Another concert, Elton John, with the EF-M 55-200mm

After ZZ Top last week, I was lucky enough to see Elton John in San Jose this week, as a part of his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour.

Again I took the M6 and the trusty EF-M 55-200mm. The lens trigged the metal detector this time (normally doesn't), but the person at the gate took a look at it, asked if it was a lens, and when I said yes, let me thru. I guess a 3 1/4" lens is below the threshold! Phew.

Before the concert one of the notices on the screen was to post photos and videos with a hashtag. Most concerts don't even want to admit you can take videos, so that was refreshing to see.

Unlike ZZ Top in the small venue, this concert was at a much larger arena, and I was sitting far, so the 55-200mm didn't get me super close. I do wonder what longer (but still light) lens options would work well for a case like this. But as a bonus the 55mm was able to capture to whole stage.

Below are some photos, some cropped.

iPhone pano before the concert. Come on everyone, take your seats so we can start!

55mm, barely able to capture the whole stage.  I do like the reflection of the piano keys in his glasses.

Ray Cooper on percussion. He was wild. Apparently been with Elton John since 1971. 200mm + crop.

Elton John and Ray Cooper, this time at 55mm.

Again pushing the limits of 200mm. I do enjoy the physical button for exposure compensation on the M6. Comes in handy at concerts.

The stage was interesting, two levels built right into the lower, sloping part of the huge screen.

Closer look at part of the two level stage. Davey Johnstone on guitar, Nigel Olsson on drums, John Mahon on percussion, and Ray Cooper above.

Matt Bissonette on bass and Kim Bullard on keyboards, both relatively new to the band (when compared to the others!).

Fog machine at work for Funeral for a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding.

Giant Ray Cooper on screen and mini Cooper in the corner.

Team Bow. Actually it was cute that Elton John got up from his piano took a bow after every song. They did two more songs after this team bow. Nearly 3h concert.

No more concerts in the near future, promise...

The first record I bought was "Daniel". I was 7. Lovely pics.

Thank you. He played it...

Ali wrote:

... I was sitting far, so the 55-200mm didn't get me super close. I do wonder what longer (but still light) lens options would work well for a case like this ...

I am wondering more about this question, especially with the ongoing EF-M 55-200 vs EF-S 55-250 thread.  In larger venues I do wish I could go above 200mm for concerts, but still keeping a relatively small form factor.

Do folks have a longer reaching but relatively light telephoto that they like on their M series?

Before my M3/M6 I was using long-reaching "P&S" cameras (up to 720mm). They did the job, but given the small sensor and lack of RAW, with image quality before that of the M.  (The very recently announced Nikon A1000 still has a small sensor but does RAW. Don't know much that will help.)

Puppetlead wrote:

What where your settings? Thats a pretty low light situation. and i don't see much noise in those pictures.

Most are ISO1600 (except the few times where I accidentally bumped the ISO while changing exposure compensation).

There's some noise, but I hope just enough to add character rather than distract.

Since most of the photos do have some negative exposure compensation applied, I could have also tried to go with a manual settings, at a lower ISO; however with the frequently changing lights that would have been another challenge...

Those are very nice clicks. Myself got single kit lens (15-45mm) bundle to save about 200$, I see getting both would have been a wise decision.

Modgil P wrote:

Those are very nice clicks. Myself got single kit lens (15-45mm) bundle to save about 200$, I see getting both would have been a wise decision.

I wasn't so sure about the 55-200 when I first got it (I didn't have a choice), but it has proven useful in some contexts!

I also have the Tamron EF-M 18-200, which I like for its great range, but the 55-200 focuses faster and better. So I tend to gravitate towards it when light conditions are tricky.