Last night was the school's Grade 7-8 band/choir concert of which both of my
girls were participating. Being the holiday concert, it was a little more
packed than the usual packed. This concert is held in the high school
performing-arts auditorium which was build just a couple of years ago and is
very nice. The acoustics are actually very good (mostly, except for that one
spot that has a slap-echo so bad that it messes people's hair up) and the
facility seats probably 1500 people--give or take.
So, I go through my usual exercise of determining which camera to take. We
almost always sit in the back and up high--that way we get better
sight-lines. A 50mm lens on the FourThirds bodies will JUST take in the
choir or the smaller band when sitting in back. The Grade-7 band is a little
larger, so a not-so-long lens is necessary.
The problem has been dim lighting conditions. The last concert was
dismal--because most of the lighting grid was changed around for a
theatrical production, but last night was different. It was literally three
or four stops brighter than last time!
I never seem to take the same configuration to the concerts and last night I
decided to do the "pretend Leica" routine. I used the DMC-L1 with the
24/2.8, 50/1.4 and 100/2.8 lenses. That was it. Honestly, it does look a lot
like a Leica in those dimmer conditions. The lens selection turned out very
well and I'm quite satisfied with the results.
But not everything was rosy.
As they don't do any sound amplification, taking pictures with some cameras
was problematic. You could hear the beeps, blips, twips, songs and fake
shutter sounds from cameras all over the auditorium. Of course, this is
accompanied by the glowing rectangles of LCD displays of the people in front
of you taking pictures or trying to video record their precious offspring.
At some point you just have to laugh. Back when our girls were in private
school, it was funny because parents would prairie-dog when their child
would go up on stage--and yes, I'd prairie-dog right with them.
So, making a long story longer...
I took the DMC-L1. Why? Vanity. What camera do I have which would have been
better? The E-1 is so silent but has that "Chirp-Squeak" sound. The L1?
"QWA-T-ACK!!!!!" The camera is anything but quiet. Heaven forbid you use
live-view! You need a forklift to pick up the echos from that thing. The
OM-3Ti is also very good in this condition too, but digital was selected for
other reasons.
The pictures did turn out great, but I was living in fear of starting a riot
in my section.
Next time, I think I'll leave the L1 at home and use the E-1 or OM-3Ti
again. The 3Ti, specifically, seems to be about the best camera for the task
and generates a sound which seems so foreign to people these days. No, I
won't use the MD2 on it--been there done that...
AG (Please, C.H. write something interesting so we don't have to listen to
these pointless stories) Schnozz
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