Comments on: Don’t bring cameras to concerts, bring binoculars

By: R.K.

R.K. — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:32:57 +0000

If you want to look really classy, leave the binoculars at home and bring some opera glasses. Apparently, their optical quality isn’t that great, however.

By: .

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:34:11 +0000

"I didn't want to miss Neko Case and Ani Difranco. I'm glad I came back. My BH and I found Milan and we all enjoyed some tunage until the festival finished. I loved Neko's set - she's really phenomenal. But Ani? Kicked such ass that I found myself transforming into a screaming 12-year-old girl again. Seeing her happy like that actually choked me up. Spoken like the rabid fan I am. Her new songs were great, too."

By: Milan

Milan — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:37:01 +0000

Even quite close to the stage (10-15 metres), I found that binoculars really improved the experience. They let you see individual performers in a great deal of detail, while obscuring the crowd and other irrelevancies.

That being said, other people will obviously find that their preferences differ. People might find the binocular view awkward or isolating, for instance.

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:30:13 +0000

But people don’t bring cameras to see better, they bring them to take personalized pictures and video. A pair of binoculars doesn’t accomplish this.

On the other hand, it depends on what kind of concert, too. I was sort of picturing a standing room only, smaller venue affair where you’re reasonably close to the stage anyway. I’d much rather have a P&S camera in that setting. If I went to see U2 or something in a stadium, where I’m a mile away from the stage, I’d rather have the binoculars.

By: Milan

Milan — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:58:31 +0000

I don’t mean to say that it is always pointless to bring cameras to concerts. Rather, that people overestimate how compatible concerts and cameras are, while underestimating the usefulness of binoculars.

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:30:14 +0000

I think you’ve missed the point (by a wide margin) of why people bring P&S cameras to concerts. I doubt anyone thinks they’re going to get a professional looking photograph with one, nor are they probably particular interested in seeing such photos on the internet. They bring cameras to document their own experience, take pictures of themselves with friends, and capture the evening. If this includes taking some videos or a few poor quality snaps of the performers, it doesn’t really matter. It’s not for the purpose of making art, it’s for the purpose of keeping memories.

I agree a cell phone camera is pretty useless for anything, and I probably wouldn’t bother. But I’ve used my Canon Elph to take video at a concert, and I wish I had taken more video than the one song. It turned out well enough that I enjoy watching and hearing it.

By: Milan

Milan — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:55:23 +0000

I actually saw the 600mm and 100-400mm lenses on 5D bodies yesterday, as well as one person using a 300mm f/2.8L lens with a 1.4X teleconverter on a Rebel XSi body.

There were lots of long Nikon lenses, also, but I don’t really know one from another.

By: BuddyRich

BuddyRich — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:02:46 +0000

I noticed this same thing on a few nights. I’m firmly in the enjoy it with your eyes camp, not through the eyepiece of a camera, but unless that person is constantly getting in your way obscuring your view, to each their own I say. The same can be said about the people that pay good money to stand and socialize with each other rather than watch the performer, which also has happened a lot this year, Ive found. I just don’t get it.

I saw someone walking around with a D3 on Friday and a gold-ring Nikkor, but oddly enough it wasn’t a telephoto, but the 24-70 F2.8 Pro standard Zoom. Maybe they were taking photos at the less packed side stage or crowd or festival shots? Or, more importantly, had a press pass to get front row access in front of the barricades for the first 3 songs of the set? Though I didn’t notice if she had a press pass or not…

I also saw someone walking around with a D300 that same night. The guy carrying this did have a decent telephoto lens on (the Nikkor 300mm F4 Prime) Given the crop factor of the camera and that the D300 is quite good up to 3200 and acceptable at 6400 ISO he might have got nice shots… still even that setup is somewhat pricey coming in just around $3000. You wouldn’t catch me there with it.

I do think one of the side stages might be doable for a budding amateur looking for practice, but the main stages get too rowdy come later at night. Practicing the craft might be the only reason why I’d bring my rig down, as $35 bucks isn’t that steep a price for practice. I’ve paid $9 to go watch the 67′s just to get the indoor arena practice in poor lighting myself.