Low light compact camera

I have an LX3, but I would strongly consider the LX5 if I were in the market now. However it was limitations, such as a pretty short zoom range, that aren't suitable to all. Anything with a sensor as small as these cameras is going to get noisy much more quickly at intermediate-to-high ISO's than larger cameras. If a fixed focal length will do, you might consider Sigma's DP cameras. JR

I don't really have an answer.
Anything very small will have a noisy high iso performance.
I do use a Ricoh GX100, because its more compact than a G10, and it has a fast good quality lens.
However the ISO performance above 100 is not good. I'm relying on wide aperture and holding it steady.
The other aspect would be noise reduction software in post processing.

If you want compact size, then consider film P&S with single focal length. The Olympus Stylus Epic loaded with ISO color negative film performs well. No zoom, but you get an f2.8 lens and shutter speeds up to 1/1000 second. Even a mint condition one should be cheap now. And, it's rainproof.

Last time I shot film 800 speed Kodak gold was really grainy and contrasty... And i used to buy neopan 1600 fuji by the brick (do "new" photographers even know what a brick is?). both these are grainy as heck, and the 800 colors if you don't get the exposure dead on turn to muck. I'm still confused why digital is expected to be different.

have a look at Canon SD4000IS great for shooting in low light conditions.True f/2.0 shooting that allows use of the device in low lighting situations.Outstanding video recording in 720 HD format the quality is excellent.If you want a very small, portable and stylish camera that shoots good video, does macros exceptionally well, and can handle low light situations, this camera is worth looking into.

The Canon S90 and S95 have f/2 from a bigger sensor than the SD4000, and should be less noisy. They're still f/2 at the wide end. If you want a bigger zoom, the G11 and G12 still have a biggish sensor, although the lens isn't as fast.

As this is posted in the Alternative Camera forum, I'm going to recommend:

Fuji Natura S (24mm f/1.9) with Fuji Natura ISO 1600 film.

:)

Look for some used Fuji Finepix F10 up to F31, they have the sweet 6.3 MP and are usable to ISO 1600. The latest models even could bring up some ISO 3200.

There are new camera with amazing new features. Here is an example, the latest Sony cameras shoot multiple images (quickly, in succession), layer them together, and even do HDR in-camera. The multiple images reduce noise significantly at hight ISO, because the noise spots are never in the same place (they get averaged out). It's an amazing new technology, but it requires a steady hand. I believe other manufacturers use similar technologies, pixel-binning software for noise reduction, etc. I have an old Sony R1 with a very large sensor. The camera is large too. It has an "almost APS-C" size sensor (1.7 crop factor). It was an amazing point-and-shoot performer in its day, with the ability to shoot at ISO 3200 (something very rare for point-and-shoot cameras at the time). Recently I compared its 10 Megapixel images to those from a very cheap 10 Megapixel Kodak point-and-shoot which is about one 8th the size of my Sony (maybe even smaller than that). The images from the Kodak (with a tiny little sensor in it) were AMAZINGLY noise-free. I couldn't believe my eyes. This means that Kodak is a player too. Check into what they have to offer.
-
Here is one recommendation from me of a camera you won't find being talked about, and I just don't know why not:
(link)
-
Here is one that is smaller and lighter, but still has a 15x zoom:
(link)
-
There are so many unusual features that these cameras have, such as pan-shoot panoramic shooting (Sony cameras do this too), and different types of noise reduction, video features, etc. that you really have to do your own research Steve. Sorry to have to tell you that.
-
There are many factors to consider, and only YOU know which are most important. Here are some to consider:
- How small does it have to be?
- Do you want a viewfinder, or is looking at the screen on the back (live view) good enough?
- What video capabilities do you want/need, if any?
- What zoom range do you want?
- How wide do you want your maximum wide-angle view to be?
- What type of panorama capabilities do you want, if any?
- How much should it cost? You say you want a camera in the $300-$600 range, but would you be happy to pay $600, or would it be much better to pay around $300?
-
I've found the reviews at places like fredmiranda.com and on the B&H (bhphotovideo.com) because they are from real people (not that camera reviewers aren't real people, but they have a tendency to be biased in one particular way or another, while the reviews from the customers seem to run the whole gamut). I also like how extensive the reviews at dpreview.com can be sometimes.