which camera is best for night shots?

Question

i'd like to buy casio exilim z1050 but i dunno about taking night shots if this camera isnt good tell me what are ur suggestions under $250?

Answer 1

The Z1050 looks like a decent point and shoot camera, but it's probably not the best camera for night shots. You'll have some difficulty finding any digital camera for under $250.00 that is. The problem is than most digital cameras in that price range are designed for folks who take mainly snapshots. You can use them for more complex shooting situation, but it's a challenge.

It looks like the Z1050 does have a night shooting mode which will adjust the the shutter speed from 4 to 1/1000 seconds. Most night shooting situation will call for a shutter speed of more than 4 seconds. In any case, you will need a tripod and you will have to use the self-timer, although you should only need to set it to the 2 second setting.

The other think you might want to try is to set your ISO sensitivity to 800 and your Exposure Compensation to EV+2. This will overexposre your night shots, which isn't a bad thing to do.

If you like the look and feel of the Z1050, then by all means go ahead and get it. I think you'll find that unless you want to specialize in night photography, you really won't be using the Z1050 for that much night work.

On the other hand, if you truly want to work at night, then you need to consider a more sophisticated system entirely. You should look into getting a digital SLR that offers you full manual control. The problem is that you're also looking at a bit more than $250.00.

The other possible solution is to look at going with a film camera. Film is actually a much better choice if you want to take timed night exposures. For that same $250.00 you can get a good used SLR and a couple of lenses.

Hope this helps.

Good luck and good shooting.

Answer 2

You need a camera that :

1) Allows full manual control

2) Can be mounted on a tripod

3) Either has a 15 second setting on the shutter speed or has "T" or "B" settings

4) Allows use of a mechanical cable release*

Using my ever-present FotoSharp (fotosharp.com) 'Day & Night Exposure Guide' we'll look at Scene 14, "City skyline in distance". Mount your camera on your tripod, compose, and with the shutter at either "T" or "B" use these settings:

At ISO 100

f2.8 @ 4 seconds
f4 @ 8 seconds
f5.6 @ 15 seconds
f8 @ 30 seconds.

Since we are using a tripod and cable release we really don't need a higher ISO. Also, lenses tend to give their best results at between f5.6 and f11 so a "fast" lens isn't really needed.

What about outdoor sports? Scene # 7

At ISO 400

f2.8 @ 1/125 sec.
f4 @ 1/60 sec.
f5.6 @ 1/15 sec.

At ISO 800

f2.8 @ 1/250 sec.
f4 @ 1/125 sec.
f5.6 @ 1/60 sec.

At ISO 1600

f2.8 @ 1/500 sec.
f4 @ 1/250 sec.
f5.6 @ 1/125 sec.

As you can readily see night/low-light photography requires a camera with the sophistication of using manual controls, a tripod and a cable release and being capable of higher ISO settings. Unless you just want to use flash.

* If your camera has a 15 second exposure speed you can do without the cable release and use the camera's self-timer.

Answer 3

Infrared Photography with Sony’s Night-shot mode.
VISIT:
http://www.camera-news.com/2004/10/30/infrared-photography-with-sonys-night-shot-mode/