Advice on best point & click for low light/indoor use?

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Kookieshell

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Hi there,

I wonder if anyone here cane help me. I am after a reasonably prices poibnt and click type camera for use indoors.

I will be taking photos of installed furniture in customers houses after we have completed the work and want a decent camera that would be able to handle the usually varying levels of light. We have had a couple of point and clicks that we have used in the past that give blurry photos either because of low light or slightly shaking hands. They have not been very forgiving when the photo is being taken by an amateur.

We will be supplying them to our fitters and installation team so the most important thing is that they are easy to use with no complicated settings.

This is literally all they will be used for so I don't really want to get a camera that has loads of features that we just wont use.

Obviously we would like to keep the cost realistic so I would say no more than £250 if possible.

I hope someone can help! :)
 
Thanks for the responses. The x10 is more than I want to spend on a camera. coming in at £300-£320.

I also have read reviews that there are some issues with 'orbs' showing up in the photos when dealing with reflections.

We photograph a lot of gloss furniture (think piano black) and the issue with the orbs bothers me about this camera. More often than not customers have spotlights overhead which reflect in the finish.

Any other ideas?
 
If you're shooting without a tripod you'll probably be best going for a camera with a wide aperture lens and image stabilisation. I'd guess that you'll also want quite a wide angle lens.

Maybe thinking about the spec you'll probably need... wide aprture, quite a wide angle lens and image stabilisation... will help you to select a good choice camera for you.
 
woof woof said:
If you're shooting without a tripod you'll probably be best going for a camera with a wide aperture lens and image stabilisation. I'd guess that you'll also want quite a wide angle lens.

Maybe thinking about the spec you'll probably need... wide aprture, quite a wide angle lens and image stabilisation... will help you to select a good choice camera for you.
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That's good advice, thanks. Can you suggest any models I should take a look at?
 
Kookieshell said:
That's good advice, thanks. Can you suggest any models I should take a look at?
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Olympus E-PM1 with either kit lens (28mm equiv @ wide end) or Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 (also 28mm equiv but faster lens). The Oly has stabilisation built into the sensor so should be hand-holdable to 1/30 and the sensor is far bigger than a P&S so much better quality in low light. Pocketable with the 14mm and not much bigger with the collapsible kit zoom. £200.
 
Is there anything actually stopping the use of a tripod as this would solve the main issue wouldn't it rather than trying to get IS, fast lenses etc,.
 
ernesto said:
Is there anything actually stopping the use of a tripod as this would solve the main issue wouldn't it rather than trying to get IS, fast lenses etc,.
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I'm assuming from the description that these would be quick snapshots by people unskilled in photography and setting up a tripod would be quite inconvenient and time consuming.

I don't think we're talking about pitch blackness here, just subdued indoor lighting (I'd guess f/3.5, 1/30, ISO 800 would be about right), which is easily achievable from a decent mid range camera. But not most P&Ss.

Also look at the Panasonic GF5 with the 14-42X collapsible power zoom - with its iA (intelligent auto) button right on the top it's really easy to put into full auto mode and give to a non-photographer to get good results, and will fit in a big pocket. £240.
 
Kookieshell said:
That's good advice, thanks. Can you suggest any models I should take a look at?
Click to expand...

The only camera I think could match your need that I have personal experience of is the Panasonic LX5. You could pick up a used one within budget... or even a new one.

The aperture is quite wide, the lens is quite wide and the image stabilisation is effective especially at the wide end. It's just a top end point and shoot really, there's no view finder, you just use the back screen and it'll shoot JPEG, RAW and JPEG+RAW.

Here's a new one...

http://www.ffordes.com/product/10092718253261

You may find them cheaper elsewhere.
 
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One of the features I love about dpreview.com is the ability to search for cameras based on specs.

Going for F2, 24m, IS, I found:

- Nikon Coolpix P330
- Leica D-Lux 6
- Canon PowerShot S110
- Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7
- Samsung EX2F
- Nikon Coolpix P310
- Nikon Coolpix P300
- Canon PowerShot S100
- Leica D-LUX 5
- Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5
- Samsung TL500 (EX1)
- Leica D-LUX 4

Have a look and tinker.
 
Personally I wouldn't touch the Leica's that are just rebadged Panasonic's.
 
Phil Young said:
Get yourself anything that has manual control and a hot shoe. A £40 flash and bounce your flash.

Alternatively, anything that has manual control and a cheap tripod.
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Kookieshell said:
We will be supplying them to our fitters and installation team so the most important thing is that they are easy to use with no complicated settings.

This is literally all they will be used for so I don't really want to get a camera that has loads of features that we just wont use.
Click to expand...

All these suggestions for tripods... and now manual control and bounce flash... to me don't seem to exactly fit in with the brief for a camera that'll be easy for the sales team to use.
 
How many installs a year are you talking about?
I think some local snappers might do each job for £30-50 a throw, find someone with an dslr looking to perhaps build up their portfolio and they get that and you get superior photos....

Just a thought.

If you were in Gloucester I would be up for doing some :)
 
Thanks for all the suggestions but tripods, flashed, lenses is simply not practical for the installation teams to use.

Also hiring a local snapper for £50 a time isn't either when we are talking about 100's of photos a month needed to be taken.

I will take a look through the lists you have all sent but if anyone else has any suggestions that keep in with my brief that would be great. :)

Thanks for all your advice so far, I really appreciate it.
 
I used to run my own Business Sales Agency, in the South West, & many of my clients wanted absolute confidentiality from customers, suppliers & staff. The typical businesses were hotels, pubs, self catering complexes, restaurants, etc. So being known for 'going to town' with photos on the sales details I had to look inconspicuous & get the shots quickly, when no one was around & enough of them & get a high % of keepers. Usually I took 100 shots for an average hotel & used up to 20 on the sale details.

If I were doing the same still (retired) I would be looking at the Canon S110 where you can get them on DigitalRev for £222 new. There is no way I would even think of a DSLR - I tried it - felt too conspicuous - was getting less useable shots - mainly because I wasn't able to get the focus right (could have been me)
 
Kookieshell said:
Thanks for all the suggestions but tripods, flashed, lenses is simply not practical for the installation teams to use.

.
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Fair enough, but if you want photos that are not blurry because of shaky hands then a change of camera is not a guarantee that still won't happen.

If it was me, I would spend 20 minutes showing them how to use and hold a camera to improve the shots.
 
Olympus XZ-1 for £225?

f1.8 on the wide-end, stabilized lens, up to ISO6400, OLED display, hot shoe in case you ever do decide to use an external flash, and best of all it looks and handles like a compact, so won't intimidate anyone...
 
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Kookieshell said:
Thanks for the responses. The x10 is more than I want to spend on a camera. coming in at £300-£320.

I also have read reviews that there are some issues with 'orbs' showing up in the photos when dealing with reflections.

We photograph a lot of gloss furniture (think piano black) and the issue with the orbs bothers me about this camera. More often than not customers have spotlights overhead which reflect in the finish.

Any other ideas?
Click to expand...

The orbs issue is a thing of the past (new sensors in newer cameras, free replacement sensor programme in older cameras), and even when it existed I strongly doubt it would have caused problems under the circumstances described. However the X10 (which is brilliant) is a little chunky and has a removable lens cap which under your circumstances might be something to avoid.
 
ChrisR said:
The orbs issue is a thing of the past (new sensors in newer cameras, free replacement sensor programme in older cameras), and even when it existed I strongly doubt it would have caused problems under the circumstances described. However the X10 (which is brilliant) is a little chunky and has a removable lens cap which under your circumstances might be something to avoid.
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Agree with this, I own an X10 and XZ-1, and for your requirements the X10 would likely not be as suitable. It can be fussy with focussing, and doesn't (IMHO) handle like a P&S.
 
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