10 replies to this topic

[Raymo]

I'm looking for a new digital camera to replace my trusty Sony Cybershot.  Problem is, I have a condition that gives me shaky hands... not bad, but it makes about 50% of the pictures I take under low light worthless.  Does anyone have a suggestion of a nice small 10MP or so casual digital camera with good stabilization?

[kinkster]

If you don't need to blow your images up very big or do much cropping you really don't need 10MP. I won't make any difference.

[wingk1314]

agreed, there's absolutely no need for 10MP if you're an average joe.
The MP craze is mostly a marketing strategy. They put the big numbers in there for how it looks on paper so don't get fooled.
Sometimes you'll find that camera's with big MP's have crappy sensors that produce VERY bad images. (lots of noise for example)
If you enjoyed using your sony in the past, you should continue using them now coz they're still very good performers.
They usually produce nice and sharp images with good saturation (although some may think it's over saturated).
Stabilization wise, I have no idea as i can't remember. But you should just do a google on it.
Canon IXUS's are always popular too. And for good reasons.

[Meatwagon]

canon sx10 is

[cat_7]

Maybe it's worth considering the Panasonic FZ 35. It has excellent image stabilazation. But as is true for all small CCD camera's, shots in low light conditions tend to get a bit noisy.
http://www.cameralab...x_DMC_FZ35_FZ38

Best,
Cat_7

[SuperNewMacUser]

Canon SD1100 is the best compact point and shoot i ever used. The quality is great. it has nice features.  i already bought me a Nikon D3000 but I kept my canon sd1100. I highly suggest you look into the canon 1100 or 1200.

[newandintrigued]

tripod, seriously. or a monopod, but if you're doing much of any photography, you're going to probably need a tripod at some point anyways. okaaaay if i do a quick edit i can ... edit... any part of my post i want. noted. weird.

why 10mp? so you can crop down to the part of the picture you really wanted but couldn't quite zoom into for.

i've been looking at the panasonic fz 35, too. if you want quality peer reviews, look up your camera at bhphotovideo to see what ''real'' photographers are saying about it. also, steves-digicams reviews a bunch of different cameras and includes a lot of sample images. he lists his top pics and why here http://www.steves-di...st-cameras.html ok, i cannot go back in this post to add this link to the first paragraph. nice. anyways, i've been looking at this inexpensive but highly rated tripod myself http://www.amazon.co...i...ER&v=glance as my existing one is breaking after 10 years of a lot of use.

[el_pinjo]

newandintrigued, on Feb 23 2010, 08:19 PM, said:

tripod, seriously.

I totally agree. Even without shaky hands it is very difficult to make a sharp photo in low light conditions. I would really suggest to buy a tripod and remote control. The remote control is actully optional as you can also use the self timer, but then you need to wait ten seconds just for it to take a picture.

If you would like to shoot in lowlight without a tripod I would suggest a DSLR with a VERY good lens. This would most probably be a lens with a fixed length (so no zoom) and an aperature of like 1.x.
Both canon and nikon have very good fixed length lenses.

[FinalJenemba]

Go with a D40, and get an inexpensive stabilized lens, like the 18-55 vr.

[marbrun]

You could go with an SLR (Single Lens Reflex). They have the abbility to use very bright lenses (F2.8 and lower). Furthermore, most SLR camera's have a way better ISO quality and also higher levels then most compact camera's. With this in mind, there is much more room to have a high shutterspeed while still becoming a good picture during low light conditions.

The only downside i can think of is the size of an SLR. It has a bit more volume then the average compact camera.
Looking at prices, it shouldn't be a problem because you have a new SLR starting at 320 Euro (+- 400 Dollar). If this is to much, there is a whole market of used SLR's. You could also buy an older model with discount when there is a new model out.

Hope it helps!

[will1384]

cat_7, on Jan 16 2010, 02:29 AM, said:

Maybe it's worth considering the Panasonic FZ 35. It has excellent image stabilazation. But as is true for all small CCD camera's, shots in low light conditions tend to get a bit noisy.
http://www.cameralab...x_DMC_FZ35_FZ38

Best,
Cat_7

I have the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35, and love it, it does take some getting used to,
its a tad more complicated than a regular point and shoot, but the pictures it takes are
excellent.  

Head on over to Steve's Digicams Forums, look around, read and ask some questions,
it's one of the best camera forums I know of .