Recommend Ultra Compacts Good In Low Light

[ieani]

I have a compact Canon Powershot A95 and am looking for a cheap pocketable ultra compact of at least 3 megapixels I can take with me to concerts. I prefer canon but I need a camera that can shoot in low light without flash. Has anyone had any experience with the Canon SD110? Thanks.

 

[Abstract]

I don't think any ultracompact camera is good in low light. Even the ones that are relatively good when compared to other ultracompacts is still horrible.

Go for one that offers the highest ISO, I guess. Your photos will be pixell-y, but you'll still be able to take the photo.

 

[Applespider]

Go and have a look on dpreview.com at the lowlight images and you'll see how much noise you might end up with.

The higher the ISO, the less likely that the shot will blur but the more likely that it will be noisy. But it does depend on how bright the stage lighting is and how close you are to it.

Would suggest either a camera with very high ISO (the Fuji F10/F11 is compact (rather than ultra-compact) but does go up to ISO1600 and is usable at it - for snapshots at least.

Or a camera with OIS to try to lessen the blur and use a lower ISO. The trouble is that OIS is great when what you're shooting is standing still but will still blur if the subject is moving around. The Panasonics (FX range) is pretty compact but keeps the stabilisation feature.

 

[Over Achiever]

The F10/F11 is great in low light because of the usable high ISO as Applespider says. I personally own the FX9 which has image stabilization, and what they said is totally true. In the night shots I took at of the stage, the stationary objects came out crisp, but the performers were blurred from the longer exposure time. Plus the ISO 400 has some noise which gets a bit annoying at times. The FX9 is great in daylight shots tho'.

 

[Abstract]

Haha, I was going to suggest a camera like the F-series ones, but they're bigger than her Canon A95, me thinks.

 

[ieani]

Haha, I was going to suggest a camera like the F-series ones, but they're bigger than her Canon A95, me thinks.

I never knew I came across so feminine in my writing.

The Fujifilm 5.1 MP FinePix Z1 is what I am looking for but I would have to sell my canon to get it, which I do not want to do since my canon has a RAW format and more features. Thanks for the help though!

 

[Clix Pix]

How about the Casio Exilim Z50 or Z750? I think there are newer models out as well in the Casio line. They are very small, pocketable cameras which do pretty well in low light. The Z750 has had excellent reviews and does have some manual controls.

Also, as mentioned above, the Fujis are very good as well.

Oh -- I suspect that many people misread your user name as "jeani," hence assuming that you are a female. I know *I* did for a while and then one day realized it was actually "ieani." Of course that doesn't suggest your gender one way or another...

 

[ieani]

How about the Casio Exilim Z50 or Z750? I think there are newer models out as well in the Casio line. They are very small, pocketable cameras which do pretty well in low light. The Z750 has had excellent reviews and does have some manual controls.

Also, as mentioned above, the Fujis are very good as well.

Oh -- I suspect that many people misread your user name as "jeani," hence assuming that you are a female. I know *I* did for a while and then one day realized it was actually "ieani." Of course that doesn't suggest your gender one way or another...

Its a bastardized form of the greek word for ion.

 

[Abstract]

Don't start identical threads in different forums just because you feel this is important.

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=2127854#post2127854

 

[ChrisA]

the A95 can do the job.

I have a compact Canon Powershot A95 and am looking for a cheap pocketable ultra compact of at least 3 megapixels I can take with me to concerts. I prefer canon but I need a camera that can shoot in low light without flash. Has anyone had any experience with the Canon SD110? Thanks.

You are working against the laws of physics. Better in low light means just about everything on the camera has to be bigger. A bigger CCD, bigger lens and so on..

The Canon A95 is not really that bad. Take if off the auto setting and shot in full manual mode. Open the f-stops up all the way, choose a shutter speed like 1/60 or (1/30 if you can stand more motion blur) and turn off the flash and use manual focus. and use ISO400 In this mode the A95 has near zero shutter lag. You push the button and the shutter trips instantly.

OK s some images will be to dark. You can "correct" nearly dark images in an image editor. (Like iPhoto, Gimp or Photoshop) It is surprizing what is possable to pull out of images that look nearly black. The quality is not good but, good enough for some uses.

The reason the A95 does so poorly in A or P modes is because (1) it selects a too slow shutter speed and everything blurs. (2) the camer turns on the flash as if that little flash could light up a big stage that is 100 feet aay (not) and (3) the autofocus does not work in the dark and the AF assist beam is even weaker then the strobe (see #2 above)

 

[ieani]

You are working against the laws of physics. Better in low light means just about everything on the camera has to be bigger. A bigger CCD, bigger lens and so on..

The Canon A95 is not really that bad. Take if off the auto setting and shot in full manual mode. Open the f-stops up all the way, choose a shutter speed like 1/60 or (1/30 if you can stand more motion blur) and turn off the flash and use manual focus. and use ISO400 In this mode the A95 has near zero shutter lag. You push the button and the shutter trips instantly.

OK s some images will be to dark. You can "correct" nearly dark images in an image editor. (Like iPhoto, Gimp or Photoshop) It is surprizing what is possable to pull out of images that look nearly black. The quality is not good but, good enough for some uses.

The reason the A95 does so poorly in A or P modes is because (1) it selects a too slow shutter speed and everything blurs. (2) the camer turns on the flash as if that little flash could light up a big stage that is 100 feet aay (not) and (3) the autofocus does not work in the dark and the AF assist beam is even weaker then the strobe (see #2 above)

You misunderstood me. I dont want the A95 for its poor low light shooting(which it does not have) but for its bulkiness in comparison to ultracompacts. Its why Im just going to keep it and hope nothing happens to it in my pocket.

 

[ieani]

Don't start identical threads in different forums just because you feel this is important.

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=2127854#post2127854

And you cannot make identical threads because you feel it's important...or can you? Actually you can but beware someone too occupied with rules(over things that matter) might cry foul.

 

[Abstract]

I'm actually not that big on most rules. Most things don't have to be pointed out (e.g.: someone else posted a similiar topic 6 months ago) and yet people still do so. However, I have no problem telling people who try posting the same thread in 2, 3, 10 forums that it's not how it works here at MR.

And like I said in the other thread, if you're confident that you're not doing anything wrong, then why don't you post one of these threads in even more forums? Both the Community and Pictures forum definitely need one, but I'm quite confident that these identical threads would be considered spam.

 

[ieani]

However, I have no problem telling people who try posting the same thread in 2, 3, 10 forums that it's not how it works here at MR.

As if you own the place. You are not abstract but frivolous.

 

[Abstract]

As if you own the place. You are not abstract but frivolous.

Maybe not abstract, but apparently I'm abstract enough for you to not understand a simple rule that has been explained to you already. They're not my rules, and it's not my job to enforce them by deleting threads and such, but I'm quite sure I'm allowed to point out this one. Have you read the rules like Applespider suggested?

And speaking of frivolous people, how are you?

 

[form]

The best compact/ultracompact camera currently available for low-light photography without flash is the Fujifilm Finepix F10 Zoom or its F11 variant.

I should know: I owned an F10. Then I sold it because I needed even better low-light capability, and the only thing better was dSLR land, which is where I am now.