Tag Archives: big day out

Need for speed

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I’ve never really been one to check the read and write speeds on memory cards. I realise there’s a difference between the generic cards and the ‘extreme’ high-speed versions, but I always thought that even the basic cards would be ‘good enough’ for shooting photos and the occasional video.

Of course, I realised the error of my ways once I started shooting higher-megapixel photos and high definition video. I took my Canon PowerShot SX30 IS to Big Day Out last month, and while the 35x zoom worked fantastically for capturing the artists on stage, the generic SanDisk SDHC card I was using could only record just over a minute of 720p footage each time. This was despite the specs saying that it could record 20 minutes and 43 seconds at 720p resolution.

I went to a media briefing this morning for SanDisk’s new 32GB Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-1 card, which offers the fastest ever read and write speeds of up to 45MB/s. Using that in my Canon PowerShot SX30 IS, I was able to record 720p video for even longer than the advertised time, at just over 25 minutes. Much better! This card is best suited for cameras that have a fast burst mode/continuous shooting feature, like my Sony NEX-5, which is capable of shooting 7 frames per second at the full 14.2 megapixels, or any camera that supports high definition video recording.

SanDIsk's new Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-1 card

Of course, you’ll have to pay extra for the privilege of additional speed. Compared to the generic 32GB card, which has a street price of around $80, the new 32GB SanDisk Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-1 card retails for a cool $254.95. There are SanDisk cards in between those two, however, if you don’t want to spend that much, such as the Ultra range with a speed of 15MB/s and the Extreme range at 30MB/s. I also got a press release for SanDisk’s new 128GB Extreme Pro CompactFlash card, which offers an insane 100MB/s – and an equally insane pricetag of $1529. Yowsers!

Generic vs performance

Using the Canon PowerShot SX30 IS at Big Day Out

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It’s hard to go from a steady diet of caviar and champagne to moldy cheese and stale crackers. That’s how I felt when using the Canon PowerShot SX30 IS yesterday at Big Day Out. It’s not a bad camera, just that I’m used to much, much better in terms of image quality.

I went as a VIP guest of Motorola, and the ticket included entry to the air-conditioned VIP bars. I’m not sure what the actual temperature was, but it felt like over 40 degrees Celsius! Being able to retreat to the air-conditioned comfort was a Godsend, although it was a fair bit further from the stage than I’m used to.

The below image shows how far we were from the stage (I was shooting through a window).

Hanging in the VIP bar at Big Day Out

Using the 35x zoom, however, I was able to get right up to the stage and shoot the artists performing. I wasn’t too happy with the quality I was seeing on the LCD screen though; it showed a soft and hazy image, and after awhile I stopped bothering to take photos of the performers, as it just wasn’t up to my standards. Had I used the Canon SX30IS for shooting concerts before, however, I would’ve known that this could have been fixed in post processing. Upping the black levels significantly seemed to get rid of the haze, and consequently make the images look sharper as a result – especially when viewed at smaller sizes. Some judicious cropping, and the photos were good to go! See a before and after shot below.

Unedited version

Cropped and edited in Lightroom

Now I wish I had taken more photos! As it was, I ended up going home early, before all of the acts that I wanted to see had gotten on stage! These music shows always have the better acts right at the end, and I would’ve loved to have seen John Butler Trio, Wolfmother, LCD Soundsystem and PNAU perform. Alas, after a near-sleepless night before BDO, I was tired, my feet were killing me, and I had to make the long trek from Homebush back to Bondi Junction! I left the show at around 6.15, but didn’t get back home till around 7.45!

A couple of other images I was reasonably happy with below.

Dead Letter Circus

Lupe Fiasco

Bliss N' Eso

Will I be using the Canon SX30 IS? Most definitely – if it involves concert photography or anything else that requires a super-long zoom! Otherwise, I will stick to one of my other cameras to guarantee good quality :)

Big Day Out, here I come!

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(cross-post from Foto Geekz)

Thanks to the lovely PR girls at Motorola, I’m off to the Big Day Out music festival today with a VIP ticket!

Unfortunately, you need to have press credentials in order to bring a ‘professional camera’, and while I probably could’ve swung these by talking to the right people (me being a journalist, and all), I decided it was too much effort to bother with.

Super zoom!

This means that the 5D is definitely staying at home, leaving me with a few ‘smaller’ camera options. I don’t actually own a compact point and shoot, but I have a couple of mirror-less cameras and a ‘super-zoom’ camera that I bought on a whim and haven’t really used much. I decided on the latter, the Canon SX30 IS, for the following reasons: (a) it has a 35x zoom, the equivalent of a 24mm-840mm focal length – definitely long enough to be able to capture the artists cavorting about on the stage!; (b) it has an articulated LCD that I can use for holding the camera above my head (and the crowd in front of me) to get the shot (I hate getting stuck in crowds, so I’m more likely to be towards the back of the audience); (c) it’s my cheapest camera, so I won’t be that heartbroken if it gets broken or stolen.

This will be a good opportunity for me to ‘bond’ with the SX30 IS – having so many cameras at my disposal means that I have a touch of ADD when it comes to using them, and I tend to favour the higher quality ones over the SX30 IS. I can’t argue with its versatility, however, and hopefully I’ll get to know this camera a lot better during the course of the day!

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