Photo camera for concerts

I'm about to buy a digital photo camera. I will use it not only for holidays but also for taking photos are various kinds of rock concerts so I need good results at night. Now I need your advice. I have already limited my choice to two or three cameras but I won't reveal them yet, first I want to hear what YOU use for taking photos at gigs. Supposing that the results are excellent, of course! I don't need to know that some crap camera XY makes bad blurred photos :-)

I'm looking for a small compact digital camera but it has to be very good. Around 300 euros (= 400 US dollars or so).

Thanks in advance :-)

You could do a lot worse than the Olympus MJU 810. Friend of mine used it at a gig recently and I couldnt believe the quality - and I'm not easily pleased! I didnt think such a small lense would take such a good low light shot. Virtually no 'noise' at all. It's also a Best Buy in the Which magazine.

I'm still using my Olympus Camedia 4000 which I used to great effect at the last tour - bit bulky now though.

Hope that helps.

Olympus cameras in general seem to have a good flash that doesn't blur!

I'm surprised by that - my father does have an Olympus and it's not bad at all but the best photo cameras - according to many reviews and tests - seem to be Canon or Fujifilm, no sign of any Olympus.

I was looking mainly at:
Fujifilm FinePix F30
Canon A710
Kodak C875

What's necessary for concerts is high ISO (800) with little "noise" (Panasonic sucks in this aspect) - it means less time AND less light is needed for the photo. Also the size of the sensor - 1/2.5" is quite unusable, 1/1.7" is much better. Zoom with optical stabilisation would be nice but again, not many cameras have it.

I have a Canon SD550, and I'm pleased as hell with it - best camera I've ever had. My previous one was a Canon, and all my friends who even dabble remotely in amateur photography have Canons. I would go with the Canon, personally.

Have to agree with Lester. We have the same Canon make as he does, and we love it.

Yes, Canon SD550 is I think the same as IXUS 750 in Europe - and IXUS 800 is on my list. So I have to agree with that. 3-4x zoom is not much though.

But we can't talk about brands because every brand does manufacture SOME good photocameras. Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, Kodak, Sony, Olympus... all are good. But some are good for night (ISO), some are ultrazooms, some for holiday (Olympus photos have a high contrast) etc.

I have got only Sony Cyber-shot but I am satisfied with it. But it´s a true that my last photos were not ok much.

I got some great concert shots with my Kodak X740 on full auto. You are at the mercy of the lighting and autofocus gods in that mode though. It's compact, but not flat and has a 10x digital zoom, which is nice. In Paris I was able to get clear shots from the ground of gargoyles that were very high up. I'd be happier if the camera if it adjusted to changing lighting conditions faster while on full auto, but have no real complaints. New models probably perform better.

I got some good shots (as opposed to great shots) with my Nikon Coolpix 4500.

One-gig (or better) cards are a godsend.

I hope this helps you Mr Scully!

Despite being the Nikon guy that I am, I cannot recommend their point and shoots even half as much as I would their line of entry-level digital SLRs. For instance, if you want the best bang for your buck, you can't beat the Nikon D50 with any of its competition. Although it is cheaper, it can arguably outperform its Canon and Olympus counterparts, like the Canon Rebel XT.

However, when it comes to point and shoot, might I recommend the Casio Exilim Zoom line. For under or around $400 dollars you can get the EX-Z1000. 10.1 megapixels might be too high for your tastes (and your printer), but then again you can go for one of the lesser models (although I highly recommend this one). This AMAZING camera is truly a steal.

I have a Fuji Finepix F10 and can highly recommend it. Although it would benefit from additional zoom.

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/fuji/finepix_f10-review/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilmf10zoom/

i reccomend mine,a sony DSC T1
http://www.easydigitalcameras.com/images/upload/Image/sony%20t1/Sony-DSC-T1_closedangle.jpg

great quiality, amazing zoom, 12x

Thanks for the replies.

How important is zoom at rock concerts? Stupid question but in most cases I record audio and in the few cases that I also took photos, I don't remember if I used the zoom much or not. Is the 3x zoom sufficient? Supposing we stand 50m or less from the stage...

Canon cameras have more noise than Fuji (for higher ISO - when there's not enough light and/or time) but that's because Fuji cameras remove it with their software. I can do that myself :) So from this point of view I'd probably take the Canon A710 IS...

3x zoom is IMO not enough for anything really, that I can say from my experience of trying to photograph wild birds with my Fuji ;-) You have to really sneak up on them to get proper pics. And that doesn't really work :)

12X zoom sounds more like it, as long as the quality remains solid.

The ultrazooms are worse in other aspects. Panasonic cameras are shit in dark - the noise is really bad. My boss has a Panasonic TZ1 and although the camera looks great and it's an ultrazoom, the photos look bad.

The Canon A710 has a 6x zoom with stabilization which might be enough. The only question left is how the photos would look in dark. The sensor is too small (only 1/2.5") for so many megapixels.