Equipment

Somewhere between the barrier and the bar, you’ll hear it: “Yeah, but it’s only crop, mate…” Usually said by someone who missed the chorus while fiddling with ISO. So let’s settle it properly.This is crop vs full frame, explained with sensor physics, focal lengths, and festival grime. Nerdy? Absolutely. Dry? Not on our watch 🤘🔥 🔊 THE STAGE SIZE THEORY:...

Plus what they’ll cost your wallet in the UK 🤘💷 There’s a special kind of chaos that only live music photography delivers. One minute you’re lining up the perfect shot, the next you’re dodging a crowdsurfer while your camera gets misted with someone else’s lager. Festivals and gigs are unforgiving places, so your camera needs to be tough, fast and...

You’ve queued all day, your pint cost a small mortgage, and the lights just went down. The urge to whip out your phone and capture the magic is real. But how do you do it without becoming the dreaded phone-zombie blocking the view? Fear not, mun — here’s The Riff Report’s ultimate guide to snapping and filming gigs and festivals...

Ah, the age-old festival photographer’s dilemma: what lens do I take? You’ve blagged yourself a photo pass (nice one, mun 🏴) or maybe you’re just braving it from the crowd with a camera stuffed in your rucksack next to the warm cans of Strongbow. Either way, you want your shots to look like Kerrang! cover material, not blurry potato phone...

If you’ve ever flicked through an old Kerrang! mag or dug around in the Flickr archives of early 2000s gigs, you’ll notice one thing instantly: fisheye lenses were everywhere. Every other shot of a band on stage looked like it was being sucked into a black hole of distortion. Drum kits curved like bananas 🍌, guitar necks stretched to infinity,...

Filming a sweaty pit with lasers and strobe lights while dodging pints and elbows? You need the right video profile, butt. The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 might be small enough to sneak into a gig inside your sock (we're not recommending that… but still), yet it delivers pro-level footage when you know how to wield it. If you’re new to...

Are you the mate in the group who turns up to gigs with a camera smaller than a sausage roll but somehow ends up with footage better than the tour DVD? 🧙‍♂️ Well buckle in, you nerdy little cinematographer, because we're diving deep into DJI Osmo Pocket 3 wizardry to help you capture next-level gig footage that looks like it...

You’ve got the ProGrip, the lenses, maybe even that ring light. But what about the little extras that take your rig from "okay" to "tour‑ready"? We’re talking straps, stands, mounts—the backstage crew that makes everything gig-ready. Here’s the lowdown: 🎯 SnapPouch – Pocket & Studio Price: ~£16 (US $19.99)Description: Compact hard‑shell pouches (Pocket and Studio versions) to carry your phone +...

So you've got the ProGrip. You're feeling like Scorsese with a phone. Your thumb's caressing that Bluetooth shutter like it's the trigger to unleash cinematic glory... But something's missing. That extra snap. That oomph. That lens flare that makes your TikTok feel like Blade Runner 2049. 🌈🎬 Well, c’mon then – let’s get you kitted out proper job with ShiftCam's...

The DSLR-style mobile grip that turns your phone into a beast of a camera rig Let’s be honest — phone photography has come a LONG way. But even with all the megapixels, AI wizardry and post-editing magic… sometimes it still feels like you’re trying to shoot Glastonbury headliners with a potato. 🥔📱 Enter the ShiftCam ProGrip. The ultimate game-changer for...

Is this the smallest, cheapest APS-C camera you can still buy new in 2025? We think so. And we’ve put it through its paces to find out if this budget banger is still worth your cash or if it’s best left in the dusty depths of eBay. 📦 What’s in the Box? (Spoiler: Not Much) Unboxing the Sony A5000 feels...