One genre of shooting I've focused on for the past several months is music / shows in clubs. It's challenging and rewarding with a steep learning curve. Most of the shows I've shot haven't been published, but there are about a dozen galleries from shows here:
http://ederek.smugmug.com/Music
Ted - I must respectfully disagree - there is a lot you can do, and it does matter how you meter, unless you just want to roll the dice and "maybe" come home with some decent frames. It is fairly easy to completely blow out a performers face, as there are often spot lights on them and I haven't found film latitude to be enough to cover this. 1/30 of a second is straightforward to handhold with a rangefinder, but not really enough to get a good performance picture with the type of music I shoot. I can see some artistic shots with slower shutter speed, especially when timed just right with a performers' movements, but in general, it's too slow for capturing performance shots with a decent % of good frames.
James - I saw you shooting your RD1 at the Sarah Borges show at Johnny D's January 31. I was shooting a 5D with 85/1.8 that night, and have a couple shots of you shooting from next to the stage (none of those in the Smugmug gallery). I think I saw your gallery on Facebook as well. I believe you were using the Nokton 40/1.4 at the time?
Unless trying to get a shot of a guitar, specific instrument, shoes, etc., - then spot meter off the performers' face. The Sekonic L-508 Zoom Master Spot Meter is quite effective. If the light is very low, this may not be sensitive enough, but in general it has worked well. I've used this to shoot an M4 with 400 Trix at EI400, EI800 and EI1250, also have shot Neopan 1600 at EI1600 and EI1100, though have far less experience with this film. Lenses were either 1.4 or 2.0.
I've had some success with the RD1, but last November came home from a show at TT's where the majority of shots were backfocused. Frustrating. Took apart the RD1 to adjust the focus, and it's sat there as a "project" for the past 4 months. Gotta get her together and start shooting with that again!
When the RD1 was put aside I picked up the Canon 5D again (it had been ignored for 6mo due to an all-consuming love for Rangefinders!). Shot with an 85/1.8 and a 50/1.4. Put in the focusing screen for low light, which helped. The 85/1.8 was fairly difficult to focus - too "sloppy". Some of the same backlash type of issues as the RD1 / Nokton 40 combination (separate from backfocusing). The 85/1.2 is far easier to focus at 1.2 than the 85/1.8 at 1.8 - much higher hit ratio, whether manual or autofocus. Auto requires special techniques, including selecting appropriate focus spot and placing that over the performers eye, using AI Servo mode, and firing the moment you have focus lock with no recomposition - very high % of in-focus shots that way. I've found the same thing with the 50/1.2 - it's better than the 50/1.4 for focusing (tighter, without the backlash) and yields some good shots. With the 5D, I use the built-in Spot Metering mode. ALWAYS shoot in Manual Mode.
I hate to say it, but if shooting digital, I recommend chimping on a couple shots to get the appropriate light settings, and go from there. Not just chimping on the whole frame, but zooming in on the performers face and showing the histogram. While some stage lighting constantly changes, I believe most of the light in the clubs you are shooting in the area is pretty constant for a given performance (though not places like Bill's). What is tough is all that red lighting around!!
