I have just purchased a full frame Nikon D800 and wonder which are the most appropriate Nikon lenses for shooting in concerts.
The concerts are always indoors, at night, with the artist's light engineer always with him.
The distance from the artist/band member/stage will be from 7 to 15 meters at the most
The shots will be close ups on artist and band members but also stage involving crowd.
It really depends on what you want the pictures to look like.
I recently shot the last two groups of an outdoor festival and used two bodies: A 1.6x crop body with a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens and a full frame body with a 24-105mm f/4 lens. I chose the 24-105mm lens over my 24-70mm f/2.8 lens due to image stabilization on the 24-105mm f/4. I had stage access and the stage was a temporary outdoor one that was less than rock solid in terms of stability. The intensity of the theatrical lighting was highly variable. The spotlights on the lead singers was much brighter than the rest of the stage lighting.
Here are a couple of images taken with the 24-105mm lens (both images are the same resolution, but this page apparently re-sizes based on width, rather than maximum dimension):
24mm, ISO 3200, 1/50 sec @ f/4 from rear side stage
55mm, ISO 2000, 1/320 sec @ f/4 from the media pit
Here are a couple of images taken with the 70-200mm on the crop body:
200mm, ISO 3200, 1/1600 sec @ f/2.8 from front side stage
70mm, ISO 3200, 1/320 sec @ f/2.8 from side stage
On the other hand, I often shoot at a small local club where there is usually much less available light. In that situation I usually use a fast prime such as an EF 50mm f/1.4 or 100mm f/2. If the performers bring some of their own lighting that is bright enough then I might also use f/2.8 zooms. For more in that scenario, please see this answer to another question.
Under red and blue LED lights: Canon 5D Mark III + EF 50mm f/1.4, ISO 5000, 1/80 second @ f/2.8 and a LOT of post-processing.
Same club with the green LED lights also up: Canon 5D Mark III + Ef 50mm f/1.4, ISO 5000, 1/125 second @ f/2.8 and a little less post-processing but better overall saturation, contrast, color, etc.
Same club with group who brought their own lights (and a small smoke machine) for a Halloween gig: Canon 5D mark III + EF 50mm f/1.4, ISO 3200, 1/125 second @ f/3.5.
Theatrical/concert photography is one of the most challenging forms of photography there is, both in terms of pushing the equipment you use to the absolute edge of their capabilities and in terms of requiring every bit of skill and experience you might have as the photographer.
To do concert photography well (and get consistently good photos instead of only the rare keeper) you really need premium lenses more than just about any form of photography other than shooting birds in flight from a distance. So while a "step up" lens would be better than a typical kit lens, you really need to go for lenses with the widest aperture and fastest focusing that you can afford. And in low light the roughly one stop advantage a full frame sensor gives you over an APS-C sensor is also often the difference between getting the shot or not.
Photography is the art of capturing light. Most concerts don't offer much light to capture and what light there is to capture is changing rapidly and the subjects are usually very animated. So the traditional solution to not much light (longer shutter speed using a tripod to hold the camera still) doesn't work because nobody on stage stands still for 10-15 seconds while you take a picture. The traditional solution to capturing motion (faster shutter speeds) doesn't usually work because there isn't enough light to capture a good image on a small sensor with a narrow aperture. In the end you have to balance the two as best you can AND use gear that allows you to capture as much of the scarce light that is present in the scene in as fast a time as possible. That means fast lenses (wide apertures), larger sensors, and cameras that are highly responsive (fast handling).
So zoom lenses need to be f/2.8. Prime lenses in the normal range (e.g 24-80mm) need to be f/2 or wider. Even at those apertures you will often find you must shoot at ISO speeds in the 3200-6400 range to be able to stop the motion on stage.
I'll answer form a canon perspective - you must translate into a Nikon context.
For large scenes with a "pit" , or overhead balcony, or outdoors go for a 70-200mm F2.8. for daytime outdoor concerts it is not for the light you want 2.8 , but for dof seperation.
For intimate stages 24-70mm F2.8 is really good. On FF you can go a bit more tele or top up with a 135mm prime.
I shoot with fast primes at concerts (indoor, dark, intimate), with a crop camera, but here I translate into FF focal lengths; 24mm-35mm is good for getting the stage, and group shots, 50mm-85mm for individual band members, and 135mm makes the best closeups. A lens belt is good to have for this style of shooting.
