Suggestions needed!

bearxor

Diamond Member
Jul 8, 2001
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Like the title says. I'm looking for a really small digital camera that works good in low light. Nothing fancy, needs to be about $100. Smaller the better but it needs to take really good low-light pics, like in a resturaunt and hopefully have a macro mode.

Images will be for posting to the web, so it doesn't need to be high-res, a 2-3mp camera will work great.

Thanks in advance for the suggestions!
 

bearxor

Diamond Member
Jul 8, 2001
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That's pretty overkill for me. I own a Fuji S700 and love it to death, but the low-light situation isn't very good. The F30 is also a tad on the big side. I'm hoping to use something that won't draw a lot of attention in a restaurant.
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
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Originally posted by: bearxor
That's pretty overkill for me. I own a Fuji S700 and love it to death, but the low-light situation isn't very good. The F30 is also a tad on the big side. I'm hoping to use something that won't draw a lot of attention in a restaurant.

unless you turn on the flash it isn't going to draw that much attention. it's still easily concealable in your hand.

fuji F45 (ritz branded F40) was on sale for ~$100 about a month back. not sure if it's still around.

further, the S700 is a 7MP 1/2.5" (24.7 sq mm) bayer sensor camera with an f/3.5 lens. the f30 is a 6 MP 1/1.7" (43.3 sq mm) SuperCCD camera with an f/2.8 lens.

if we compare in stops, the sensor size alone is worth about a stop. the lens is worth about 2/3 of a stop. super CCD design rather than standard bayer is worth at least 1/3 of a stop. that's 2 stops.

to put that in easier to understand terms, the F31 will take the same picture in 1/4 the light as your S700.
 

Zenmervolt

Elite member
Oct 22, 2000
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Originally posted by: bearxor
That's pretty overkill for me. I own a Fuji S700 and love it to death, but the low-light situation isn't very good. The F30 is also a tad on the big side. I'm hoping to use something that won't draw a lot of attention in a restaurant.

The F30 is too big? Good heavens, how much smaller do you expect a camera with a half decent lens to get? As pointed out, the F30 uses an entirely different sensor design than the S700. The F30 is widely regarded as one of the very best compact cameras in terms of low-light capabilities. Aside from the also mentioned F40 and F45, you're not going to find anything in a compact that's even close to its low light performance.

ZV