General Recommended DSLR

[Michael Carter]

No flash... huh?
For nightclubs I've always seen people use flash, and I've used it myself too. - The internal one, and diffused.
Never pointing straight on, but angled on a 45deg or straight up with a diffusion on it for sure. But flash is definitely needed to bring in some foreground light.

Here are some samples of work I did in a nightclub once.

I know, opinions are like (euphemism for bodily organs used to deposit solid waste), but the DJ shots look like... a flash. To me, they never give any idea of what it was really "like" at a show.

The people pics, yeah, that's posing, event photo stuff, flash away. Nobody's pointing the light show over there anyway.

I didn't take these (I'm the guy with the purple guitar though! Google "Samee Skumn" for some fake-punk-parody...) but it's the way I shoot bands. A flash would have just washed this all out. And man, I never see a guy with a flash at these shows. Well, guys with point & shoots, not the guys getting the good shots. My good friend made the top 10 list for live music shooters in Dallas this year - I don't think he even OWNS a flash! But to each his own...

 

[DDirector]

This is one of my pieces of work filming in a nightclub.
This is the C300 with an on camera led light.
I find lighting is always better than nothing. You need some fill.

I was on the store today taking a quick look. Turns out I need a cord connected to the hot shoe as it won't shoot wirelessly. Unless if I buy a some kind of trigger that would also mount to the hot shoe.
Is the 5Diii like this too?
Or is there any other camera that would allow me to use flag wirelessly without any additional attachments?

 

[DDirector]

Here's the other thing...
When shooting bands, they are lit up with the stage lighting. They are either very close or right in it.

But when you are shooting nightclubs, the subjects are not in the light. Most clubs have poor lighting, as in no moving heads or any of that stuff. They keep it minimal. And that is usually never enough to light the subject. They would just blend right in with the darkness.
So, shooting bands and nightclubs ate two different things. I've shoot bands and didn't use flash. Maybe a few select shoots where the flash was set very very low to give a little fill if the lighting wasn't good at the time. It won't work for nightclubs most of the time though. Not ever club had a big might show going on in them.

 

[starcentral]

Michael have you considered 7D? Lots of AF points, servo mode, clean, etc.. sure it's crop but who cares.

I also shoot mine with the flash off camera and off camera lens axis always. It makes for way better photos.. For club photos look at a Gary Fong lightsphere attachment for the 580EXii, or whatever newer model flash Canon is pushing these days. I have 3 580EXii's and using pocket wizard to trigger them via RF for studio lighting type of setups. The pocket wizard also supports "high speed sync" which means you can actually use the flash at very very high shutters speeds whereas normally you can not really exceed 1/250th... it is amazing technology.

Also newer firmware allows:

Full-resolution RAW images: now up to 25 shots in a burst (previously 15 maximum)
Full-res RAW + JPEG images: now up to 17 shots in a burst (previously 6)

I love my 7D.