Upgrade from a Nikon Coolpix 3200

Dear group.

I have a Nikon coolpix 3200 which I bought about 2-3 years ago. This
camera has impressed me with it's overall ability for outdoor and high
light shots, however it has seriously let me down on the rare
occasions I've wanted to take pictures in low light, leaving virtually
every picture blurred. The basic iso setting is only 50 and I think
the max is 100 so that probably explains the shortcomings!!

I'm thinking it might be time to upgrade to something with better
sensitivity for low light. I don't want to spend too much and I'm by
no means a photographer but I do like to try to compose nice shots and
the Nikon has given me some great outdoor photos so I don't want to
compromise on that quality. I'm only looking to spend around £100-£120
and I was looking at the Nikon S200 - however although the review I
read was generally good, it did say that on any setting higher than
ISO200 the pictures get noisy.

I would like to stick to a brand that uses SD cards if possible and
something around the same size as the 3200 would be good. I don't want
a credit card size camera but I do want something that's relatively
easy to stick in a pocket.

Any suggestions for a quality compact camera with good features and
the best lens in my price range would be gratefully received!! I'm not
too bothered about having a zillion megapixels as long as it's at
least the same as my current camera.

Or if anyone has something like a Nikon S500 that they want to sell
second hand I may be interested!!

On Fri, 13 Jul 2007 21:03:33 -0000, loony wrote:

> I'm thinking it might be time to upgrade to something with better
> sensitivity for low light. I don't want to spend too much and I'm by
> no means a photographer but I do like to try to compose nice shots and
> the Nikon has given me some great outdoor photos so I don't want to
> compromise on that quality. I'm only looking to spend around £100-£120
> and I was looking at the Nikon S200 - however although the review I
> read was generally good, it did say that on any setting higher than
> ISO200 the pictures get noisy.
>
> I would like to stick to a brand that uses SD cards if possible and
> something around the same size as the 3200 would be good. I don't want
> a credit card size camera but I do want something that's relatively
> easy to stick in a pocket.
>
> Any suggestions for a quality compact camera with good features and
> the best lens in my price range would be gratefully received!! I'm not
> too bothered about having a zillion megapixels as long as it's at
> least the same as my current camera.

Fuji's F30fd and F40fd are by far the best small cameras available
for image quality in low light. The F30fd has a 6mp sensor and the
F40fd has an 8mp sensor. The F30fd may be slightly better in low
light, but it only uses xD cards. Not the problem it was several
years ago when xD cards cost quite a bit more than other types. The
F40fd can use both xD and SD cards. They can save a bit of money
because their Li-Ion batteries provide far more shots than the
Li-Ion batteries in most other small cameras (580 shots per charge,
even with many of the shots using flash), so it's unlikely that
you'd actually *need* to get a second battery pack. I don't know
what your local prices would be, but in the USA, B&H is selling the
F30fd for $239.95 and the F40fd for $219.95.

Here's part of what DPReview had to say about the slightly older
F30, which is virtually the same as the F30fd, but lacks the "fd"
(face detection) technology :

> To sum up, the F30 is far and away the best low light compact camera
> on the market today, bar none. It's the perfect 'social' camera for the
> DSLR owner who doesn't want to lug all his or her gear to parties,
> and it is - in expert hands - capable of superb results in any light. I
> would even go as far as to suggest - funds permitting - getting one for
> low light work even if you already own a camera you use for daylight
> shooting... So then, Highly Recommended unless you rarely shoot
> indoors or at night.