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Six Great Cameras That Won’t Get Checked at a Concert

Chris Gampat
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10/30/2014
4 Mins read

Sony_RX1-3

Heading into a concert? We’ve got good news and bad news for you.

Let’s start with the good news: you’re about to see what will hopefully be an awesome show.

The bad news: the venue may not let your pro-grade camera in. In fact, even as long as it looks pro grade, you’ll need to check it. So for that reason, you’ll need something a bit more low-profile that will fool the guards when they check your bag. The only way to do that is to not have such a serious looking piece of kit on you, but still having something comparable to the cameras that you may use.

Here are a list of cameras that won’t get checked at a concert.

Fujifilm X30

Fujifilm X30As of the publishing of this post, we’ve published our Fujifilm X30 review. We indeed tested it at a concert–and not only did it get through the doors with no problems but it also did a great job. With a 28-112mm f2-2.8 zoom lens and a 1/2″ sensor at its heart, we found the X30 to be quite excellent. What we were most amazed by is its high ISO abilities; which are bound to be used at concerts.

This camera is one that we recommend mostly for its street photography uses, but considering how excellent the autofocusing is, you may want to think twice. On top of that, we were also stupified by how much detail can be pulled from the RAWs. The fact that a 1/2″ sensor means that you probably won’t be stopped down very much due to the way that depth of field works; and that you’re bound to have more than enough of your scene in focus when shooting.

We recommend getting up close and personal with this camera if you can. But you probably won’t be able to, so at least try to get a better seat if at all possible.

Read the review.

Editor’s Note: we totally believe that both the X100s and X100T could also do a fantastic job, but we haven’t reviewed the X100T as of the publishing of this article. Nor have we had a lot of time to play with one.

Buy Now: Amazon

Sony Rx100 Mk III

Sony Rx100 Mk III

 

Sony’s Rx100 Mk III houses a larger sensor than the Fujifilm X30–in fact the 1 inch sensor at its heart is very capable. At its widest focal length, the lens opens up to f1.8 while it goes down to f2.8 when zoomed in all the way.

One of the biggest upgrades on the Rx100 Mk III over its predecessors is the inclusion of an EVF that pops up if the user chooses to utilize it while shooting. It is also one of the various ways of powering up the camera for use.

So why would this camera be so great for concerts? The small sensor size means that at f1.8 you’ll be getting lots of the scene in focus as opposed to using a full frame camera. The 1 inch sensor in this camera also delivers incredible high ISO results that are very detailed. We put it against the Canon G1X Mk II and while the latter won out, the Sony didn’t go down without a very tough fight.

Read the review.

Buy Now: Amazon

Sony RX1

Sony RX1

As one of two point and shoots on the market with a full frame sensor at its heart, the RX1 it an absolute no-brainer when it comes to selections for concerts. With a fully working aperture ring around a 35mm f2 Zeiss lens and a 24MP full frame sensor, you can capture images at higher ISOs than any other camera on this list with even cleaner results. In fact, the 35mm field of view can be perfect for shooting concerts if you’re up front.

But for what it’s worth, consider the fact that a full frame sensor will have less of an area in focus at a given aperture compared to others on this list. The reason for this has to do with depth of field. In real life practice, that can mean that you have more out of focus images.

For that reason, we recommend this camera only to those that have been shooting for years and are bold enough to call themselves experts.

And just think: the security at the concerts will have no idea.

Read the review.

Buy Now: Amazon

Canon G1X Mk II

Canon G1X Mk II

What happens when you take one of the most traditional companies in the camera industry and get something completely untraditional from them? You get the G1X Mk II.

Canon’s G1X Mk II is so unorthodox because of its sensor size: which is slightly larger than Micro Four Thirds sensors. Yes, this camera indeed has a larger sensor than some interchangeable lens cameras. With a wide angle lens that opens up to f2, you’ll want to get up close and personal while shooting concerts.

The camera has lots of nice controls like a ring around lens to control exposure parameters and otherwise other dials to do similar functions. Plus it has a touch screen and a tilting LCD screen.

But more than any other camera on this list, we believe that the Canon G1X Mk II has the best color rendition.

Read the review.

Buy Now: Amazon

Panasonic LX100

Panasonic LX100

We’re still waiting on our Panasonic LX100 unit, but the camera so far seems to show lots and lots of promise. Take the GX7’s sensor, a Leica lens specifically developed for said sensor, an EVF, retro control dials and you’ve got a camera that many Micro Four Thirds fans have been waiting for for many years.

Again though, we haven’t finished our review of the camera as of the publishing of this piece.

Read the preview.

Buy Now: Amazon

Cameras canon concerts fujifilm panasonic Photography point and shoot sony
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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