Topic: any suggestions for a decent point & shoot digital cam for concerts?

[ozarkbilly]

I have a Kodak Easyshare C875 for those shows where I'm not allowed to bring my Nikon D40 in, and the flash recently died on it. I've owned it for too long for it to still be under warranty, and Kodak live help says that it would be ~$150 to have it repaired, so that would just be dumb for me to do.

So I'm in the market for a new P&S, and I'm looking for something that performs well in low light. I'm obviously not talking about magazine-quality pics, but just something decent.  As I found out, my current camera is worthless in low light with a dead flash, the ISO just isn't high enough/aperture isn't wide enough. Video mode is pretty essential on a new selection also, and I had a complaint about my current camera in that regard as well. My kodak's sound dropped out whenever zooming in while in video mode (look at about the 1:20 mark of this Avett Brothers video of mine from STL)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pDX4kHoxY4

I would obviously like to avoid that. So any suggestions?

[OOK]

I have been looking at the Panasonic TZ series camera's  The TZ5 looks awsome.  I have demo'd it and it appears to be a good all around point and shoot.  A friend of mine has panasonic and it takes incrediable shots in low light, just can't remember the model.  Spyder9 I think has a TZ3 older model and I was very impressed with the shots he got at phil at pens landing all the way back from the taper section.  Also acording to the last consumer reports I read panasonic appears to have the lowest failure rates with sony behind them and I can't remember the order after that. Once I get my omnis Looks Like I will be investing in a tz5


Here is a link to the panasonic site:

http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/shop/Cameras-Camcorders/Digital-Cameras/Lumix-Digital-Cameras/model.DMC-TZ5K_11002_7000000000000005702

The best price I have seens was at newegg.com

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16830180147

Peace OOK  T+

[coloartist]

Thes are from my DSC-T200

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9YasmzNqxnQ

Video: (10 minute clips)

http://www.vimeo.com/1645467

[ozarkbilly]

someone's got some Wilco vids on youtube that were taken with a TZ5 that are really great (other than having focus issues, he explains in one of the vids that its necessary to turn the AF off when shooting video)

here's one of them, watch it in high quality:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFSe8haFgms - you can see the AF hunting a lot in it, but as mentioned before its apparently user error

seems to take pretty decent pics too, still searching for more low-light examples though.

+T to both of you!

[Sanjay]

The new Panasonic LX3 has a lens which's F stop ranges from F2- F2.8 and apparently has great high ISO pictures.

This should be the perfect cam, not a whole lot of zoom, so get close.

[wjlapier]

Fuji F20, 30, 31 are great for high iso--for a P+S anyway.  Canon G9 has IS actually does pretty good up to 800 ISO.  Video from the Fuji F30, 31 and Canon G9 is excellent--you can't zoom during recording however.  Not sure about the Fuji F20 video.  Problem with the Fuji's is that they are king of the high ISO for P+S, they take great pics and video, and everyone knows it, so prices can be high at times.  You can find good deals if you keep an eye to fredmiranda from time to time.  The G9 can be found for close to $350 at times--I spend alot of time over at fredmiranda.com, hence my info.

[OOK]

I purchased the TZ5 thanks to Spider9's recomendation and I am very pleased with the results.... see the following threads..


http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=113196.0

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=113197.0

Peace OOK

[Sanjay]

The new Panasonic LX3 has a lens which's F stop ranges from F2- F2.8 and apparently has great high ISO pictures.

This should be the perfect cam, not a whole lot of zoom, so get close.

I purchased this and just spent a week in Spain with it, I can now fully recommend this camera.  I was able to take great fast low light shots.

[heikki]

The new Panasonic LX3 has a lens which's F stop ranges from F2- F2.8 and apparently has great high ISO pictures.

This should be the perfect cam, not a whole lot of zoom, so get close.

I purchased this and just spent a week in Spain with it, I can now fully recommend this camera.  I was able to take great fast low light shots.

did you compare/shoot a canon G10?  i'm considering these two at the moment.  curious.

[Sanjay]

The new Panasonic LX3 has a lens which's F stop ranges from F2- F2.8 and apparently has great high ISO pictures.

This should be the perfect cam, not a whole lot of zoom, so get close.

I purchased this and just spent a week in Spain with it, I can now fully recommend this camera.  I was able to take great fast low light shots.

did you compare/shoot a canon G10?  i'm considering these two at the moment.  curious.

Well the G10 is a great camera I'm sure, but there is no substitute for a fast lens.  The Canon starts at F2.8 when you're at 28mm (the wide end), and by the time you're fully zoomed it's F4.9 which I can't imagine will take a decent picture.  The Panasonic starts at F2.0 and when you're zoomed in all the way (60mm) it's at F2.8.  Based on that I can't see it working well at concerts unless you're in the front row and don't need to zoom.

[sunjan]

Fuji F20, 30, 31 are great for high iso--for a P+S anyway.  Canon G9 has IS actually does pretty good up to 800 ISO.  Video from the Fuji F30, 31 and Canon G9 is excellent--you can't zoom during recording however. 

This is no longer true for Canon. There is a great firmware hack that "unlocks" a lot of functionality that Canon hid.
From http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_for_Dummies#How_to_use_2:

Canon blocks the optical zoom during video shoots. That's bad because you will lose quality when you zoom things digitally. CHDK unleashes the optical zoom that the Canon's engineers blocked, but the drawback is that the zoom mechanism noise is recorded in your video as well.

As of today, the G10 hasn't been hacked yet, but video zoom should be working for G9 and older models.

[Red Boink]

Another vote for the panasonic LX3.  I've been using one as a pocket cam since the first version and it is still ticking, taking great photos.

[heikki]

Another vote for the panasonic LX3.  I've been using one as a pocket cam since the first version and it is still ticking, taking great photos.

man i really need to pick one of these up.  looking for a good pocket camera and that fast lens is oh-so-tempting.

[Sanjay]

Another vote for the panasonic LX3.  I've been using one as a pocket cam since the first version and it is still ticking, taking great photos.

man i really need to pick one of these up.  looking for a good pocket camera and that fast lens is oh-so-tempting.

It can't even replace my D50 as a DSLR much less the D300, but it's as close as a pocket cam gets, except the Sigma DP1, but without giving up so much.

some results:




great macro:

[heikki]

Another vote for the panasonic LX3.  I've been using one as a pocket cam since the first version and it is still ticking, taking great photos.

man i really need to pick one of these up.  looking for a good pocket camera and that fast lens is oh-so-tempting.

It can't even replace my D50 as a DSLR much less the D300, but it's as close as a pocket cam gets, except the Sigma DP1, but without giving up so much.

some results:

nice.  thanks.

for sure.  i don't plan to replace my D80 with it, but often carrying that and the 17-55 f/2.8 can be a bit much.

i'm looking for something more than, for example, the SD880 (which i like).  honestly the G10's feature set doesn't seem that much better than the SD880, especially for the bulk it adds.

so far the LX3 is the only camera i've found meeting this niche.  how about concert photography?  is it fast enough?  good enough at the high ISO's?

[Sanjay]

so far the LX3 is the only camera i've found meeting this niche.  how about concert photography?  is it fast enough?  good enough at the high ISO's?

I have only taken it to one concert, I was all the way at the back of the 9:30 club with a dimly lit band in red light.  As such the image is alright for a large scale image of the club and the band, it certainly stops motion etc, however the detail isn't there.  If I get a moment at the next show I will be shooting I'll pull it out and try some snaps.