Advice needed, about to buy SX150 IS, ok for low-light?

[Caramellcube]

Hi all,
I could really use some advice on deciding what camera to go for. I have until Tuesday to get a Canon Powershot SX150 IS that's on sale at £69.99. I've been using an old A460 until it stopped working, so it seems like a great upgrade, it's a compact with manual mode which is exactly what I'm looking for, but I'm a bit concerned about the 3.4 aperture size, since I've mostly used 2.8 before and I intend to do a fair bit of low-light work, such as taking long-exposure shots in dark areas. That said, the main use for this is likely to be cosplay photography and filming at expos, camping trips, and zombie walks, which this seems ideal for.

I'd like to check though if anyone can recommend a better camera for the money, I've found a used SX110 on ebay with less features but a 2.8 aperture, or an A550, again used with a 2.6, but since those are both older models I'm wondering if the SX150 has better technology that can compensate for the smaller aperture? or does it just mean I'll need to give it a few seconds longer to expose in dark areas?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

[AlexMonro]

Welcome to the forum!

Like most compt & bridge cameras, the small sensor of the SX150 means that it will get a lot of noise, or noise reduction smearing, at high ISO, but for long exposure shots on a tripod at low ISO, this won't be so much of an issue. The difference in max aperture between f/2.8 and f/3.4 is only half a stop, so won't make much difference in practice, but remember that it falls to f/5.6 at the long end of the zoom range. High ISO noise might be more of an issue when shooting zombie walks hand held with moving subjects, presumably at night.

There probably have been some improvements in sensor and processing, which would make me guess that the low light performance at high ISO will be roughly similar. You're probably not going to do a lot better within your budget, bit if you do come across a Fuji with their EXR sensor, it might be slightly better. As well as a slightly larger sensor, it allows you to trade off pixels for high ISO noise. You probably won't do a lot better unless you go for a larger sensor compact like the Canon GX1 or Fuji X100, or a CSC (Compact System Camera) or DSLR, but all those are lot more expensive.

[Malcolm_Stewart]

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

I'm not qualified to answer your camera query (I mainly use DSLRs), so I decided to see what cosplay was all about, as it was a new term for me.

Wow! (Some of the first few answers from Google.) What have I been missing!

[Caramellcube]

Thanks for the advice, that helps a lot, the zombie walks are usually during the day so that shouldn't be a problem.

I decided to see what cosplay was all about, as it was a new term for me.

Wow! (Some of the first few answers from Google.) What have I been missing!

yeah, there are some very elaborate cosplays out there. At the risk of going off topic, there are regular MCM expos in London, Telford and Birmingham where a lot of cosplayers gather.

[LesleySM]

I'm vaguely aware of cosplays since many of my friends (and on a couple of occasions myself) have LARPed

[Done_rundleCams]

a coworker used a SX 130 to shoot a U2 concert and
printed 8x10/12's and they looked fine ..... and the
average ASA was around 1000 . Mind you, he's
been shooting since the mid-70's.

Personally, I would suggest a 'larger sensor' or 'faster lens'
camera -- as suggested above, albeit at a higher price.

Hope this helps

Cheers,

Jack