low light / macro ?

[momo]

hi everyone!
i am looking to upgrade my camera and need expert advice.
i hope someone can help me out....



[Budget]

under a 1,000. (the cheaper the better =p)



[Size]

size does not matter



[Features]

How many megapixels will suffice for you? mainly for web. will not be enlarging and printing.

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify)
not too concerned about zoom

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10)
1 (as long as it's not blurred, i don't care!)


[Do you care for manual controls?]

why not


[General Usage]

* What will you generally use the camera for?
macro pix

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?
no


[Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?]

A LOT of indoor and A LOT of low light


[Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?]

no



[Miscellaneous]

Are there particular brands you like or hate? ANTI-SONY!!

Are there particular models you already have in mind?
1.Canon Digital Rebel XT/350D
2. Panasonic DMC-FZ30


(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)

image stabilization is my main concern.

[AlexMonro]

A DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) like Rebel XT won't have IS unless you get an expensive IS lens for it, though a few others - one of the new Sony Alpha models for one - that have IS built into the camera body, rather than the lens. I don't know of any IS macro lenses for the Canon EOS range.

Macro mode on the FZ30 will focus down to ~5cm, giving a field of view of 54x40mm. There are other cameras which will focus closer - the Canon Powershot S3 IS will focus on something actually touching the lens! (though lighting can be a problem!:rolleyes: )

For use in low light, the Fuji S9000 might be better. It doesn't have IS, but its super macro mode will focus down to 1cm, and the ISO sensitivity goes up to 1600.

I must say I'm not quite clear on why you want IS for macro shots - IS is most useful for handheld long zoom shots of static subjects.

[momo]

hi alex! thank you for your response.
i'm a food blogger and take a lot of food pix in restaurants with no flash.
on my current camera, even if i crank up the ISO and increase my shutter speed, the pix come out blurred, dark, and just not presentable.
even in the daylight, a lot of my macro shots come out extremely blurred. granted, i should use flash but the pictures just don't come out the same. (and a tripod is out of the question in food establishments especially since i'm not a pro)

i'm not looking for a camera to do all the work for me, but one that will sort of assist me?
i looked at the reviews for the Fuji and noticed that it doesn't have IS but it momentarily increases the ISO which i'm nto sure will help me out in dark settings because i'm concerned about the noise, so i narrowed it down to the Panasonic (which from sample shots have a lot of noise but I'm not sure if that'll show up in pix that are not blown up) and the Rebel that has a larger image sensor....

will noise appear even in images that are small?

[AlexMonro]

It looks as though the Fuji F30 might be a better bet for you. You probably don't need the zoom range of the S9000 / FZ30, and the F30 goes to ISO3200, making it even better in low light. It's more compact than the others too.

Check out Jeff's new review on this site.

Although there is some noise at the highest ISO, it'll not be much of a problem at web sized images.