Anyone know of any good digital cameras that take diecent shots in poorly lit spaces? Links, prices anything will help. Thanks.
Well, the reason for grainy pics is because the camera can’t get enough light to define the picture. To solve it, you need more light to enter the lens. Traditionally, that means that either you allow longer exposures, or set a larger aparture.
For digi cams, you can either set it on a tripod and set the shutter for longer exposures. There probably isn’t a whole lot of freedom to set your camera if it’s supposed to be point and shoot.
You can also find a digicam with larger aparture, but it’s almost impossible because as compared to traditional SLRs, digicams have tiny lens.
So, if you are serious about getting a new digicam, you can either go with the more versatile ones like Canon G5 or above. There are other brands with similar capabilities.
Or you can spend about $1000 on an entry level digital SLR, either the Canon digital Rabel or Nikon D70. I think Kodak and some other brands makes them too, but I strongly suggest between Nikon and Canon. However, you still need a tripod no matter what,
Cool, thanks man. I will keep that in mind. I suppose I would have to move to a heavy duty camera. I have to go count my pennies in the bank now. It will be a few months before I get it but it should be worth it. I have a Canon now and lighting must be nearly perfect not to get the grain but I’ll mess with exposure for time being.
Set the ISO speed to 100 or 200 for grainless images. On many digicams ISO is buried in a menu somewhere. This tells the digicam how sensitive to make the image sensor. My Canon digital rebel (DSLR) can be set all the way to ISO 1600 for really dark scenes without much grain.
That said, you’re going to get much darker pictures, so you’ll need to increase your exposure time (tripod is a must, so is a remote.)
Also, the night-mode (slow-sync flash) will help.
Many Canon digicams provide these features–which one do you have?
It’s not so much the graininess, but the amount of noise generated by the CCD with low signal levels. You might be able to change the ISO setting and get different combinations of exposure and noise.
:)ensen.
Again, thank you guys. CG I’ve been using 2 sec delay and monkeying around with a tripod. It’s a pain but I am starting to get it. I always have my ISO on auto but I will try to mess with it and see what happens. You have 1600ISO REALLY!!! wierd, I guess I am used to regular 35mm films. About the flash. The only reason I am having these problems is because I don’t use flash. It takes four AA and my camera is a real hog. So I try to stay away from flash… call me cheap.
I have PS A70 with 3.2mp
This review actually shows you the noise levels of your camera at different ISO settings (notice that the red sensor is a particular problem.)
On the page 12 are some at-night examples of ISO 50 with 4 - 15 second exposures. You have to set it up in the “manual mode.” Not bad results!
I don’t know how you found it and I don’t care but this is awsome! Thanks CG yet again! I will try it, looks pretty clean.
If you are worried about battery life, stop using the LCD and start using the optical viewfinder. You’ll save over half your battery life with just that!
On one trip, my Olympus C-730 used 4xAA NiMH without a recharge. Altogether about 50 shots of which about 15 were flash photos. There was still about a half charge on them when I got home.
:)ensen.
Definitely…Good tip.
That DP Review site is one of the best review sites I’ve ever seen on any subject matter. I always go there first when it comes to questions about digicams.
Hummm… that’s a thought. Pretty hard to admit but I had this camera for about 2 yrs now and I didn’t think of that… LOL
Good call, thanks.