Take a look at our best Canon lenses for concert photography, and what you should know before making a purchase.
Since concerts usually happen indoors with bad lighting, you need a fast lens, and that’s anything with f/2.8, f/2.0 or even larger. You absolutely need to have a lens that can capture as much light (not allowed to shoot with a flash) as possible in order to get sharp shots!
An alternative is to boost the ISO of your camera, but going too high can result in noisy images.
Your focal length is also important! If you’re relatively close to the stage, then anything between 24 and 85mm is perfect, but if shooting from far away then a telephoto such as the 70-200mm is a must.
You can obviously shoot concerts with a single lens though, I’ve done it many times and a lot of photographers that know where they’ll be positioned at usually bring a single prime or zoom lens too.
All lenses below have amazing image quality, are fast and perfect for any low light situation, not just concerts, and offer a great value for the price.
Best prime lenses we recommend:
Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM
Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM
Best zoom lenses we recommend:
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM
Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM
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Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
How to describe the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM? Beautiful colors, razor sharp images, superb quality, creamy bokeh and most importantly, affordable! It’s one of the sharpest lenses Canon has ever made, and is a steal for the money.
Featuring an Ultra Sonic Motor, it’ll quickly focus on your subject even in darker conditions. With f/1.8 and 85mm focal length, you can’t even imagine what kind of amazing photographs you’ll be able to take!
Where this lens truly shines at is concert, portrait and wedding photography.
For concert photography, it allows you to shoot at f/1.8 and get amazingly sharp results without having to raise your ISO speed too much. I’ve been using it for years, and it’s also the first lens I brought to shoot a concert.
You can buy it at Amazon or read more reviews here.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM is the best-selling lens from Canon, which already says a lot. It’s affordable, compact and delivers high quality images.
It’s amazing for low light photography because the maximum f/1.8 gathers a ton of light, meaning you’ll be able to shoot at night without getting so many blurred images.
Another reason why f/1.8 is so good is because it allows you to completely blur the background, making your subject stand out (called shallow depth of field). It’s the easiest and quickest way to make your shots look professional.
The 50mm f/1.8 length is great on both APS-C and FF cameras, and is great for general wedding-photography, portraits and similar situations.
Auto focus is quick, silent and accurate thanks to STM (Stepping Motor), which is also a plus for videographers because you won’t have any noise from auto focusing in your videos.
You can buy it at Amazon or read more reviews here.
Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 STM
As unusual as the Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 STM looks, it’s actually a fully functional, high quality wide-angle prime lens. The flat type of design has a name; we call them pancake lenses because they’re so short and lightweight.
It’s only compatible with APS-C cameras, but is still a much wider choice than both lenses above. It weighs only 4.4oz/125g and is so thin you’ll forget you have it mounted.
Even though it’s super cheap, it still comes with FTM (Full Time Manual focus), a feature that allows you to focus manually at any time, even when set to AF mode. How is this useful for concerts? Because sometimes you camera may miss the focus, and you can do it manually without pressing any buttons. It’s got a minimum focusing distance of 0.5 ft (16cm) and a 7-blade circular aperture which results in quite okay background blur.
You can buy it at Amazon or read more reviews here.
Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM
The Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM is sharper than the majority of prime lenses on the market.
It’s tack sharp even at f/1.4, features a Ring-type AF motor for fast, silent and accurate focusing with Full Time Manual Focus, and has a closest focusing distance of 0.30cm/11.81″.
Mounted on an APS-C camera, its field of view is equivalent to a 50mm lens, a length that’s perfect for almost any type of photography, especially for portrait, wedding and extreme low light photography.
Great bokeh, beautiful colors and optical quality, plus it’s built like a tank so you don’t have to worry about easily damaging it. It’s also cheaper and performs better than Canon’s version!
You can buy it at Amazon or read more reviews here.
Best Canon Zoom Lenses for Concerts
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM is the most expensive and best 70-200mm lens from Canon (out of 4 versions, ranging from $600 to $2,000). There are two f/4 versions and two f/2.8 versions, each with and without Image Stabilization.
For concerts, this is hands down the best lens out there. It’s long enough so you can capture almost anything without distracting anyone, and the bokeh/background blur looks absolutely amazing.
Its auto focus is super fast and accurate (USM), even in low light conditions where you’ll be doing quite a lot of shooting. Thanks to f/2.8 you also don’t have to raise your ISO speed a lot, resulting in cleaner and sharper images, although if you have a newer camera you don’t have to worry as much.
When photographing with slow shutter speeds, the Image Stabilization will help you up to 4 stops, but remember that this only applies if your subject isn’t moving. While outdoor photography may not require you to have IS, it’s almost a must for concerts, and is worth the extra price! You definitely want as much help from your system to deliver stabilized shots in all conditions.
You can buy it at Amazon or read more reviews here.
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM
If you’re a full frame shooter, you will love the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM, it’s the most versatile lens on this list. You’ll be able to cover wide to standard/medium telephoto ranges with excellent image quality and f/2.8 aperture.
If you have an APS-C Canon, then the 24-70mm is actually equivalent to a 38mm-112mm. That’s not so wide anymore, and you’re probably better off with the Sigma below.
There’s no Image Stabilization so be ready to raise your ISO speed from time to time, although you’re pretty safe with f/2.8. It’s also great for traveling, weddings, portraits and much more.
You can buy it at Amazon or read more reviews here.
Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM
A couple of years ago, large apertures were only possible on prime lenses, but Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM changed that in 2013. You’re looking at an optically superb, wide-to-standard large aperture lens that could save you a lot of money and weight (1 zoom with f/1.8 instead of 3 primes with f/1.8).
Not familiar with Sigma’s terms? The lens features HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor), which means the lens is very quick and accurate at focusing. You can also expect beautiful background blur thanks to 9 diaphragm blades, especially when wide open.
Besides amazing quality in still photography, the lens is perfect for videos as well, thanks to its smooth focus and zoom rings.
It weighs 1.79 pounds (810 grams) and is quite long, meaning your neck will probably get tired after a couple of hours of shooting. If you want ‘pancake’ like lenses (24mm f/2.8 STM) and something super light, the Sigma 18-35mm is not for you. However, in a way, it’s like 3 x f/1.8 lenses in one so it’s just something you have to live with.
You can buy it at Amazon or read more reviews here.
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