Best Lowlight P&S for Cheap

[joanna]

I am looking for the point & shoot camera with the best low light performance. It is for my sister, who will be mostly using it for indoor family pictures.

She won't be photographing sports, portraits, macro. Basically, stellar low-light picture quality is the only factor that matters.

Budget $200-$250
Size The smaller the better.
Optical Zoom Will take what it has, but obviously, the merrier the better.
Manual Controls Nope.
Big Prints Nope.

[flippedgazelle]

When you say low-light performance, do you mean with or without flash? If without, the Fuji F20 is the king of the hill for "cheap" p&s.

[David Metsky]

Yup, not much question about what is the best camera for you. The Fuji F20 or possibly F40fd would be the place to start looking. No other camera in that price range will come close to the high ISO performance, which is what you need for low light no flash photography.

[joanna]

I read the reviews and must say the camera looks to be amazing. Its low light images are quite good. However, the lack of a viewfinder is frightening, considering I read at dpreview.com on the F31fd's LCD that "it's not really bright or contrasty enough to use in direct sunlight." I guess I will be looking out for something else.

Has someone has some experience of using the F41fd in sunlight?

[Visual Reality]

In the $200-250 range? F31fd easily. I'm getting one for my girlfriend's birthday :D

[flippedgazelle]

I read the reviews and must say the camera looks to be amazing. Its low light images are quite good. However, the lack of a viewfinder is frightening, considering I read at dpreview.com on the F31fd's LCD that "it's not really bright or contrasty enough to use in direct sunlight." I guess I will be looking out for something else.

Has someone has some experience of using the F41fd in sunlight?

I have yet to encounter an LCD that is useful in direct sunlight. Why dismiss a camera based on one flaw?

[David Metsky]

If you want compact and great low light performance, the ONLY good options are the Fujis. If the cameras don't meet your needs in other areas, you will have to sacrifice your low light requirement.

[CameraDG]

Panasonic Fx10 or Fx12
- ISO Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1250
- MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilization) for hand - shake
- LEICA DC VARIO-ELMARIT Lens with 3x Optical Zoom
you need high iso , anti - blur for low light..
for more infomation...
http://www.khumdee.com/CC_WebApp1/UI/home.aspx?cid=17&sid=70&did=73 << Fx12
http://www.khumdee.com/CC_WebApp1/UI/home.aspx?cid=17&sid=0&did=72 << FX10

[David Metsky]

The Panos are good cameras, but they really can't compete with the Fujis for this type of shooting. If the purpose of this camera is to shoot lowlight, the Panasonics don't have quality high ISO performance.

[sjseto]

I read the reviews and must say the camera looks to be amazing. Its low light images are quite good. However, the lack of a viewfinder is frightening, considering I read at dpreview.com on the F31fd's LCD that "it's not really bright or contrasty enough to use in direct sunlight." I guess I will be looking out for something else.

Has someone has some experience of using the F41fd in sunlight?

If the F41fd's LCD is anything like the one on the F30 (specs say they are both 2.5" and 230,000 pixels), I find that in direct sunlight, although the image looks darker, I have no difficulty using it for composing my shots. If you need to, you can brighten the LCD with the press of a button. However it is somewhat difficult to perfectly judge exposure accuracy upon image playback if you're under direct sunlight; I try to shade the LCD with my hand, or step into the shade if I need to do that. But that's no different from most camera LCD's.

When I bought the F10 (predecessor to the F30), I was initially a bit worried about the lack of an optical viewfinder. After using the camera, though, I found that I didn't miss it as much as I thought I would. The positive attributes of the camera more than make up for its few shortcomings.

Stephanie

[SpecialK]

I read the reviews and must say the camera looks to be amazing. Its low light images are quite good. However, the lack of a viewfinder is frightening, considering I read at dpreview.com on the F31fd's LCD that "it's not really bright or contrasty enough to use in direct sunlight." I guess I will be looking out for something else.

Has someone has some experience of using the F41fd in sunlight?

Your requirement is a good "indoor camera". There is no direct sunlight indoors, so the LCD issue is moot.