Looking for a decent Digital Camera. HELP!

davehughes182

I am not camera savvy and I am currently looking to upgrade my current digital camera to a better model.
I thought my current camera was good until i recently took my OH's younger brother to see WWE Live and the pictures I took where awful.
I am now looking for a cam that will allow me to take pictures during live shows such as WWE. So, the majority of the arena will be in darkness, and the stage/ring is lit up. Without a flash, my current cam makes the pics blurry, and with the flash on, it darkenss the whole picture so it looks like the performers are in the dark :mad:

Any help needed. (Sorry if this makes no sense)

gonzo127

as ever whats your budget?

do you want it small as possible or happy for it to be a bit chunkier?

[Deleted User]

When taking photos in a stadium NEVER turn on your flash. They've only got an effective range of about 30 foot max - so turning your flash on will kill any photos with things in the distance

Instead, hold it as steady as possible and turn up the ISO to as high as it will go.

davehughes182

gonzo127 wrote: »

as ever whats your budget?

do you want it small as possible or happy for it to be a bit chunkier?

Between 50-150 budget sorry.

Size is not too important in all honesty. Rather have the quality over size

[Deleted User]

Maybe something like this.. 30x zoom!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006Q8VAR2/ref=asc_df_B006Q8VAR210457457

TRace

Thats an impressive zoom for sure.

I used to have a Canon Powershot SX210 which is also on Amazon for £150. That took very good shots in all conditions and had a 14x zoom which was pretty good.

closed

Low light at a distance is always a problem indoors, turn flash off, up your iso setting, check for low light features in the settings, zoom in (not digital zoom) enough to fill the screen with light, clamp your elbows to your sides and hold your breath to keep it steady, and most important of all, get a seat closer to the front. Experiment at home first - try taking a picture of a full moon, or street at night until you get something acceptable.

The shutter will close when the camera thinks it has enough light for a good photo, so a flash bouncing of the back of the heads of the people in front of you will cause it to overexpose the foregound, and underexpose the stage (which will have washed out colours) and also bring attention from security if there is a no photo policy. Unless there is a ton of lighting on stage, anyone using a flash outside the first few rows is going to have a bad photo.

http://www.nokia.com/global/products/pureview/

Some camera's are better than others in low light, many are reviewed here

http://www.dpreview.com/products/search/cameras#criterias=SpecsCoreParams%2CSpecsSensorSize&includeDiscontinued=No&sort=newestFirst&view=list&page=1&paramSpecsCoreParamsBodyType=&paramSpecsSensorSize=Compacts

Pthree

I have a Fujifilm with 30x zoom and although its not the model linked, I have a HS10 so a slightly older but "better" one.

To be honest at full zoom the quality isnt that great when used on Automatic and if using manual your going to miss an awful lot of action messing around with the ISO levels, trying to avoid shaking etc.

I have heard very good things from my sister about this one http://www.jessops.com/online.store/categories/products/olympus/sp-810-uz-ultrazoom-digital-camera-in-black-82654/show.html

but she tends to use it at rugby matches so better light than at concerts / WWE (love it I am very jealous!). Its a couple of quid more than you want to spend though.

Can I also just say its well worth popping into Jessops for a chat about what you need, on the whole, most of the staff are very knowledgable and can advise even if you do end up buying else where.

P3

macman

Your budget of £50 to £150 (a 300% range) is a bit strange. £50 will get you little more than a basic point-and-shoot camera. £150-180 will get you a decent brand name ultrazoom compact.

daveyjp

Cheap cameras have cheap sensors and a lack of controls for things like ISO settings.

Fine for daytime, but once it gets dark they are useless.

Look on e-bay for an older SLR which will have a better sensor.

loulou123

I just brought an old model Canon sx150 powershot from argos for £79.99 and its brilliant. You can manually adjust the ISO setting etc, but it does it pretty well on auto mode too. It's "only" got a 12x optical zoom, but that's good enough for my needs.

For the price I'm very impressed, as I didn't want to spend to much, but I also looked at the newer model Canon powershot in pc world and that was very impressive too (tho double the price.)