FZ5 Indoor Photo Issues/Questions

[tpitsti]

I recently bought a FZ5 camera to replace the Canon S45 that we recently broke beyond repair. I've had the camera for about two weeks now but am still having trouble with getting good photos indoors (outdoors and bright situations are great!). I never really had trouble with the S45 indoors. The S45 had an AF assist lamp, 3x optical, 4MP sensor and a wide range of manual and automatic settings, as does the FZ5.

I'm concerned that the FZ5's auto assist lamp may be weaker than the S45. The FZ5's manual says it has a range of about 5 ft. I couldn't find any reference for the range of the AF assist on the S45 (nor the Canon S2 IS that I'm also considering). Another concern I have with the FZ5 is that when it uses the AF assist lamp, it seems to change the AF mode (the focus brackets get larger and take up most of the field of view).

Does anyone know if the Canon's generally have a more powerful/better AF Assist or low-light autofocus in general (I know the FZ5 is faster but which system would one expect to be more accurate in low light situations)?

Any suggestions to try to improve my indoor shot taking with the FZ5 without adding a slave flash or using a tripod? I'm finding that the P mode, with IS mode 2, focal length less than about 120, and the AF mode set to something other than 9 point seems to work o.k. but I still get more blurry, grainy, etc. images that I got with the S45 in similar situations.

I really like the FZ5 otherwise but I'm contemplating trying the Canon S2IS with hopes that being a Canon like the S45 that its indoor abilities will be better than the FZ5.

[meillana]

perhaps its wiser to pose your query about the S2IS over at the canon forum where there'd be more users who have tried and had success in low-light.
as for the fz's, yes, it has its limitations in low light/indoor shots.
i sometime use p-mode to try out the conditions at first and check the settings but then shift to manual mode and tweak. works well for me.
settings do depend on lighting conditions... but i generally use f2.8-iso200-1/25s to 1/60s for dark situations but with spot-lights on subject. bumping up to iso400 helps speed up the shutter a bit but its a personal pref since the pics have more grain (others call it noise) :)
low ambient light is a situation i haven't really mastered yet as well.
AF assist helps but am not sure about effective range too.
hope this helps in a way.

[genece]

I have not tried the S2 but I am willing to bet it is no better than every other ultra zoom camera, and low light causes a problem.
But leave me say if the low light we are talking about is normal room light the FZ5 should not have a problem focusing without any assist light it is really for no light.
I am not sure the options a FZ5 has but with a FZ10 or 20, I use spot focus and center or spot meter( keep in mind you need a vertical edge to focus on).
And turn off continuous auto-focus.
And set the ISO(sensitivity to auto)
Also remember that the more zoom you use the harder it gets.( keep the zoom to a minimum no more than 3X like the Canon.)
And it seems you are using the flash , are you aware it can be adjusted? the flash on the fz20 works well at 20 ft or so. (And the FZ5 is said to have the same flash)

To check the strength of the focus assist get in a dark room and see how far away from a wall it will illuminate. But I think its about worthless.

Your problem has to do with the focus mode as you say its hunting a large area and picking a vertical edge but not necessarily where you want.
Use spot focus and turn off CAF.

Give it a try

[tpitsti]

Thanks for your advice and feedback.

After spending some time going through posts for the Canon S2 IS, it seems pretty clear to me that the S2IS is as challenging, if not more challenging than the FZ5 indoors. Even if it had been marginally better, I strongly prefer the FZ5's size, weight, feel, LCD, etc.

I'll plan on adding a slave flash at some point to help indoors. Any advice on this would be much appreciated but I'll poke through the posts and see what other people have said.

Thanks again!