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General discussion

Need best combo of low-light, optical zoom, and pic quality

by wajata Jan 15, 2011 1:34PM PST

I am an avid traveler and use my camera mainly to document my trips. I keep a digital library, and don't do much printing. The biggest problem my current camera has (old model) is that it does NOTHING in low light situations. If you've ever been to Europe in winter..that's all you get.

Anyway, I want a camera to give me 10X-20X zoom and good low-light performance. I want good picture quality, but it ranks 3rd on my list.

Any suggestions?

Discussion is locked

3 Posts
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Need More Information
by snapshot2 Forum moderator Jan 15, 2011 11:53PM PST

We would like to know what camera you have now.
That will give us an idea as to what you are experiencing now.

What price range are you looking for?

Do you have a preference as to camera size (shirt pocket, pants pocket, jacket pocket, to big for a pocket)?

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my current model
by wajata Jan 16, 2011 7:21AM PST

I've been using a Kodak EasyShare C643. I think I'll pay up to $450 but I'm comfortable in the $300s. I usually keep my camera in my backpack or in my jacket pocket if it's winter. I think I'm ok with most of the megazoom cameras in terms of size.

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Panasonic FZ100
by snapshot2 Forum moderator Jan 16, 2011 9:40AM PST

The Kodak C643 (about 5 years old) was back in the day when the camera makers were limiting the ISO to 400 (max).
They did that because anything above 400 would be too noisy.
About a year later the thinking became ... a noisy photo is better than no photo.
So they changed the firmware so that you could use higher ISO settings.

They have since improved a few cameras with a very bright lens.
but to do that on a big zoom camera would be much too expensive.
Just recently there has been an improvement in CCD sensor design which raises the cameras noise level about one f-stop. The Panasonic FZ100 uses CCD sensors, which are also faster.

The FZ100 is OK in low light but not great.
If you use a tripod, and shoot at slow shutter speeds, it works great in low light.
It is as good as it gets for a big zoom camera.

The picture quality is excellent.

Remember, big zoom cameras are difficult to hold steady (without a tripod) if you are shooting at zooms greater than 10X. You will also get better results if you use the viewfinder instead of the LCD when doing big zooms, because your head is steadier than two outstretched arms.

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