Budget Camera suitable for low light levels

Niv

Hi,

I am looking for a relatively inexpensive digital camera suitable for taking reasonable photos at low light levels.

I am no expert when it comes to these things so thought I would put it out there to see what opinions come back from the MSE community.

I have a budget of ~£100 - £150, I need it to be capable of taking photos is relatively low light conditions, the better the quality the better but the photos will mainly be used as memory joggers / evidance rather than printing and hanging on the wall etc.

I have had a go at looking into the subject (i.e high ISO and low f etc) but I am so new to this its a bit of a minefield. The best i could find was something like a Canon A1300 or a A2300 but cant really see the difference between them (on the factors I am interested in that is). The camera that seemed to be the best I found was a Canon SD4000 but i understand that this has been discontinued so sourcing a few may prove frustrating. I am not committed to any particular brand it just happens that most of the ones i found were Canon !

Any reccomendations are welcomed.

Thanks,

-TangleFoot-

Would these be quick snaps or slow exposures? Most cameras can do the latter if you keep them still.

Niv

-TangleFoot- wrote: »

Would these be quick snaps or slow exposures? Most cameras can do the latter if you keep them still.

It will mainly be used for taking photos of still items in a field, down a well or on an office wall maybe. I dont know what the best type of exposure for that task is really, so I will leave that to you/ the other photography wiz's to decide :-)

InsideInsurance

What are your snapshots going to be of? Is there a reason for not using flash?

ISO is simply a measure of sensitivity and not a reflection of quality. On some cameras anything beyond a medium sensitivity becomes unusable due to the digital noise it creates where as another camera with a lower maximum sensitivity may produce perfectly acceptable images right up to its maximum ISO

A low f-stop may be of benefit but remember that by doing this you also reduce the depth of field of the image so it may or may not be suitable for what you are doing - photographing something flat is fine, photographing a scene/ room etc may not be.

[Deleted User]

Sounds like you just need a tripod and a long exposure since you're just taking photos of static things.

You could also invest in one of these to boost the available light naturally -http://www.amazon.co.uk/5--Multi-Disc-Photographic-Reflector/dp/B004ATJE18

The techniques used are more important the camera normally

Handsome90

Also try to get a camera that has back-illuminated sensor. That way the circuits aren't blocking the sensor and hence capturing more light. It seems this might be vital in your case.