GEAR

I upgraded to a Nikon D90 in January of 2009. It's low light performance from ISO800-3200 is first-rate. For concert and low light indoor sports, the D90, with an f/2/8 or larger lens, just smokes. To get over 1000 shots from ONE BATTERY ($40) is hard to believe, but true. The battery life of this camera makes changing batteries a rare thing. I shove in a 16GB SDHC card, which holds around 2400 photos (at the camera's highest JPG resolution) or a whopping 1100 RAW images. I can concentrate on shooting and not worry about changing batteries or memory cards.

JUST ADDED! Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G

This 35mm f.1.8 lens is a must for just $200. From the limited tests I have done, this lens is a bit sharper than the $400+ Nikkor 50mm f/1.4, which I also own. It is perfect at concerts in "the pit," where 50mm on a DX body is too much. The bokeh is great and focus very fast. Yes, it is plastic, but the build is solid.

I purchased my D90 with the Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G, instead of the standard kit lens. It was well worth the extra money. The 18-200's VR works very well and allows much slower hand held shutter speeds, if necessary.

This is a great lens for outdoor photography and it works well for medium to bright indoor lighting. For indoor concerts, I have achieved great results with this lens, in larger venues with bright, professional lighting. It is a little weak around 130mm, but if you know the sweet spots of this lens, it will produce nice results.

Next is one of my favorites, the Tamron 28-75mm f//2.8 XR DI.

This lens kicks ass in low lighting. This lens is perfect for small clubs, indoor sporting events, and for larger venues with adequate to abobe average lighting. AF is fast, images are sharp and color is amazing. I have yet to find a focal length that is weak on this lens. This is my main indoor lens. A steal for around $500.

Then comes the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4. The lens is the best for low lighting, if you can get far enough away with it slapped ona DX body. The f/1.4, combines with the high ISO performance of the D90 makes this lens a must have for any type of low lighting situation. Super fast, super sharp, I love this lens.

The "must have" 10.5mm AF-DX fisheye lens.

Not having much experience at wide angle photography, this lens has opened up whole new worlds!. I love it! Combined with the Fisheye-Hemi de-fishing program, the wide angle possibilities are endless. I can take shots with the 10.5 that I couldn't even imagine with a normal lens. This lens is with me on every shoot. I don't use it on every one, but you never know. It is getting much more use than I planned and gives great perspective for close up shots" in the pit."

Lighting it all up, when needed, is a Nikon SB-600 flash. Using Nikon's I-TTL system, this flash is perfect for most situations. Fill-Flash is great and works well even with powerful concert lighting. Without floor spots, even a pro lighting systen can sometimes fail to properly light the faces of the performers. For this, the SB-600 shines, as long as you have permission from the performer to use flash. For only around $200, the difference between this and the D90's built-in flash is huge. Four AA batteries give me around 150-200 shots.

I sling everything around in a Tamrac System 6 camera bag. I spent about a month looking at hundreds of bags and this one takes the cake.

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With room for every thing I need and a confortable neck strap, this bag is lightweight and repels water very well. Tamrac's memory management system is cool and this bag is constructed to make changing lenses easy in crowded situations. It also allows easy access to batteries, memory cards, etc quickly, which comes in handy during gigs. As my lens collection grows, I may have to upgrade to something bigger, but I will never get rid of this bag. When only 3-4 lenses and the SB-600 are needed, this bag is perfect.