best camara for night pictures

[gilby]

Looking for a camara that takes really nice night pictures. I get so frustrated with trying to take night pictures with them turning out. I am looking for a small camara, one to fit in your pocket, or swing pack.

 

[ancestry]

For pictures in the dark the secret is the lens more than the camera. Pocket sized cameras will have limitations on how well they do in the dark especially for scenes where a flash is pointless (fireworks, illuminations, POC ride, etc.).

I have a really nice Canon lens that takes nice pictures in the dark. I bought it when my son was playing football and I had to take pictures on Friday evenings. By the end of the football season the games were mostly played in the dark. I paid $3,000 for the lens and put in on a canon camera that cost about $1,500.

There aren't any point and shoots (pocket sized cameras) that I know of that will give that type of results. Some may be better than others but none will give the quality that you get with a dSLR with a good quality lens that has an f2.8.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

For pictures in the dark the secret is the lens more than the camera. Pocket sized cameras will have limitations on how well they do in the dark especially for scenes where a flash is pointless (fireworks, illuminations, POC ride, etc.). I have a really nice Canon lens that takes nice pictures in the dark. I bought it when my son was playing football and I had to take pictures on Friday evenings. By the end of the football season the games were mostly played in the dark. I paid $3,000 for the lens and put in on a canon camera that cost about $1,500. There aren't any point and shoots (pocket sized cameras) that I know of that will give that type of results. Some may be better than others but none will give the quality that you get with a dSLR with a good quality lens that has an f2.8.

This is only half true. Yes, you will almost always get better quality pictures out of a DSLR and professional grade lens, but it's not all about the lens and you don't have to spend $4,500 to be able to take good night shots on vacation and you certainly can't fit a DSLR system in your pocket.

OP, I'm not sure how much you know about photography (how aperture, ISO, shutter speed, sensory size affect pictures, etc) so I won't get into to too much detail there. Can you give some insight on what you usually shoot at night? Your price range? Point and shoots vary in night shot ability and some are better for specific things (portraits, fireworks, landscapes). A bit more info would be super helpful

 

[starwart]

Try using a tripod. Turn off the flash and use night scene mode in your camera if it has one. If you are looking for a new pocket friendly camera, look at the Samsung NX series or something similar. Costco has or had one on sale.

 

[Pooh2]

Looking for a camara that takes really nice night pictures. I get so frustrated with trying to take night pictures with them turning out. I am looking for a small camara, one to fit in your pocket, or swing pack.

I have a panasonic lx5 (updated model is lx7) as my backup to dslr. It's great for night time shots for a point and shoot.

 

[hsmamato2]

I agree with a pp,yes, fancy equipment *can* mean great specialty pictures, but here's what I've observed... Those who learn to use whatever equipment they have,from very inexpensive stuff, to higher end stuff,get great shots. And those who don't,well, they still get crummy photos... my point is there are actually a lot of things you can do with an average point and shoot camera that get great photos-go online, do some reading about various settings within those little easy to carry cameras, turn off the "auto" setting,and take some great pictures! I have been using a decent little point and shoot Olympus Tough for a few years now (I'm really hard on cameras LOL) and in addition to lots of practicing for the sheer joy of it(setup,exposure,framing,etc) I learned about the settings....have taken MANY excellent shots using that camera,heck, even many of the cameras' in cellphones are so good now ,you can really get some good stuff with those....(My last trip to WDW,my fave shot was a *perfect* shot with my cellphone of the castle, lit up sparkling, in the middle of a fireworks show,it is absolutely incredible)
*** Note, if you don't have a tripod with you ,find a stable base,like a fence,or a garbage can to steady your hand, those night shots require a longer 'open lens' time to grab images,and no ones hand is that steady alone....***

 

[manning]

I agree with a pp,yes, fancy equipment *can* mean great specialty pictures, but here's what I've observed... Those who learn to use whatever equipment they have,from very inexpensive stuff, to higher end stuff,get great shots. And those who don't,well, they still get crummy photos... my point is there are actually a lot of things you can do with an average point and shoot camera that get great photos-go online, do some reading about various settings within those little easy to carry cameras, turn off the "auto" setting,and take some great pictures! I have been using a decent little point and shoot Olympus Tough for a few years now (I'm really hard on cameras LOL) and in addition to lots of practicing for the sheer joy of it(setup,exposure,framing,etc) I learned about the settings....have taken MANY excellent shots using that camera,heck, even many of the cameras' in cellphones are so good now ,you can really get some good stuff with those....(My last trip to WDW,my fave shot was a *perfect* shot with my cellphone of the castle, lit up sparkling, in the middle of a fireworks show,it is absolutely incredible)
*** Note, if you don't have a tripod with you ,find a stable base,like a fence,or a garbage can to steady your hand, those night shots require a longer 'open lens' time to grab images,and no ones hand is that steady alone....***

Yes, know your camera. Many times it's who is behind the camera that counts.

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

Last year I bought a sony rx100. It was the only point and shoot at the time with the capability of f/1.8. It is a great alternative to lugging around my dslr. I also hate taking around a tripod. I've gotten some great nighttime hand held shots. I've also used a small gorilla pod with it. It's not a cheap camera - I paid $600, it may have come down some. It was totally worth it to me.

 

[wiigirl]

Try using a tripod. Turn off the flash and use night scene mode in your camera if it has one. If you are looking for a new pocket friendly camera, look at the Samsung NX series or something similar. Costco has or had one on sale.

 

[gilby]

I have a DSL camara, but its too big and bulky for taking to the parks. I would like to take fireworks and just basic pics around the park in the evening, also when we are out and about on a cruise ship.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

I was messing around with my "big" camera last night take photos of the Christmas tree and stability makes a huge huge difference. We have a small tripod for our small camera and that helps a lot. To me the nonprofessional it is the difference between blur and no blur. My moms little Nixon coolpix took great shots of the castle at night

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[SplashMo]

Panasonic LX7
SONY RX100 (now $408 on ebay)

Bigger more expensive:

Olympus OMD with Panasonic 20/1.7 lens
Panasonic GM1. Smaller. (not much bigger than a point and shoot.) Alos best to get the 20/1.7 lens

you might also like the oly 45/1.8 lens as well.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I have a Canon Powershot SX230 that I love. It has a great low light setting that I use alot.

There is a newer version out too. You didn't say how much you wanted to spend in your original post. This camera was just under 300.00 a few years ago so it'll be cheaper now.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Check with your local JVS schools they often have one day digital camera classes.

 

[Comeundone87]

I have a Nikon S9100 that is a couple years old. Takes awesome night pics and has 2 settings for night pics landscape and portrait. It actually takes a couple exposures and layers them. I've gotten great pics and don't have to lug around my dslr. The camera has other issues but I can look past the occasional freeze and what not. It also has a 18x zoom which is nice for a camera you can fit in a pocket. Like I said its a couple years old so I'm sure there's a newer version. But I do recommend nikons low light cameras.

 

[mrodgers]

The key is knowing how to take photographs and use a camera. My cheap Point and Shoot that I bought the same time a coworker spent $1500 on a Canon DSLR takes better photos than his.

This is a cheap point and shoot camera....

4th of July Fireworks

Of course, the required Disney photos

Pop Century from the bridge to the new resort (when they were just breaking ground.)

Downtown Disney

And the moon is difficult with any camera let alone a point and shoot

 

[sunrise717]

What kind of camera is that seems very good

 

[Lewisc]

The key is knowing how to take photographs and use a camera. My cheap Point and Shoot that I bought the same time a coworker spent $1500 on a Canon DSLR takes better photos than his.

The DSLR will take better pictures, if you know how to use the camera. The scene settings on a camera means you dont need to to know as much as you might with a better camera without those settings.
For night scenery you need to turn off flash. You need to keep your camera steady. You can use a tripod, gorillapod or even something low tech like resting the camera on a trash can. You can use the self timer so you're not touching the camera when the shot is taken. You use night portrait if you're taking a picture of a person with something like a Christmas tree in the background. Manually you'd set the flash to slow snyc

 

[Mickey&JoshNut]

The key is knowing how to take photographs and use a camera. My cheap Point and Shoot that I bought the same time a coworker spent $1500 on a Canon DSLR takes better photos than his.

This is a cheap point and shoot camera....

4th of July Fireworks

Of course, the required Disney photos

Pop Century from the bridge to the new resort (when they were just breaking ground.)

Downtown Disney

And the moon is difficult with any camera let alone a point and shoot

wow...those are amazing night shots...care to share what "cheap" point and shoot camera (your words) you used...

 

[mrodgers]

The DSLR will take better pictures, if you know how to use the camera. The scene settings on a camera means you dont need to to know as much as you might with a better camera without those settings.
For night scenery you need to turn off flash. You need to keep your camera steady. You can use a tripod, gorillapod or even something low tech like resting the camera on a trash can. You can use the self timer so you're not touching the camera when the shot is taken. You use night portrait if you're taking a picture of a person with something like a Christmas tree in the background. Manually you'd set the flash to slow snyc

A dSLR will do better than a P&S but someone who knows how to use a camera will get better photos if the can control it than someone with a dSLR in auto mode. That was my point. My cheap camera with me controlling it in manual does better than my coworker using his expensive dSLR in auto.

I believe those photos were shot manually. I use manual 80% of the time and Aperture priority the rest.

The camera is a Fuji S700 I bought in 2007 for those who asked.