Advice on Digital Camera

[Jorodi25]

Hi,

I'm going to purchase a new camera before my vacation. I'm hoping someone will be able to point me in the right direction.

Is there a point and shoot camera that has the ability to take pictures in low light settings (Carousel of Progress, American Adventure, Hall of Presidents) with the flash turned off? Also, it would be nice to be able to take decent night shots. I have a mini-tripod, and it made the night shots with my old camera look better. It's been a few years since I bought my last camera, so I'm hoping to get better shots with one of the newer cameras.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[KeithVH]

The current lowlight king is Fuji. Depending on your price range, I would suggest either the F50 or F100. The F50 should work just fine for you. See http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Fujifilm/fuji_finepixf50fd.asp for details. DPReview is a great place in general to check out different models. I would have said the F31 actually but it's discontinued. Not sure what the 100 would offer that the 50 won't do for almost half the price.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Go and talk to your local dealer - tell him your requirements and price range, and ask to hold each one (sime feel better in the hand than others) make him earn his money and tell you the differences between the models

 

[Deadmanwalking]

While I understand you desire to take pictures in rides... I doubt that you'll be happy with the results that any camera will give you... While I've never tried to shoot pictures in the rides you mention I have tried to shoot them in other low light rides with a dslr using a 1.2 lens... faster than anything you'll find on a point and shoot... and quite frankly I wasn't satisfied with the results.

The only thing you'll have going for you is the fact that the rides you mention are pretty static and you might be able to use a tri-pod and get some reasonable results.

I think you would be better served to simply look for a point and shoot camera that has features you like and want... just look for one that has at least 1600 ISO 3200 ISO is preferable but usually so noisy in a point and shoot that it isn't worth the bother.... then look for the lowest f-stop number on the lens you can find. 2.8 is probably the best you'll see in any point and shoot.

Then practice in your back yard at dusk or night to see how best to use the camera in low light. Low light takes lots of practice, patience and luck if your having to go without a flash.