Need a Low Light/Decent Zoom/Wide Angle Camera

[dr_destructo]

Which camera should I buy?

This short questionnaire will help the rest of us make good camera recommendations for you. Please answer each question carefully and succinctly.

The questions marked with a * are the most important.

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Budget

* $350

Size

* not important

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you? 7

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify) 6+

* How important is “image quality” to you? 8

Do you care for manual controls? Not Too Important but would be nice

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for? Family/Action shots and Low Light stills

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not? Occasionally

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

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos? Yes

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate? Nope

Are there particular models you already have in mind? Was looking at the Panasonic tz5 before learning about the lack of low light capabilities

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

[AndyfromVA]

The TZ5 uses the new Venus IV processor, which appears to provide sharp, low noise pictures at high ISO's.

See reviews of the Panasonic FS3 and FS5, which use the same Venus IV processor as the TZ5.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/digital-cameras/review/2008/03/03/Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-FS5/p1
http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/default.asp?newsID=3362

[AlexMonro]

The Fuji S6000 might suit you if you can find it within your budget. It's probably about the best ultrazoom camera for low light, and it zooms out to 28mm equiv at the wide end.

[KCook]

Here is a link to another thread that may give you ideas -

Big zoom, small camera (http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37044)

Kelly Cook

[dr_destructo]

The Fuji S6000 might suit you if you can find it within your budget. It's probably about the best ultrazoom camera for low light, and it zooms out to 28mm equiv at the wide end.

AlexMonro - The only problem with the s6000 is lack of image stabalization :( Otherwise it would be perfect

I don't know, so far I'm at a loss. It seems as though the Panasonic TZ5 is the ideal candidate, but I hate having to wait a couple months for the initial price drop and the reviews to come out.

[AndyfromVA]

Don't you know there's no such thing as the "perfect" camera? :-)

[dr_destructo]

Don't you know there's no such thing as the "perfect" camera? :-)

I was not aware....;)

[AlexMonro]

AlexMonro - The only problem with the s6000 is lack of image stabalization :( Otherwise it would be perfect

I don't know, so far I'm at a loss. It seems as though the Panasonic TZ5 is the ideal candidate, but I hate having to wait a couple months for the initial price drop and the reviews to come out.

You say you will be shooting sports and action photos, indoors with low light. IS doesn't help much with action shots under low light. What it does is stabilise the camera / lens against camera shake, which allows you to use slower shutter speeds than you would normally need to avoid the blur caused by the camera moving while the shutter is open.

But in action shots, the subject is usually moving anyway, and you need a fast shutter speed to freeze the subject motion, to avoid the motion blur (OK you might occasionally want motion blur for an artistic effect). That fast shutter speed will also reduce the camera shake, but in order to get that in low light, you need to use high ISO sensitivity. Most ultrazoom cameras tend to be very noisy (speccled picture) or else smear the details with noise reduction at high ISO, but the S6000 is a lot better than the others.

Sorry, I've just realised I may have misunderstood - you may be only doing action shots in bright daylight, and the low light shots only of static subjects, in which case IS could be useful. In which case the Canon S3IS or S5IS might be worth a look. You could still use the Fuji at high ISO with a fast shutter speed to reduce camera shake with a static subject though.

[bascom]

It seems as though the Panasonic TZ5 is the ideal candidate...
As you said the TZ4/TZ5 probably won't do in well light. Ricoh R8 may be a better choice. Fuji S6000 is good but discontinued.

[bascom]

The R8 review wasn't too good at DPreview so maybe scratch that one.

[seo]

Alex is right, IS won't help you with sports/action type photos. Indoors you can get very useable results at ISO 400-800 with the S6000FD. Another brand might get you IS, but your useable iso will be one or two stops less, meaning you won't have gained anything.

IS is most useful for telephoto shots of inanimate objects. Don't rule out the S6000fd. Take a look at this thread:

http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26764

[dr_destructo]

Ok, so....

my mother-in-law has a Canon sd630. My wife has used the color accent/swap feature that most Canon's have(I was unaware they even had this to begin with). We were recently getting a hands on look at the Canon S5 IS. Would this camera be sufficient for indoor low light shots?
(I take photos for my work, catering, of table arrangements and of the food we serve. The table arrangements are normally low light pictures accented only by candles, thus my need for a decent low light camera and needing wide angle since some of the spaces where we serve food is pretty cramped)

[David Metsky]

We were recently getting a hands on look at the Canon S5 IS. Would this camera be sufficient for indoor low light shots?
I have the S3 and the S5 isn't much different. It's not a good low light no flash camera. You'd need flash to capture that scene.

[dr_destructo]

Well I broke down and bought the S5 this weekend. I actually got a local camera shop to pricematch and internet e-tailer that had it for $301. We ended up going to the beach afterwards. I am completely impressed so far, it's been great. The pictures of my 3 year old have turned out perfect.

[tim11]

S5 has neither wide angle nor great low light capability. It's great on the beach of course.