I need a faster lenses for low light concert photography... any suggestions?

70-200mm f/2.8...God of concert lenses....

Its costly but the point is the f stop number... If u go lower than f/3.5, the prices hits the sky... If u have a lens bank in your locality u can also rent a lens from there...Otherwise any lens with the range of 200mm+ is okay for daylight concerts....

The 70-200mm f2.8 lens recommended by others is around £1200! Bearing in mind you wanted a cost effective solution, about all I can suggest is the 50mm f1.8. It's much more limiting in terms of zoom, so you have to zoom with your feet - but it's a great little lens & costs around £100.

If you want a bit more reach then the 85mm f1.8 would be better - but you're looking at around £270 for that lens.

Fast zooms are going to be (likely) out of your budget.

You might have to drop several hundreds on at least an AF ED 80-200 f/2.8

That's actually the lens I started my concert photography some many years ago. The 70-200 VR is going to be out of your range.

Price estimate used $300-800. Watch it on ebay.

You are shooting local bands, so im assuming you can actually get close to them, and you have the freedom to move around.

I recommend.50mm f/1.8g for portraita and headshots

i recommend te 28mm f/1.8 for group shots.

F1.8 is a good affordable price point for a college student. Anything else, you are losing bang for buck.

I also recomend using a flash gun. Attach it to a ttl cord

http://www.nikonusa.com/Nikon-Products/Product/Fla...

flash gun in your left hand, camera placed in your right hand. This will give you tremendous control in directing the light. Amd this control will allow you to manipulate the light that will compliment the ambient light.

Get the lowest f-stop number you can afford in a lens. The larger lens allows more light to enter.

In order of (approx) price:

50mm f1.8 (140$Can)

50mm f1.4 (350$Can)

85mm f1.4 (500$Can)

24-70mm f2.8 (1600$Can)

70-200 f2.8 (1800$)

70-200 f2.8 IS (2600$)

70-200 would be your best option. make sure you get the lowest aperture rating the lens has, usually 2.8... or if you like to shoot at 50mm you can get a 50mm 1.8 lens.

Depends on how close you can get. With some 50's you can open till f1,4 or more