Nikon CP8700 and low light

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.zlr (More info?)

I have a Nikon CP8700, and for the most part I very much like this
camera. However, I was mortified to realize that it was shown up this
weekend by my husband's tiny Sony something-U point-and-shoot!

We were in Paris over the weekend (Valentines weekend), and took the
Seine boat trip at night... very beautiful, but I was completely unable
to take useable photos! This is probably pilot error, but the photos
with a fast enough shutter to cancel the motion of the boat were too
dark to save even with post-processing, and with a slower shutter of
course there was motion-blur. On the other hand, my hubby's tiny Sony
(it's smaller than a cigarette pack) captured quite useable nighttime
photos. Incidentally, so did my Sony camcorder, even without nightshot.

I often find that I have problems with low-light conditions and camera
movement - if I set it to a shutter speed I can work with (1/30 if it's
only a little windy), it complains that the photo will be too dark
(sometimes is, sometimes isn't, at least after post processing)

Am I doing something wrong, or can someone explain why my expensive ZLR
is being show up by a sub-$200 point-and-shoot? I'm mostly a landscape
photographer, and mountains tend to not move much (usually!)

jmc

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.zlr (More info?)

David J Taylor wrote:
> jmc wrote:
>
>>I have a Nikon CP8700, and for the most part I very much like this
>>camera. However, I was mortified to realize that it was shown up this
>>weekend by my husband's tiny Sony something-U point-and-shoot!
>
> []
>
>>Am I doing something wrong, or can someone explain why my expensive
>>ZLR is being show up by a sub-$200 point-and-shoot? I'm mostly a
>>landscape photographer, and mountains tend to not move much (usually!)
>>
>>jmc
>
>
> Two reasons we bought a Panasonic FZ20 instead of the Nikon 8700 were:
>
> - it has image stabilisation
>
Yea, I'd probably had purchased the 8800 for this alone, if I hadn't
purchased the 8700 just a few months before
> - it has an f/2.8 lens rather than an f/4.2 lens at the long end
>
> The image stabilisation buys you about three stops, the lens another stop,
> so your blurred half-second exposure becomes my sharp 1/30s.
>
Next camera purchase, I'll definitely remember to consider this when
deciding!
> OK, so Nikon offer the 8800, but its lens is just f/5.2 at the long end!
>
So, that'd make it even worse than the 8700? Or about the same, with IS
factored in?

> In practice, I've found that for nighttime shots you really do need some
> support, such as a bean-bag or tripod. You may also find that using the
> EVF with your camera braced against the head rather than being at arm's
> length helps, although this seems to differ for different people.
>
Yea, I do when I can (and using the EVF does work for me), but when the
surface you want to stabilize on is moving, tripods don't help much
Fortunately, I don't photograph from boats much...

> Cheers,
> David
>
>

Thanks!