Better camera than sd300??

[gez1]

I just got a canon sd300 and was very dissapointed with indoor shots under low light- Noise is very high especially if left on auto but is still poor when changing iso manually. I'm now thinking of returning it for a larger model that will give better results. Will the canon a95/ g6 give much better picture quality esp. considering the increased cost. I was also looking at the Nikon 8800 and canon pro1 as i would like a large zoom but their review seem mixed. I'm off to South Africa on holiday in feb and would like to get the ultimate camera for my money (approx $1000).

[Newbie]

At Auto ISO most if not all compact digital cameras will have more noise when shooting in dim light conditions, since the camera will boost the ISO and thus increase the noise. Noise shouldn't be terrible at ISO 50. You must have known when buying the SD300 that it was very pocketable but that the photo quality wasn't at its best due the small size. I did thought that the camera would perform quite well under low light given the new DIG!C II processor.

But if it shows more noise there, then I suggest not going for the A95/G6 because they are slower to focus in low light situations and are not likely to give any better results. With that being said, I find their(A95) performance to be VERY acceptable.

As for the Pro 1, since the firmware update, it is said that the camera is excellent, probably better than its competitors on the market. All it lacks is image stabilization.

For fast low-light focusing, I'd recommend Sony cameras, I'm not sure if their noise will please u, but given the fact that they are supposed to use too much noise reduction, it shouldn't be too bad.

[variozin]

Can you share those low light photos.

[Thon]

I maybe wrong here, but if I'm not mistaken if your camera has an aperture smaller than f/2.8 (maybe it's f/3.2), then it's no good for indoors, even with flash. A small ultra compact flash wouldn't even be sufficient to cope with low light situations. The G6 has f/2.0 and Panasonic FZs f/2.8 for your reference.

For your trip, I'd suggest only a few cameras, depending on your type of photography. And another thing to keep in mind, size matters on holidays.

If you are more of a long zoom shot type of person, try the Panasonic FZ20 (not my favourite due to size) with its great Leica lens. My favourite camera is the Olympus C770UZ for its compact size and great pics which is better for travel use, but no IS. But do get extra batteries though.

However at the other end of the zoom thingy, are wide zoom cameras, and these takes in a lot of view. Probably the best currently available is the Olympus C5060WZ. I believe Nikon makes the 5400 and 8400 wide zooms too.

Now my suggestion, based on your budget, is to get 2 cameras instead of one, probably the Oly C5060WZ and C770UZ, they are very very different cameras and has strengths that complement each other. Both are rather compact and shouldn't hinder you much (I'm also presuming that you might be travelling with another person in this case). You might even get a bit of a discount for getting 2 cameras (ask for more free memory or spare batts).

Anyway, the choice is yours.