Good hand-held cameras for low-light???

Question

ok... so here's the thing... a few of my friends are in a band and i do most of the pictures for them when they play local shows.the places they play allow little hand-helds but not big Dslrs. so what i need is a little handheld camera that works REALLY good in low light (the one i have you cant even see the picture in the dark until after you shoot it, i'd like to see the picture BEFORE i take it on the screen), has a good amount of megapixels and a good optical zoom. i know I'm kinda picky but this is coming out of my own pocket so i need it as close to perfect as possible :)

P.S. im leaning more towards a Canon or a Nikon but if you have any other good suggestions write them down and i'll definitely consider them!!

thanks soooo much :)

Answer 1

Photography in low-light without a flash requires a fast lens and a higher than usual ISO. Since compact digital cameras are burdened with a relatively slow lens (f3.5, 4.6) they are not suitable for hand-held low-light photography. The tiny sensor they employ is also a major handicap since their performance at higher ISO settings is rather poor, even with noise reduction programs.

The only really viable option is a DSLR with a fast lens - 50mm f1.4 or 85mm f1.4 or a zoom  lens of, perhaps, 17-55mm f2.8 or the 24-70mm f2.8 or the 70-200mm f2.8 - all with a constant aperture which is needed as you zoom in or out. A DSLR also has a sensor that is as much as 15 times larger than the sensor in a compact digital camera.

Looking at my FotoSharp (http://www.fotosharp.com) Day & Night Exposure Guide, Scene # 13 shows settings for "Night club with dim lights"

ISO 1600

f1.4 @ 1/30 sec.

f2 @ 1/15 sec.

f2.8 @ 1/8 sec.

ISO 3200

f1.4 @ 1/60 sec.

f2 @ 1/30 sec.

f2.8 @ 1/15 sec.

How about Scene # 10 - "Home interiots, average light"

ISO 800

f1.4 @ 1/125 sec.

f2 @ 1/60 sec.

f2.8 @ 1/30 sec.

ISO 1600

f1.4 @ 1/250 sec.

f2 @ 1/125 sec.

f2.8 @ 1/60 sec.

As you can easily see lens speed is a major factor as is ISO.

Good luck and I hope you find a suitable camera for what you want to do.

Answer 2

I recommend the Fujifilm F-series especially the F31fd but it is an old camera so it might not be available.If it isn't available,you might want to consider F100fd.

F31fd

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilm...

F100fd

http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/defau...

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/fuji/f...

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/F1...

Answer 3

Sorry to tell you but everyone is waiting for a small camera that is good in low light.The smaller camera's have smaller image sensors that get grainy in low light. It's called noise.Your only real option is a compact with a good flash. There are a few out there,the Canon G-9 comes to mind but it is about $440 minus the big flash. So look for a compact that can take a big flash unit.