[DigiCam] Re: ISO for 'auto' setting in misc. cameras?

[Adrian Smith]

>At 9:21 PM -0800 3/17/04, ShirleyK wrote:
>>I think that's typical of auto modes, including the Canon Digital
>>Rebel (an SLR). I seem to recall that some of my auto modes use ISO
>>400, but since the CMOS sensor is bigger, it doesn't have the noise
>>of smaller CCDs.
>
>OK.  I originally asked the question because the pictures seemed 
>somewhat noisy.  And oddly, the camera is turning my baby's skin 
>_extremely_ red, even though it leaves all other colors just fine.
>
>Perhaps I'm judging the Z1 too harshly, but it seems like non-flash 
>indoor photos taken with it are noisier and just not as good as 
>those taken with the CP950.   I usually dislike most of the indoor 
>close-up shots taken with a built-in flash, so I try to avoid using 
>it.  But of course many pictures turn out dark (or noisy) since I 
>don't have flood lamps all over my house.  :-)  The external flash 
>is nice, but they're often so expensive, and take a while to 
>'recharge' before you can take another shot.  Does anyone have a 
>better suggestion for dealing with lighting issues?  Are there any 
>f/1.0 cameras out there? ;-)
>
>>By the way, what was wrong with the Coolpix pictures?
>
>Oh, there's nothing wrong with them.  It's just that the CP950 is 
>pretty ssllloowwwww.  It's a bit unreliable in starting up and 
>switching modes (sometimes it thinks about whether or not it wants 
>to make the change at all), isn't terribly efficient with batteries, 
>has a flash that's way too close to the lens, sometimes takes a long 
>time to focus, etc.  But on the other hand, after playing with the 
>Minolta Z1 for a while, I've come to appreciate the rotating LCD and 
>the Nikon's great color, as well as being able to make a number of 
>settings changes without having to go into the menus.
>
>I was thinking of trying the Canon Powershot A80 when I return the 
>Z1.  But the Olympus C-5060 Wide zoom and the Nikon CP 5400 are 
>beckoning to me, with their 28mm wide-angle.  :-)  I've realized how 
>much I liked the wide-angle lens I put on the CP950, and since I'm 
>taking a number of photos of the baby sitting in my lap, it's nice 
>to not have to hold the camera above my head.  They're more 
>expensive, but OTOH they're not much more than the A80 plus its 
>wide-angle lens (which I'd probably buy).
>
>  -- Tom
>

(I'm really only familiar with the Canon range so I can't comment on 
the Nikon or Olympus)

Most of the Canon Powershot camera's also use an auto-iso mode when 
set to the "Auto" mode but I believe they will vary the ISO between 
50 and 150 and at those settings there is probably not much noise - 
although I suspect you could notice the difference between 50 and 150.


Did you end up looking at the detailed reviews on dpreview.com or 
imaging-resource? Imaging-resource has some standard test shots which 
will show the tendency of each camera to get skin tones wrong. He 
also does a lot of low-light testing which sounds like it might be of 
interest. DPreview usually does noise tests which might be 
interesting.

Is the Canon G3 or G5 in your price range? Might be worth considering 
esp if you think about adding an external flash in the future. My 
Dad's G3 takes excellent photos but the with Canon speedlight on top 
they are so much better - the ability to bounce the flash off the 
ceiling makes all the difference  - much more than just "nice" :). 
It recharges very quickly but I think it was reasonably expensive. 
The lens on the G3/G5 is much faster than the A80 or S-series 
Powershots.



Adrian