Concert photography

The Concert photography tool works out the settings that freeze a performer on stage despite dim, changing light: the minimum shutter speed, the ISO needed and the risk of dark bands caused by flickering lights.

Describe the scene

1. Choose the venue: Indoor, Outdoor night or Outdoor day.
2. Choose the stage lighting, which depends on the venue:
   • indoor: theatre, club, bar, concert hall or large stage;
   • outdoor at night: stage lights or large stage;
   • outdoor in the day: shade or overcast or bright sun.
3. Choose the artist movement: still, singing, dancing or jumping.
4. Set the aperture, the max ISO you accept on your camera and the focal length. The camera and lens shown at the top of the screen are used for the calculations; tap them to change.

Reading the results

• Min. speed: the slowest shutter speed that freezes the chosen movement (about 1/125 s for a still performer, 1/200 s for singing, 1/320 s for dancing and 1/640 s for a jump). It is never slower than 1/effective focal length, to avoid camera shake.
• Required ISO: the sensitivity needed for a correct exposure at that speed and aperture, given the chosen lighting.
• ISO margin: the gap, in EV, between that ISO and your max ISO. If your camera can’t go high enough, the app shows the shortfall and the correction: the underexposure you will have to recover in post-processing, or make up by opening the aperture.

Flickering lights

Many stage lights and LED screens flicker with the mains current, too fast for the eye but not for the camera: with a fast shutter speed, dark bands cross the image.

The anti-flicker speed covers one full flicker period: 1/100 s on 50 Hz mains (Europe, most countries), 1/120 s on 60 Hz (the Americas in particular). In Auto mode, the mains frequency is taken from the phone’s region; you can also choose it. When the minimum speed is faster than the anti-flicker speed under artificial light, the app warns you.

Shooting tips

• Fast lens: a wide aperture (f/1.8, f/2.8) gains one or two stops, often decisive.
• Manual or shutter priority mode with auto ISO capped at your max ISO: the speed stays under control when the light changes.
• Spot or centre-weighted metering on the performer’s face: black backgrounds and spotlights fool matrix metering.
• Burst: during the high points, several frames increase the chances of a sharp face and a good expression.
• RAW: it leaves room to correct the white balance, often tricky under coloured lights, and to lift an underexposure.
• If dark bands still appear, slow down to the anti-flicker speed or turn on your camera’s anti-flicker feature, if it has one.