I'm thinking about getting a digital camera (Fuji MX-1500) and would appreciate it if anyone could tell me what sort of quality image I would get for pictures taken at night or in a rock concert? Or if you know of a different camera being more suitable?

-- Angie Shaw (angie@mdfish.fsnet.co.uk), July 23, 2000

Answers

I haven't seen any reviews on the MX-1500 yet, so have no concrete info concerning low light performance.(I tried Fuji's site, but there is little to be found there, as well.) Basically, you're looking for a camera with a lower f# lens, or larger aperture lens, and a sensitive CCD with low noise levels.

A larger aperture lens allows more light to enter the camera during an exposure, resulting in a better image under low light conditions or faster shutter speeds under more normal conditions. Generally speaking, for a given resolution the larger the physical size of the CCD the better the image quality and the higher the signal to noise ratio will be.

Perhaps, your best bet is to wait for some reviews of the camera and compare it's low light performance to other cameras. www.imaging-resource.com usually includes good low light testing info in their reviews. But, the MX-1500 hasn't been reviewed yet.

You may find that for most shows the performers are lit well enough that you won't require a tripod and really long exposures. However, bear in mind that the farther you are from the performer the lower the captured light level will be. Also look for cameras with adjustable ISO's. Many are adjustable from the normal ASA100 to 200 or 400. Making that adjustment can mean more noise, but can also mean getting an image vs. not getting one.

Good Luck!

-- Gerald M. Payne (gmp@surferz.net), July 23, 2000.

The Olympus 460 does a pretty good job at night photography with its 500 ISO. It's rated (I don't remember whether by Olympus, or in a review I read) at 1 fc, which isn't much light but, from personal experience, I can tell you that it does dig the photons out of the scene. Maybe other cameras do even better, but I have no complaints. And the flash works better than claimed.

-- Al Klein (aklein@us.luxottica.com), August 01, 2000.