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Question

Looking for an entry level DSLR.

Nov 23, 2011 9:25AM PST

Don't want to spend a whole lot but have to have one that is good in low-light conditions. Which brand & models should I look at?

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Low Light
Nov 23, 2011 2:14PM PST

The most often cited budget champ for low light is the Nikon D5100. But you should know that the difference in low light ability between it and other entry level DSLR's is not that great. The lens attached can have a much greater impact on low light performance than the body. It really depends on what you are trying to photograph.

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Entrylevel DSLR
Nov 23, 2011 8:50PM PST

The main thing for me is the ability to take pics in low light as every time (it seemed) I would take a picture with my point-and-shoot camera a "lightning bolt" would appear in my view finder. This really annoyed me! I would be out doors in daylight w/little or no clouds and still have this happen! I have an Olympus model 710 (old camera) with 7 megapixels and could not take a really good picture.

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Lightning Bolt
Nov 24, 2011 12:23AM PST

The lightning Bolt is a symbol for the flash. I do not know the operation of your particular camera, but the symbol in the viewfinder could mean you need to use the flash, or that the flash will fire. If you do not want the flash to fire but still want to take pictures in low light, you need a wide aperture lens and/or a high ISO setting.

Aperture is how big an opening the lens can make. The aperture on your camera varies from f/3.4 to f/5.7. Lower numbers is better; a better camera lens would have an aperture of f/1.8 or f/2.0.

ISO is the setting for the sensitivity of the digital imaging sensor. Your camera has a maximum ISO of 1600. That would allow you to take pictures in low light, but the picture quality will be very grainy or noisy. If you only look at the photos in a small size, the grainy noisiness may be acceptable to you. A better camera would allow you to use ISO 1600 or even higher with much less noise or graininess.