pentax/Contax 35mm camera with a 180-200/2.8 lens will do a far better job than any digital camera on the market. I have a lot of experience shooting live music acts, and have yet to see a digital camera for less than the price of an average new car that will come close to a 35mm system with fast prime lenses.

Digital cameras have their uses, but low-light action photography is not among them.

-- Darron Spohn (dspohn@photobitstream.com), December 01, 1999.

Chris, I have to agree with Darron, up to a point. You didn't really say if web publishing is the only goal of shooting these pictures. If it is, images with "lots of detail" is not necessary. Monitors simply do not have the resolution to display all that detail. And, sending big, detailed images over the internet is not practical. A 640 X 480 pixel resolution is probably adequate. It doesn't take an expensive camera to achieve that. Any of today's digitals will handle the task.

The bigger problem is what Darron talked about. Low light levels are a problem for digital cameras in your price range. They have ISO ranges of around 100 to 200. Coupled with the slow lenses on these cameras, you have a poor choice for taking pictures on dark stages. Exposure times become way too long to capture the gyrations of a performer.

Take Darron's advice. Buy a reasonably priced 35mm with a couple of fast lenses, and a scanner. You'll still have to mess with film and processing, but you'll get all the quality the internet and monitors can handle. And you'll still have the negatives to produce really nice photos of any size you care to have.

-- Steve (milwaukeechrome@aol.com), December 01, 1999.

Heres my suggestion. If your limit is $600 to spend buy a new or used 35mm by pentax or minolta or nikon and spend the rest on the lens you need for distance. Buy a roll of film at 400 iso, 1600 iso or 3200 iso. Take the pictures with or without support using your steady hands. Develop them at target or walmart. Scan them at the photo store onto kodak photo cds, it will cost about $20. Scan them at the highest resolutino if you have the money. The past technology is better then digital cameras. Don't be sold on the digital talk. The digital conveinences will happen when you use the kodak photo cds which come with their own viewing software. You'll get images great for web viewing, good for printing, and best for storage.

-- Jeff Epstein (noemail@nospam.com), January 09, 2000.