Canon ultracompacts' low-light/indoor performance, improved or not?

Question

I have a Canon SD550 that needs to be replaced because I dropped it and it broke. I am looking at the SD870, but the thing that's holding me back from buying another Canon is the indoor performance. I usually get disappointing pictures indoors with the SD550 because of an overexposed subject and a black background. Did Canon make any improvements in their ultra-compacts? I was pleased with the SD550's overall performance, but I hate the indoor photo quality. Should I still consider Canon, or should I move onto another brand?

Answer 1

When shooing in low light indoors or with a flash, things are pretty much the same regardless of brand and price when it comes to compact digital cameras.

The flashes are small, and usually weak, and when boosting the ISO to 400, 800 and above, the pics are generally noisy and have little detail. Sure some are a bit better than others but that's about it.

To get better indoor shots in low light with and especially without a flash, you'll need to step up to a large digital SLR.

But, if you stay with a compact cam, Canon and Sony are two top names. Fuji also makes some good stuff. Nikon, a huge name in dSLRs doesn't do as well with their compact stuff.

I've read a few reviews for the 870 you mention and it's generally regarded as solid, but don't expect a huge jump in quality for tough low light and indoor shots.

Answer 2

That's one of the tradeoffs of compact cameras.  But most Canon cameras do have an "Indoor Mode" in its special scene (SCN) selections.  This does seem to reduce the effect you speak of.  Have you ever tried it?