Quote:
Originally Posted by peteallen84
My current 18-55mm kit lens has a maximum aperture of f4 or 3.6, and so some pictures come out blurred, or are too dark, or have too much noise in them. A good all round lens to begin with would be brilliant before I get into more specialist lenses.
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The problem may not be as much with your current lens as with the lighting setup. An f/1:8 lens is a large aperture, for sure, but when you set it wide open, the depth of field is very shallow. If you are standing at one end of the band and the nearest member is in focus, the rest of the band will be out of focus. So to get everyone in focus, you'd need to switch to a smaller aperture, which brings you back to what your 18-55 lens will do.
I have a f/1:8 lens for my Nikon, and I know how incredibly shallow the depth of field is at maximum aperture. I'd hate to see you buy a lens and find it won't do what you want it to. You can rent lenses and it might pay to do that so you can find out what it will do. Otherwise, the f/1:8 is a good lens for other photography, especially when you want a blurred background. When the lighting is poor (as with a band on a stage) then you really need a tripod to prevent blurring. Even a monopod can help.