My Camera Recommendations (Low Light)
Low light is the holy grail of photography. The shot above, for example, was taken outside at 1:50 AM. This is only possible by keeping the camera still and shutter open for 20 seconds. The subjects have to sit still the whole time, like old timey photographs. It is also possible to use a high ISO setting (literally the same ISO standard for companies) to get greater sensitivity to light. That means you can keep the shutter open less and maybe even hold the camera in your hand. The Panasonic LX3 is OK for this, but the new Canon G11 may be better. The New York Times also profiles two more pocketable cameras which may be just as good.
My goal, personally, is being able to capture what I see at night. I think a camera should be able to do this. However, with a long shutter cameras are actually capable of capturing what I cannot see, including otherworldly light. I suppose ISO could do the same things. However, I digress. For low light and general photography I’m interested in the new FujiFilm FinePix F200EXR ($320) and Sony WX1 ($500). The latter seems to have better image quality and does cool panoramas automatically.
However, I still think the FujiFilm F30 is the best low light camera ever made. I have owned two and thrashed them till they fell apart, but they’re magical. The LX3 I have now takes ‘better’ more printable photos but the controls suck and it makes a significant and awkward bulge in my pants. The long exposure trick is cool, but it takes me a minute to get the thing out and set it up for a normal party shot, which stresses me out. It does shoot really good HD video though. For something comparable (not an SLR, but not a compact) I’d recommend the Canon G11. It has great, intuitive controls, and now an improved low light sensor. No HD video, but takes great photos a bit easier than the LX3.
Not Megapixels
What’s interesting about the G11 and the other low light cameras is that they actually have less megapixels than competitors. That’s because it’s about quality, not quantity. What you need for low light (and better pictures, generally) is a better sensor, not necessarily more megapixels. In fact, putting more megapixels on the same sensor produces granier shots. So the G11 actually dropped to 10 MP from 14 MP for the G10, which I think is great. Hopefully consumers will understand.
Indi,
My holy grail is the low light photos without flash .. I have a Canon 17-55 F2.8 lens I usually open the shutter flat out at F2.8 .. then bit of fine tuning on Picasa and It’s pretty sweet
If you are a fan of ultra low light photography, you might want to check out cameras based on the micro four thirds format (not many available right now but they will start to show up, even here)
Unfortunately, as you point out, low light requires large sensors – and fast lenses. Compact cameras tend to have thumbnail size sensors and f2.8 or slower lenses – this is a terrible combination (exception your lx3 with its f2 lens).
You can get low light photos with compacts but this requires long (30 second+ exposures) – this is OK for still scenes but terrible for photographing people.
In summary: practical low light photography of anything other than still scenery using compact cameras is almost impossible right now, however micro-four-thirds cameras should hopefully offer a compromise.
Holy Grail? Low Light? Learn how to use low light and a faster lens.
Enjoy…