I'm looking for a digital camera that will take good pictures at night without the flash...?

Question

of like christmas trees and the christmas lights. The camera that I have no matter how I set it the lights in the pictures come out fuzzy. Im looking at a Sony Cyber shot right now. Does anyone know of any other cameras that would be good for this or which model of the cyber shot would be best?
Thanks

And I shake a bit when I take pictures so any ideas on a camera that has some kind of feature to fix that.

Answer 1

1) use a tripod
2) set your camera to the night scene mode.
3) turn off the flash on your camera.

There's no substitute for using your camera properly; getting a better camera won't change that.

Answer 2

To take the photographs you want requires a camera that has Manual Mode so you can set everything and a tripod and a cable release unless your shutter has a minimum speed of 15 seconds.

Assuming you want to fully capture the ambiance of your Christmas tree, you'll have the room lights off or at least very dim. The following suggestions are from my FotoSharp (fotosharp.com) Day & Night Exposure Guide, Scene # 11, "Outdoor Christmas Lights".

ISO 100

f2.8 @ 1/2 second
f4 @ 1 second
f5.6 @ 2 seconds
f8 @ 4 seconds
f11 @ 8 seconds

ISO 200

f2.8 @ 1/4 second
f4 @ 1/2 second
f5.6 @ 1 second
f8 @ 2 seconds
f11 @ 4 seconds

Please note that these shutter speeds may need to be adjusted to suit your particular situation and/or taste. Use the shutter speed alone to adjust exposures. Changing more than one variable at a time causes confusion. I suggest using f8 or f11 since lenses are optimized for best performance between f5.6 and f11.

To add some pizzaz to your Christmas tree photos, get a piece of screen wire, some thin cardboard and some tape. Using a tape measure, measure the circumference of your lens (a cloth measuring tape is best) and then cut a piece of the thin cardboard long enough to wrap around your lens and tape it together. Use a pen to trace the outside of this tube onto the screen wire. Mark 4 tabs (maybe a 1/4" wide and a 1/2" long) at 4 places on the screen wire. Now cut it out of the screen wire. Bend the tabs 90 degrees and tape them to your paper tube. Now slide the tube over your lens and make an exposure. Congratulations! You now have a "starburst" effect. Every point of light will have 4 points of light radiating from it. Yes, you can buy a starburst filter but making your own is certainly cheaper and saves a trip to the camera store.

Answer 3

you have all hte right information. compact cameras aren't designed to capture movement. And are natually limited by that. Generally, when you are trying to capture some movement, you need at least a shutter speed of 1/50 seconds to stop your hand from shaking. You'll need a faster shutter speed if the people are moving really quickly. And when you are in a low light situtation like the ones you've described. There really isn't much you can do. The sensor is too small. There isn't enough light to capture. On camera flash just looks horrible and high iso doesn't help enough. (high iso helps, but doesn't help enough during those indoor night time lights) I haven't seen a compact camera that can deal with this situation yet. My compact is a canong G10, which is about as nice you can get, short of a dslr. I'm in hte same boat. So I eventually upgraded to a dslr. My setup for low light Canon 500D + 50mm f/1.8 However from reading your question, you might not be inclinded to upgrade. We all have to live with the limitations of your camera. And utilize it for what it does best (which is why I own about 5 Cameras now)

Answer 4

You could spend a few hundred on a camera with image stabilization, or:

- Put your camera on a table or a chair and use the self-timer.

- Brace it against a wall if you really want to hand-hold it.

- Get a tripod for about 20 bucks.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

For non professional , Fujifilm finepix F30,F20,F10 are highly sought after for taking low light pics. Hard to find them unless you reside in USA, UK and South east Asia.