What type of camera should i use at night?
I want to start taking photos of city night life like concerts, clubs, and, just people in the city in general. What type of camera should i use? My money limit is 200 to 500$.
It's really less about the camera body itself and more about the lens. However some more expensive bodies have higher, less-grainy ISO ranges than others.
If you you want to go cheap get but very, very good quality equipment. Buy a either a 5/6 year old Nikon D80 or D90 off ebay (they're around £100 - £200). I have used the D80 a lot and it's a very good camera if you know how to use it properly.
I would couple one of those bodies with a Nikon 50mm f1.8D lens. There's two versions, the newer one (G) and the older one (D). Apparently the older one has less distortion and it's cheaper. It's one of the most famous lenses ever made because of it's very wide aperture, It lets loads of light in. Therefore it can take excellent low-light pictures and it's used by music, events and nightlife photographers around the world. The other great thing about this lens is the older and better (D) version is only around £75.00 - £100.00 on Ebay. Very cheap for such a good quality lens. There's also another, even wider (aperture-wise) version called the 50mm f1.4. It's around £200 more expensive and probably not worth the extra money. From what I've heard it's not a massive leap up in image quality for what you're paying.
Buy a Nikon D80 or 90 + (Old) Nikon 50mm f1.8 (D) both off ebay and your probably paying less than £300.
I've no experience with Canons but I've read that the Nikon/Canon thing is really a matter of preference. One isn't better than the other. So you could try Canon if you wish.
Learn full manual, aperture and shutter priority controls on your camera. I'd highly recommend you read the body manual because the controls are confusing at first. Read up on all of the basics of photography such as Composition, exposure, subject interest etc. Then get out and put it all into practice.
Things to look for in a camera best designed for low-light photography:
1. Big sensor with big pixels. The bigger the pixels the more light strikes each photocell during an exposure. More strikes equals less noise.
2. Bright lens - You'll wan to get a lens with an aperture of at least f/2.8 or better. Sigma's 18-35 f/1.8 is probably one of the best lenses for your type of situation. Or, get a prime 35 or 50mm f/1.4 lens.
3. Image stabilization. The problem is that the bright lenses that you need such as the Sigma 18-35 f/1.8, and almost all fast prime lenses don't have image stabilization built into them, so Canon and Nikon users will struggle. Pentax users, however, will have it easy since the image stabilization unit is built into the bodies allowing for 4 stops lower ISO or 4 stops slower shutter speeds than without IS.
Therefore your best combo on the market for low light is a body that has IS in it such as:
1. Sony A7S or A7II
2. Pentax K50, K5IIs, and the K3.
If you don't need fast continuous AF, then you don't need to go with a DSLR like the Pentax. The Sony A7S has the best high-iso performance of any camera built today. The A7II is a 24MP camera that has IS built into it. It's designed for those who want more detail than the A7S can deliver, but also needs amazing low-light capability. If you're subjects are moving (such as dancing), then there's no substitute for great high-ISO performance because you'll need the shutter speed to stop the action. If your subjects are moving fast (running) then the Sony will struggle where the Pentax K5IIs or the K3 will do very well.
You should do some research, as its not just the camera, but the lens and how you use it. I recommend looking at the Canon dslr range