Newbie with digicams

[chem]

Thinking of getting a mid range digicam (~$600) with some manual controls and Canon A520 seems to be a good choice. However, reviews have said that it has high noise at ISO400 and flash recycle too slow. What does noise result in? Also, it takes a long time to focus in low light and at long end of the zoom. Will Sony W5 or Panasonic LZ2 fit the bill, or any other cameras that I should consider?

Also, can these type of cameras take good evening (sunset) or night(fireworks, etc) shots? Can they take stars too, or would I need a DSLR to take stars?

Thank heaps.

 

[dragos]

basically, all prosumer cams have high noise for high ISO. Use a tripod for good evening or nite shoots....stars not possible if u are talking abt star trails...most cams other than dslr do not have long exposure times, unless u do stacking of photos with photoshop.

 

[hafele]

Maybe a Canon S60 ? Not if still around in the market cos S70 is already out.

 

[n0d3]

All cameras can take good sunsets/whatever. Its whether the photographer knows what to do or not. As for stars, the only way to do it is stacking multiple photos in Photoshop as Dragos has mentioned. You can't get really nice star trails in Singapore anyway.

Anyway for a $600~ budget I rather you get a Canon A95.

 

[reno77]

Get the Fuji F10 its got very low noise up to iso800.

http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Fujifilm-FinePix-F10-Digital-Camera-Review-.htm

My sample shots
http://reno77.multiply.com/photos/album/2

Thread discussing the F10.
http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=122498

Bad part about the F10 is no real manual controls (only can choose ISO), gotta wait for the F910 for full manual controls.

 

[yanyewkay]

star trails are still possible, you just need a big storage card and a photoprocessing software (GIMP or PS) to stack the photos. It is close to impossible to do a single continuous shot for long star trails in singapore. WIth just a short 15sec exposure, the dots are already slightly elongated.

 

[chem]

Thanks for all the tips...was thinking of getting a A95, but it looked too bulky. A520 looks much smaller, and i thought since it has some manual controls, it will be a camera that i can 'play' with. the price looks not too bad for a camera that has some manual controls.