Photography help-point and shoot

[mandy200587]

I'll admit first I didn't have the time to do the research I should of before I bought it. I have a Nikon coolpix L830 for my camera. I had an earlier generation a few years ago and had no issues with any of the shooting issues I seem to have this one. My main issues seem to be the low light conditions....outside the pictures take fine...but if I try and take concert photos or nighttime parade photos they tend to be less then stellar to me.

Any tips would be appreciated, I'm sadly stuck with this camera for a while since it's barely a year old.

 

[elmoandzoey]

In order to take good lowlight shots handheld, you need either a large aperture or high ISO to get the fast shutter speed you need. Best is both. The Nikon doesn't have a large aperture and only goes up to ISO 1600 AFAIK which isn't very high given the smaller aperture. Sorry to say but I don't think the camera will work for concert or nighttime parade photos because you just won't be able to get the fast shutter speed, especially shooting at concerts.

 

[havoc315]

I'll admit first I didn't have the time to do the research I should of before I bought it. I have a Nikon coolpix L830 for my camera. I had an earlier generation a few years ago and had no issues with any of the shooting issues I seem to have this one. My main issues seem to be the low light conditions....outside the pictures take fine...but if I try and take concert photos or nighttime parade photos they tend to be less then stellar to me.

Any tips would be appreciated, I'm sadly stuck with this camera for a while since it's barely a year old.

No great surprise. Any camera can do well in good light. Most of the key, more expensive, elements are about ways to perform better in less light -- larger sensors, large aperture lenses, etc.
You're dealing with a camera with limited flexibility and limited low light potential. There isn't much you can do, but there is one small thing -- shoot completely zoomed out. Your camera can let in much more light when zoomed out, than zoomed in.
There will be times when your camera is useless zoomed in, but can get decent images zoomed out.

 

[dmaxphil]

With that specific camera, I don't believe you can manually change shutter speed, aperture, ISO. <- I may be wrong but I doubt it.

Get familiar with the various scene modes and when to use each. It should have one for night or low light.

 

[mandy200587]

Thanks guys. I figured as much but I thought I would try. The ISO is able to be changed and I believe so is the aperture but I don't want to say quote me on that.

Do you guys have recommendations for a type of camera that would be good?

 

[havoc315]

Thanks guys. I figured as much but I thought I would try. The ISO is able to be changed and I believe so is the aperture but I don't want to say quote me on that.

Do you guys have recommendations for a type of camera that would be good?

Any camera with a larger sensor and/or faster lens. The superzooms are generally bad, because they are mostly small sensors with slow lenses. (the 2 exceptions are the Sony RX10 and Panasonic FZ1000). Among compact point and shoot, the contenders are really the Sony RX100, Canon GX7, and Panasonic LX100. The next tier would be cameras like the Canon S120, Nikon P7800, etc.

 

[mandy200587]

Would the canon sx710 be a good one? I'm not sure what tier it is. I've always looked at optical zoom as a factor so this is still a learning game for me.

 

[havoc315]

Would the canon sx710 be a good one? I'm not sure what tier it is. I've always looked at optical zoom as a factor so this is still a learning game for me.

No. Might even be a bit worse than your current camera. Probably about the same. Optical zoom is a factor that the camera makers love to trumpet, as it is a very cheap feature that sets them apart from cell phones. But in reality, none of those huge optical zoom cameras are any good in low light. The only camera more than "10x" that is even passable in low light, would be the Panasonic FZ1000.

 

[mandy200587]

No. Might even be a bit worse than your current camera. Probably about the same. Optical zoom is a factor that the camera makers love to trumpet, as it is a very cheap feature that sets them apart from cell phones. But in reality, none of those huge optical zoom cameras are any good in low light. The only camera more than "10x" that is even passable in low light, would be the Panasonic FZ1000.

Okay thank you for that. Is there a certain one you would recommend? I don't mind learning a camera I just want something I can use at Disney and at concerts. And thank you truly for the help I appreciate it.

 

[havoc315]

Okay thank you for that. Is there a certain one you would recommend? I don't mind learning a camera I just want something I can use at Disney and at concerts. And thank you truly for the help I appreciate it.

As I said above:

Any camera with a larger sensor and/or faster lens. The superzooms are generally bad, because they are mostly small sensors with slow lenses. (the 2 exceptions are the Sony RX10 and Panasonic FZ1000). Among compact point and shoot, the contenders are really the Sony RX100, Canon GX7, and Panasonic LX100. The next tier would be cameras like the Canon S120, Nikon P7800, etc.

I've used the RX100 for a couple years with success and it is rather popular.

 

[mandy200587]

As I said above:

Any camera with a larger sensor and/or faster lens. The superzooms are generally bad, because they are mostly small sensors with slow lenses. (the 2 exceptions are the Sony RX10 and Panasonic FZ1000). Among compact point and shoot, the contenders are really the Sony RX100, Canon GX7, and Panasonic LX100. The next tier would be cameras like the Canon S120, Nikon P7800, etc.

I've used the RX100 for a couple years with success and it is rather popular.

Thank you! I will look at those. I appreciate it!

 

[popriv]

I JUST RECEIVED a refurbished Sony RX-100 for $400 delivered with a case and 32 gig sd card…
got it yesterday. moving up from a canon s110.
Sony has a larger sensor and faster lens.
Hoping for better low light shots in a compact camera. Don't want to move up to a larger size camera. portability is important to me.
I won't carry a large bulky camera around, so I pay a price in performance.

pop