Digital cameras 101

[belle]

OMG I have no idea what to do!!  I have had a couple cameras, an olympus I got in 98, and a digital elph more recently, but now I'm looking for a newer cam but I don't know what's going on!

The main use of the camera, besides family get togethers, pet photos, and vacations, will be photographing several performances a month of my bf's metal band.  These photos do get spread around a bit online so I'd prefer them to look more professional than not.. But honestly everytime I try to read the camera specs I'm confused about trying to find the cams performance in dark smoky bar/club situations which is where most of the picture taking will occur.

I would also like a camera with at least 6x optical zoom so I can get some drummer pics as he is always too far away to get noticed, and when the pit gets rough I can kinda sit back a bit to snap pictures.

I would prefer at least 4mpx but will consider a quality 3.2.  I would most like to have 5+ but am not spending a ton of money on this.

As far as movie mode goes, it's not essential to take very long movies but I would like at least to be able to record a full song or two so the cam also needs to have decent sound recording skills.

But the main thing I'm looking for is awesome low light or awesome oddly lit pictures (when they have the colored spot lights or whatever).  I'm also trying to keep it below $400, memory and battery pack included, so that would probably be like around $250 for the camera itself.  The digital elph I'm using right now is only 2 mpx and honestly it's not bad, just a tiny bit grainy so I'm thinking pretty much anything will be an improvement.  I know this isn't for suggestions but do you know of any cameras in that range that might fit either all of my requirements or at least the most important ones?  I have been researching for weeks and the hardest thing for me to find out is the low light thing, so is there a certain spec that would indicate the quality of lower light shots??  TIA.

ps- I almost bought the S1 IS but chickened out.  I'd rather have the s2 but I can't bring myself to spend that much $$.  This camera will be in high risk situations and the chances of it being stolen or broken are much higher than usual so I'd prefer a less expensive one.

[ShutterbugGail]

Hi belle, and welcome to the Q&A Board!

Don't fret about knowing what to do. It's not an uncommon feeling. There are so many brands and styles and size and costs of digital cameras out there and it can get confusing.

Let me start by saying that we really don't recommend digital cameras at Digicamhelp. However, we can offer some names and models that match as close as possible the features you want.

It seems the four key features you're looking for in a digital camera are:

1- Ability to focus well in low light

2- 6X zoom

3- 3-4 megapixels, possibly five

4- A full song or two so the cam also needs to have decent sound recording skills

Another factor is that you want to keep the total price to around $400, including camera, memory cards and batteries.

You may have to make some compromises because of your budget. I don't blame you for not wanting to spend more if you'll be using it a lot in a high risk area. So let's throw out some options and go from there.

To be honest, with the exception of dSLR cameras, most current digital cameras perform poorly in low light, particularly in dark smoky bar/club situations. I don't know if you're allowed to use a flash in club situations but if so, the tiny built-in camera flash will not be sufficient. You'd do better with a camera with a hot shoe, and an external flash.

"Awesome low light capabilities.”

Hmmm, there is only one digital camera available on the market I know of which fits the bill." That's the FujiFilm FinePix F10. It doesn't have and 6x zoom, but it is excellent in low light as it shoots images practically noise free ("grain free") using up to ISO 1600! You'd rarely ever need a flash. It only has a 3x zoom but it is 6 megapixels so you have plenty of resolution to crop images. It takes an xD memory Card.

You can read user reviews here:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/read_opinions.asp?prodkey=fuji_finepixf10

Another option is to get an "older" camera like the Olympus C-770 UZ. It's four megapixels and has a 10X zoom. It has a hot shoe for an external flash and takes an xD memory Card. If you shop around online, or watch for sales, you may be able to get it for under U.S. $350. I don't know how it does in low light, and it has no autofocus assist lamp.

You can read user reviews here:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/read_opinions.asp?prodkey=oly_c770uz

I'm not sure how long either records video and sound or it the quality is good; you'll have to check the specs and reviews. I do know the S2 video records in stereo. It also has a mode to record only sound, with the maximum length limited only to the size of the memory card. It records sound and video up to one gigabyte (about 8 megabytes at full resolution and frame rate). It does a decent job at capturing sound, but it surely isn’t like recording studio equipment.  But, imho, the S2 and S2 are par for the course in low light situations, though that doesn’t mean you can’t get stunning shots if the light is right. Image stabilization is a very useful feature in low light.

I hope this helps at bit. If you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

btw, dpreview has a great database that lets you compare cameras using many variables:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp