Sony DSC-P73 Cybershot...and night pictures? Help! Please? :)

[Piecey]

Anyone have a Sony Cybershot DSC-P73?

I do. And I can't get night pictures to turn out. And it upsets me greatly.

Looking for any sort of help that the people who CAN take night pictures might be able to give..

TIA~

 

[Groucho]

What happens in your night photos that you're not happy with? And are you talking about with the flash on or the flash off?

I can probably guess what you're going to say but I figure that I should make sure before the inevitable response.

 

[Piecey]

Uh. I've tried turning the flash on/off. But they're blurry. Or too dark.

Was that your guess?

Thanks, though.. I'm a bit on the unintelligent side when it comes to trying to figure out exactly what is the right combination.

 

[SharonLowe]

What are you trying to take photos of at night? Blurry - too slow shutter speed to deal with night conditions; too dark, the flash can't handle what you are trying to take a photo of. Looking at the specs on that camera (2004, so really old in the digital world), it really isn't set up to take photos at night. Highest ISO is 400 so for most shots, you will need a tripod and a very slow shutter speed. Flash is only good for 12.5 feet and at night, you need to use the slow sync function, which your camera has. But, it won't work for everything. Google slow sync flash and you will find some hints and tricks.

 

[Piecey]

Wow, most of that didn't make much sense. I hope I can figure it out, though... but..

anyone have any idea how to change the shutter speed on this camera? I've searched for that before too.. even called SONY and the rep had no idea what I was talking about.

Guess I just need to buy a new camera? Bah.

Thanks for those who helped though

So if I'm looking for a camera that will take good night pictures, what kind of things do I need to look for? I want to stick with Sony.. and was looking at the DSC-W90, but am still pretty clueless.

 

[YEKCIM]

Wow, most of that didn't make much sense. I hope I can figure it out, though... but..

anyone have any idea how to change the shutter speed on this camera? I've searched for that before too.. even called SONY and the rep had no idea what I was talking about.

Guess I just need to buy a new camera? Bah.

Thanks for those who helped though

So if I'm looking for a camera that will take good night pictures, what kind of things do I need to look for? I want to stick with Sony.. and was looking at the DSC-W90, but am still pretty clueless.

Try reading pages 52 and following in your owner's manual. If you don't have one, get it here: http://www.sony.jp/products/di-world/cyber-shot/emdown/index3.html

The P73's top ISO is 400 and, to be honest, you're not likely to get great low light shots with this camera w/o using a tripod and long exposure (i.e., slow shutter speed).

I'm not up to speed on Sony cameras, so can't give you a specific recommendation on one of theirs, but suggest you read some reviews on www.dpreview.com and www.steves-digicams.com, paying particular attention to their comments on low light performance and looking at sample shots made in low light conditions, for comparison. Sony PnS cam's, like most brands, have small sensors, which limit their ability to perform well in low light situations. For best performance, you'd need a dSLR, which has a comparatively huge sensor. Somewhere in between are Fuji's PnS cameras, which use a sensor that is moderately larger than Sony's (and others).

Hope this helps.

~YEKCIM

 

[Groucho]

My guess was going to be blurring or too much "noise" in the image.

Poor low-light performance is pretty much universal in the compact digital camera arena... this is the price you pay for a very small camera. Some Fujis (with their larger 1/1.7" or 1/1.6" sensor) are much better, and DSLRs are much better again.

But if you purchase a newer compact digital camera with the hope of getting better night photos, you'll almost guaranteed to be disappointed, unfortunately. Also, generally speaking, the more megapixels, the worse the camera will be in the dark, due to it trying to squeeze more data out of an imaging sensor that is usually the same size as the ones with fewer megapixels.

 

[Piecey]

Hm. Well I picked up the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W90 today. The sales clerk said I could play for a few weeks if I wanted and if it didn't do what I wanted, could bring it back for a full-refund. So I shall not experiment!

Thanks for all the help though!