[Jasonpikephoto]

Hey i'm new here

I have recently bought a Nikon D300 purely becuase it's brilliant in low-light situatuons. And i have recently been interested in gig/concert photography.

Ive shot at a couple of gigs and results were fairly good, but but i wanted somethin a bit wider. I used a 50mm 1.8, reccomended on alot of sites and forums ive been browsing on.

What do you guys think of the Sigma 24-60mm F2.8 ?



Cheers,

Jason!

[VikingPhotography]

Jason,

There isn't really anything that could be said to be a 'standard' lens for gig photography, since there are several factors to consider.

First, not every gig you shoot will you be in a position just in front of the stage. On occasion, I've had to shoot from up to about 200 feet or more back from the stage, at which point you need a good telephoto lens to get acceptable close-ups.

Also, not every act performs in good lighting, so the critical issue is how well your camera can perform in low-light situations. On some occasions, even shooting at f/2.8 and ISO 3200 resulted in marginal exposures. That's where prime (fixed focal length) lenses with apertures of f/2, f/1.8 or f/1.4 come into play.

For the bulk of my gig work, I used a pair of D2X bodies with the 17-55DX lens on one and the 70-200VR lens on the other. That allowed me to cover practically any situation when in the pit or from moderate distances.

Personally I'd go with the Nikon 17-55 - it was my workhorse lens and covers a decent range on your D300. At around £800 or so it's not cheap, but it's well worth it. If you look through my member gallery, a lot of my concert shots were taken using this lens.

[Jasonpikephoto]

The D300 works very well at 1600 ISO which is all i need for now. At the moment i'm really sticking to 2.8, i know its not the best, but when it comes to a budget, then thats it for me

I have only just recently started gig photography, having only shot at a couple of intimate gigs. I suppose i will be going towards the 17-55 in the future.

It's a great challenge i give it that!