Indoor concert with 200mm lens..what flash?

[Daniel Davis]

I have a d3000 with a 55-200 f4-5.6 telephoto lens. I'll be attending a church concert event soon. Will probably sit 30 to 40 feet from the stage. Can someone recommend: 1. What flash unit to buy that's not too expensive. 2. Camera settings to use that would yield good results. The event will be held at night. Stage is well- lit, but well enough to negate need for flash.

 

[markD90]

Get your ISO up and try without a flash!! The pop up flash will cause ghosting on the bottom where the lens is...!
Ihave a cheap flash used just in emergency ! its a Jessops unit £80 and does the job! or hire (rent) a 80-200 F2.8 lens for the day!
It will let more light in and you will get faster shutter speeds!
Can you use a monopod and/ or a tripod ? There are loads of different things to consider.

Could use the kelvin scale to keep the colours natural or at least play with the white balance settings.

To get more natural shots you don't wanna use a flash....it will put people off! Depending on how well it's lit! Is it from above, behind or below in front?
If it's anything but from front you will get shadows and black bodies on white lighting behind, so you will need a fill in flash from the front.

 

[Fotojo]

Hey Daniel
MarkD90 gave you some great advise, but if faster lens rental is not an option ,then bump up ISO and use of Mono-pod or tri-pod and lower shutter speed to allow as much light as poss. If there is a lot of movement on stage area you may have to bump up the speed & ISO so you can stop the motion with-out blur. Keep in mind the higher you go you risk photo quality. Decide what size photo's you plan to make 4x6 are pretty forgiving, but if you want to enlarge them and you get to high on the speed the Photo's get pretty grainy. But I believe the D3000 is good up to 1600 before it gets too bad for grain Good luck and Happy shooting.

 

[Joseph Bautsch]

I have taken shots under the same circumstances, hugh church auditorium very well lit and I had to shoot from the upper balcony. The best f/stop I had was f/3.5. I did get good shots using a SB800 flash. It mounts on top of the camera and does not cast shadows even with a 18-105mm extended. The natural light shots did not work out. Either the shutter speed had to be much too slow or the ISO had to be way too high. F/3.5 does not work very well in low light. The SB800 lit up the auditorium with enough light that a guy shooting video next to me asked me to stop shooting because I was blinding his video camera. I don't own the D3000 so I can't say for sure about the high ISO quality. I've heard some not so good comments. Only way to know is to take some high ISO shots and see how it performs.

 

[PavementPilot]

I have heard that the D3000 starts to degrade at 1600 and is noticeable at 3200. You need to find out if you are allowed to shoot with a flash first. Some events do not allow flashes. If that is the case, then you will need to rent or borrow a fast lens.

 

[kaizen]

I agree with Joseph. High iso and even a 2.8 Lens will not help.
Try to get a used SB-800


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[fotojack]

If you do use a flash, use a diffuser with it.