Good camera for gigs?

So i go to a lot of gigs and i like taking photos, but the gigs i go to are typically smaller one and the lightning is always terrible, or even at the o2 i'm to far away, i have a samsun WP10 and its terrible,

i was thinking of getting a nikon, i want something around £200 (i'll pay a little over i guess) with a good zoom, something not to huge and obvlsy capable of taking good photos at gigs, and i was just wondering if anyone has any suggestions, or what i should look for… Thanks.

For your budget and the needs of the camera within your budget, there aren't many. The best thing would be the Fujifilm HS20 EXR because it has a hot shoe and will help in low light conditions. I would have recommended an entry level DSLR like the Canon T3 but it seems way out of your budget. FYI- digital cameras don't do well in low light due to their small sensors.

As you say gigs are dark with uneven and unforgiving lighting. Gig photographers use cameras that produce clear results at ISO 3200 and beyond combined with "fast" lenses (f1.8, f1.4 even f1.2) (sometimes zoom, sometimes wide angle if they're at the front barrier) with image stabilisers and fast focusing. The cameras and lenses that are chosen are excellent at finding focus quickly in low light situations to not miss the moment.

It's a big tough for me to recommend equipment as you say you'd like Nikon and I know more about Canon products. If you were shooting outside in the day with good light, the cheaper zoom lenses and cameras would be fine for you, but when it comes to gigs and being indoors the cheaper equipment falls short.

I'm sorry to say that £200 is not actually enough to get you even the camera, you could get one second hand perhaps for around the £300 mark for an entry level camera which generally only go up to 3200 but have grain. So with respect to the entry level camera that hasn't the ISO capabilities of the higher end bodies, a lens with a wide minimum aperture of 2 or 1.8 is a must to get the light in.

Unfortunately the zooms with the low apertures are in the four figures. But you can buy a 50mm with a f1.8 for about £90. You could even stretch to a 50mm f1.4 for about £300 (for Canon anyway).

Of course the low aperture comes with the low depth of field blurry background, if you don't like this look then you'll have to spend more money on a more capable camera body and there's a big jump in price for these.

My advice would be to start with a standard lens and mid range body and position yourself at the front of gigs. Be prepared to spend more that £200 though, I'd expect to pay twice that at least.

When you get some more cash, upgrade your body to one which can cope better in dark environments, and keep saving to get your telephoto zoom so you can stand at the back.

**I forgot to add that you could use a flash gun to help with the low light, but this would only be useful if you were close to the subject. If you do, be careful not to set it too strong to not temporarily blind or put off the performers!