Steve'sDigicams

Nizidramanii · Jan 24, 2006, 10:11 AM

How do these cameras do at wide angle without flash in natural light? I tend to take a lot of pictures without flash whenever I can with my Canon A60, but it is very difficult to take good handheld pictures indoors. I don't want to step up to a dSLR. I'll post some pics just for examples later.

I imagine that the OIS on the FZ cameras really helps with natural light pictures.

What do you guys think?

tclune · Jan 24, 2006, 10:22 AM

I think you might want to wait for the new FZ7, which apparently will have an ISO range up to 1600.

sunstorage · Jan 24, 2006, 11:36 AM

ISO 1600 will be useless because of it VERY high nois level and it limited image size
But FZ can take a indor picture with 1/10s shutter speed (without a flash) without make the image blurry ( at x1 zoom) IF the subject is still. FZ is good choise and I will recomend you the FZ5 if you want to have small but good camera - if the size does not matter for you - take FZ20 or 30 (of course 30 is better than 20

)

Nizidramanii · Jan 24, 2006, 12:19 PM

I would jump all over the FZ5 IF it had a remote shutter release and adapter threads. Because it doesn't, my choices are limited to the rather large FZ20 and FZ30, unless I wait for the next FZ to come out.

squirl033 · Jan 24, 2006, 1:05 PM

i've had pretty good luck with my FZ20 in natural light, such as daylightfrom a window, as long as i have it on a tripod for slow shutter speeds (i.e. below 1/40 sec). it doesn't do as well in artificial light, i've noticed, but i almost never shoot in that kind of lighting so for me it's not a problem.

pixelstuff · Jan 24, 2006, 2:31 PM

I was disappointed from my first indoor shots when I got my FZ30 last week. Maybe you want to check out the thread http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/v...mp;forum_id=23
and read what these wonderful guys here replied.
The camera can capture an indoor atmosphere with low shutter spead very nicely both natural and artifical light but a talking person can get a blurry face because of the head movements. And so much noise if you zoom into your foto 100, 200%!
Here is one of my latest efforts indoors. You can see the colors and brightness of the room like real but the hand of course is blurry!
Higher shutter speads get too dark for my taste but maybe I am already spoiled by the real light atmosphere in the photos..

pixelstuff · Jan 24, 2006, 2:32 PM

And this one is in natural light indoors

pixelstuff · Jan 24, 2006, 2:33 PM

and a noisy 100% crop:

Corpsy · Jan 24, 2006, 4:46 PM

The paradox of shopping for a new digital camera is that the typical consumer wants to take lots of indoor pictures, but that's what the professional cameras have the biggest advantage at.

I like my FZ30, but if I primarily wanted to take photos of people indoors without a flash, I'd go for the Konica Maxxum 5D, a DSLR. It has stabilization built into the body, takes nice pictures at high ISO settings (3200 max, but 1600 is probably the highest to look good), and with an 18-55 zoom lens would cost about $100 more than the FZ30. You can even get a 28-300 zoom lens instead for about another $100. Normally it would be impractical for an SLR because it doesn't have stabilization, but since the camera has it built in it should do pretty well.

LoveLife · Jan 24, 2006, 6:38 PM

It is sort of cheating but you can get very nice results by augmenting the lighting with a on board flash. The technique is refered to as fill flash. You want the flash to slightly augment the subject so you can shoot at higher shutter speeds at the low ISO. You do this by reducing the intensity of the flash so it just produces a mild light pop. Here is an example of a very difficult lighting situation. The musician was performing in front of a huge picture window. In order to shoot without a flash I would have to shoot a high ISO and suffer a lot of noise.

Jan 24, 2006, 2:31 PM	#6
pixelstuff Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 48	I was disappointed from my first indoor shots when I got my FZ30 last week. Maybe you want to check out the thread http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/v...mp;forum_id=23 and read what these wonderful guys here replied. The camera can capture an indoor atmosphere with low shutter spead very nicely both natural and artifical light but a talking person can get a blurry face because of the head movements. And so much noise if you zoom into your foto 100, 200%! Here is one of my latest efforts indoors. You can see the colors and brightness of the room like real but the hand of course is blurry! Higher shutter speads get too dark for my taste but maybe I am already spoiled by the real light atmosphere in the photos.. Attached Images

Jan 24, 2006, 2:32 PM	#7
pixelstuff Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 48	And this one is in natural light indoors Attached Images

Jan 24, 2006, 2:33 PM	#8
pixelstuff Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 48	and a noisy 100% crop: Attached Images

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Jan 24, 2006, 10:11 AM	#1
Nizidramanii Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 407	How do these cameras do at wide angle without flash in natural light? I tend to take a lot of pictures without flash whenever I can with my Canon A60, but it is very difficult to take good handheld pictures indoors. I don't want to step up to a dSLR. I'll post some pics just for examples later. I imagine that the OIS on the FZ cameras really helps with natural light pictures. What do you guys think?

Jan 24, 2006, 10:22 AM	#2
tclune Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1,093	I think you might want to wait for the new FZ7, which apparently will have an ISO range up to 1600.

Jan 24, 2006, 11:36 AM	#3
sunstorage Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 167	ISO 1600 will be useless because of it VERY high nois level and it limited image size But FZ can take a indor picture with 1/10s shutter speed (without a flash) without make the image blurry ( at x1 zoom) IF the subject is still. FZ is good choise and I will recomend you the FZ5 if you want to have small but good camera - if the size does not matter for you - take FZ20 or 30 (of course 30 is better than 20 )

Jan 24, 2006, 12:19 PM	#4
Nizidramanii Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 407	I would jump all over the FZ5 IF it had a remote shutter release and adapter threads. Because it doesn't, my choices are limited to the rather large FZ20 and FZ30, unless I wait for the next FZ to come out.

Jan 24, 2006, 1:05 PM	#5
squirl033 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 6,915	i've had pretty good luck with my FZ20 in natural light, such as daylightfrom a window, as long as i have it on a tripod for slow shutter speeds (i.e. below 1/40 sec). it doesn't do as well in artificial light, i've noticed, but i almost never shoot in that kind of lighting so for me it's not a problem.

Jan 24, 2006, 4:46 PM	#9
Corpsy Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 879	The paradox of shopping for a new digital camera is that the typical consumer wants to take lots of indoor pictures, but that's what the professional cameras have the biggest advantage at. I like my FZ30, but if I primarily wanted to take photos of people indoors without a flash, I'd go for the Konica Maxxum 5D, a DSLR. It has stabilization built into the body, takes nice pictures at high ISO settings (3200 max, but 1600 is probably the highest to look good), and with an 18-55 zoom lens would cost about $100 more than the FZ30. You can even get a 28-300 zoom lens instead for about another $100. Normally it would be impractical for an SLR because it doesn't have stabilization, but since the camera has it built in it should do pretty well.

Jan 24, 2006, 6:38 PM	#10
LoveLife Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 1,288	It is sort of cheating but you can get very nice results by augmenting the lighting with a on board flash. The technique is refered to as fill flash. You want the flash to slightly augment the subject so you can shoot at higher shutter speeds at the low ISO. You do this by reducing the intensity of the flash so it just produces a mild light pop. Here is an example of a very difficult lighting situation. The musician was performing in front of a huge picture window. In order to shoot without a flash I would have to shoot a high ISO and suffer a lot of noise.