Good camera for Night Pictures

First off, I would recommend a digital SLR for great photos any time of the day or night. But, if you are not looking for something quite that bulky, for night shots I would recommend the Canon G12 or, even smaller and more compact, the Canon S95. In addition (or if you haven't already tried it with your current camera), I would recommend setting the camera to the highest ISO just to see what type of image you may get at night (hopefully not too noisy). But also if you invest in a small portable tripod, even for a small digital camera, this can help out a good bit at night allowing the camera to take in more light without blurring your photos. Hope this helps. Enjoy your travels!

For night shots a tripod is almost a must. I say "almost" because it's sometimes possible to get a good shot with a slow shutter speed if you can brace a hand and shoulder against a wall to cut out camera shake. But you can't count on a wall being handy at the shooting angle you desire. If you don't have a tripod, get one and experiment; your present camera may be fine. Learn how to slow the shutter, alter the ISO and f-stop. In other words, learn how to take manually set shots rather than automatic exposure. It isn't hard, but it does take a little practice. The beauty of digital cameras is the instant feedback one gets unlike the old days when we had to wait on the slides/pictures to be returned from the developer, then try to remember what the settings were on the camera.

Anything advertising "VR" should serve you well. It's usually a lens feature, if you're buying a lens for an SLR, but it wouldn't surprise me if point-and-shoots now have it built in as well. Vibration Reduction allows you to take clearer photos in darker conditions - although the drawback is that it causes increased graininess, much like a higher-speed ISO would. You will need a tripod if you don't like the setbacks of more light-sensitive equipment (I keep trying to say "film" and realizing no one really uses film anymore).

Suzann, It would help to know which model of Sony Camera you're currently using? It would also help to have some idea on how "smallish" you want the Camera to be? Given the fact that you're primarily interested in better performance for night pictures, I'd suggest you limit your search to digital Cameras. Film Cameras will be limited by the ISO range of the film you're using, so will allow no control in that area. If you use a high ISO film for night shots, it won't perform as well during the daytime. In addition, high ISO films will be more susceptible to "fogging" from airport X-Ray scanners. Not a good idea for travel! You might get some ideas by checking reviews of newer Cameras at This Website. Buying a model with image stabilization will help to some extent, but that by itself won't solve all the problems with night shots. The best choice for night pictures and flexibility will be a digital SLR, as that will provide: > the greatest range of control in terms of ISO range, shutter speed and aperture > the ability to use "faster" Lenses, something which isn't possible with most P&S Cameras > the ability to use RAW files, which will allow some less-than-perfect shots to be "improved" Two main "issues" with dSLR's are the fact that they're larger and heavier, and there's somewhat of a "learning curve". I always travel with a dSLR and while it's not always convenient, it allows me to get good photos under a variety of conditions. It would also be good if you can visit a few Camera stores and talk to the (hopefully) knowledgeable sales staff. You'll probably find that your choice will have to be a compromise between size and features. Good luck!

Most decent digital cameras on the market will give you good night shots... the key is what the other poster mentioned, a tripod. If you select the landscape function, most digital cameras will automatically adjust to a slower shutter speed at night (or something like that, I don't know the technical terms...). The trick is to first frame your shot with the camera on a tripod, enable the delay function so that pressing the shutter doesn't blur the shot, and allowing the timer exposure to capture the image. Very hard without a tripod, very easy with one.

My current camera is a Nikon Coolpix S-8000 (I think already replaced with a newer model). It takes much better low-light pictures than any camera I had before. It has a museum mode, night portrait mode, sunset mode, night landscape mode, fireworks mode and a bunch of others. The pocket-size cameras keep getting better and better. Even with the vastly improved low-light performance, I pack a tiny tripod (and use shutter delay) to eliminate camera movement when I can. If I can't, I think about how to either set the camera on something or lean against a wall to help reduce camera movement as much as possible. Another option for low-light is video. Sometimes when, despite my best efforts, I can't get a decent shot, I can get good results using the camera's video mode.

Joby (http://joby.com/store/gorillapod/original) makes great, lightweight, easy to pack tri-pods that can wrap around a post and can be positioned in many ways. Also, to avoid camera shake (even when using a tri pod) use your self timer, because even just pushing the shutter release button can cause shake. This might be a more cost effective way to go than getting a new camera. Also keep in mind, the flash on many small digital cameras is not meant to travel farther than about 10' max, so I wouldn't depend on the flash to illuminate an entire monument (you might get some "help" from the flash but the majority of your light source will be the light you already see from the monument itself or street lights, etc.) PS, stick to digital, you really don't want to be carrying around loads of film any more do you? :)

Depending on the capabilities of you camera if you can set it on manual, put your ISO as high as it can go, f-stop wide open and shutter speed as fast as it can be to have a proper exposure, and the flash off. If you are not in the mood to drag around even a little tripod, try to find something to steady your camera, as suggested. If you want these simply as 'memory photos' and are not going to be enlarging them, a little blur is probably not terrible. Or go really artsy, and go for the blur. If you are trying to capture the 'picture postcard images ' your equipment might be limiting. I would not drag around a big heavy camera simply for personal photos unless it is really important, in which case you might need a new camera... but if you ask camera salesmen...you can guess what their answer will be.

And just to clarify, we're not talking about large tripods that you would have to lug around in a separate bag. The models to which we refer are tiny- mine fits in the camera case.

shop for a small body dslr. with tripod you can be be more steady. there is plenty know-hows on low light pic taking, adjust your settings, etc on the internet, or the dslr manufacturer's website. i personally own a sony. with a small lens it's pretty light, but with larger lens it can get heavy.

Thanks everyone for your recommendations so far. I will try to adjust the settings, I haven't taken a camera class (although I used to develop pictures at a photo lab) so I am trying to learn what the different setting mean and what they do. I do have one of the bendable small tripods and from what it sounds, this will help a lot. Also, the camera I have now is a Sony Cybershot DSC-H20. If I do buy another camera, ideally it would not be larger than a typical Rick Steves guidebook, although I could be persuaded to invest in a nice digital SLR camera as long as it is easy to use.

It sounds like the photos are really important to you. If so you will probably never be happy with what you have. You might consider one of the smaller Nikon dslr with a zoom lens (not too big) You could probably pick one up on ebay. As far as easy to use... all cameras are once you test their settings and see what works best for you, but in most cases you could put your camera on shutter priority, and just go. I try to have mine set about 125 so even with some moving subjects I am okay.

Good point about the flash. Anytime your subject is more than twenty feet (less for most cameras) away, your flash is useless and may actually make the picture worse by artificially lighting the foreground you aren't interested in. Make sure you know how to both use the flash when the camera doesn't think it needs to (as with backlighted subjects) and turn the flash off (as in museum shooting and subjects that are out of flash range). Also, the camera need less light when it isn't zoomed. If it's a decent megapixel, you can crop it down when you transfer it onto your computer.

The above statement is incorrect. When you zoom most lenses (with the exception of some constant aperture lenses that are on high end SLRs) the aperture changes as you zoom, at the widest point it may be F/ 2.8 or 3.5 but totally zoomed it is likely to be F/4.5 to 5.6 over a stop less light. Your best bet for night photography is having a small tripod either folding or articulated that you can attach or rest on something. You will often need an exposure much slower than is hand holdable. Many newer cameras have better high ISO performance than those a few years old, but the larger the sensor the better the high ISO performance can be. In terms of not being digital I wouldn't bother, film has nothing over digital at high ISO, more hassle as you have to have high speed film hand checked, is expensive and hard to find other than photo specialty stores now.

The points raised by Terry kathryn are one more reason why a dSLR is often the best choice for travel, as these provide the user more control of the "end result". Most (all?) Cameras these days only have reflected light metering, so incident metering is not an option. The majority of P&S Cameras don't allow much control of the metering. However, dSLR's allow a choice of scene metering modes or spot metering (depending on the brand / model of Camera), which increases the chances of getting proper exposure of the subject. However, THERE IS a "learning curve" associated with this flexibility, so unless the user is willing to learn the capabilities of the Camera, a dSLR may not provide much better results than a P&S Camera.

"In my experience when you zoom, the photo is more likely to suffer from low-light issues" My experience is just the opposite. I've found that zooming in to include more of the subject often provides better exposure, as more of the subject is within the area covered by the metering. If the Lens is left "zoomed out" more of the background is included, possible with backlight or contrasting lighting. The Camera doesn't always "know" how to compensate for that, so the exposure of the subject ends up being an "average" of the scene (and often not ideal for the subject). When framing the subject, if the peripheral areas are going to be "difficult", I often switch to spot or zone metering, in order to ensure that the exposure of the subject is accurate. Cheers!

What Lisa said. In my experience when you zoom, the photo is more likely to suffer from low-light issues. If nothing else, camera movement is amplified. My point and shoot (Nikon s-8000) has metering options. I very rarely use them (choosing a scene from the menu makes the adjustments automatically). Ninety-nine percent of photographers probably don't get far enough into the instructions to know the option exists. I carried an SLR, lenses, filters, full-size tripod, bag, cleaners, etc. on an Asian trip once. My friend carried a good quality point and shoot. My pictures were great, my friend's pictures were great too, which made me decide to go small (part of my pack light philosophy). My pictures weren't enough better to justify carrying the extra weight. SLR might not be so bad if you take only one lens (but realize that limits the camera's ability too).

The Canon SD4000 is better in low light than most true pocket cameras (no bulge in the pocket). I have like the results so far. But to get really good low light photos you need a larger sensor which, as far as I know, is only available in slightly bulkier cameras. The most important thing for my photo-taking is that the camera be pleasant to carry and always at my fingertips.

Terry Kathryn your observations are somewhat incorrect. Exposure is a combination of ISO, Shutter speed and aperture. The longer the focal length the faster shutter speed you need to avoid camera movement. When you zoom a lens lets say from 50mm to 100mm it goes from F3.5 to F 5.6 you need to decrease your shutter speed 1.5x often below 1/30 sec at night. In general you need a shutter speed of the equivalent to the focal length (in 35mm terms) to hold steady 1/50 for a 50mm lens, 1/100 for a 100mm and so on. So unless you are on a tripod most people can not hand hold the camera at normal to mid-high ISOs of 100-1600 for night photography. An incident light meter is an external hand held meter with a sort of white ball that is held the position of the subject, not in the camera, all cameras have reflective meters. Incident meter wouldn't help at night. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_meter