[jess89]

Can anyone who has this camera give me some feedback on how well it works in low light? Because I want to take really nice/ high quality pictures at the YG 10th Anniversary concerts thats next week but we're not allowed to use flash with our cameras. i bought the SD630 with a little bit of research but nothing too indepth bc I'm not so knowledgable about cameras & what exactly I should be looking for in a digital camera. I know that theres something about the camera having ISO 180??? And I think the SD630 has it. But I feel like I rushed into buying a camera without knowing if this was the best one or not. if you know about any other cameras that takes really good pics during concerts (low light) please post them up here. thanks in advance! (o and do you guys know where i can get a big memory card? this 16mb card that comes with the camera is not gunna work -.- either that, or, can i still use my old memory card from my other digicam? the website/manual says that i should use a SD [secure digital] or multimediacard. i have a 256mb sandisk memory card and it says sd card on the side. would that work??)

[Malicious]

hmm i dont own any canon cameras so cant help ya there! but hey high-five im goin to the yg concert too... the l.a one.. well hope u have fun..

[watcher]

the fuji finepix f30 is probably the best compact camera out there with the best ISO performance. you can take decent pictures up to ISO 1600. pictures come out pretty good if you set it to 800 and below, but you'll be likely to use a high ISO setting at the concert.

the sd630's ISO performance is nowhere near that level, and there's too much noise by the time you get to 200. it get's pretty bad if you go higher, and it would be very hard to take decent pictures at 400+.

since i dont really know what your image standards are, have you tried taking pictures with your SD630 in low light? you should try some test shots and see if it meets your requirements. also, be sure to know how to use your camera to take the best shots you can get. play around with the shutter speed and ISO settings and try to take the best shot, if they dont sastisfy you, i'd suggest the f30.

another camera i might suggest is the sd700 IS. it's ISO performance is not much different from the sd630. the fuji will still blow away the canon at higher ISO, but the sd700 has image stablization. it will come in handy if you are using slower shutter speeds and minimize the blur you get from shaking when you take the picture. however, at the moment, you need to figure out if you think your sd630 can reasonably handle a snapshot in low-light or not.

[aznxkpx88]

i was thinking about this camera. it looks pretty nice. and then i saw the sd700 and cant figure out wat the big difference is

[watcher]

i was thinking about this camera. it looks pretty nice. and then i saw the sd700 and cant figure out wat the big difference is

SD700 has image stablization, longer battery life (240 shots vs 160) and more zoom (4x vs 3x).
SD630 has a larger LCD (3.0 vs 2.5)

i think those are the major differences...besides price

[jess89]

would the SD700 be worth the 40 extra dollars for better pictures at the concert? i tried taking a few test pics with very little light in my room but i dont know if i like the quality of the no flash shots :/ (i'm sure there will be bright lights at the concert that might make my photos come out nicer.. i hope)

i took some test noflash pics while we were eating at a restaurant the other night. it wasnt particularly dark but the pics came out ok.

i might have to stick with the sd630 just cause the concert is next week and if i wanna switch, i'd have to do it quickly -.-;

[angelzstar]

SD700 has image stablization, longer battery life (240 shots vs 160) and more zoom (4x vs 3x).
SD630 has a larger LCD (3.0 vs 2.5)

i think those are the major differences...besides price

I personally like better LCD cause when I take pics, I like a bigger screen......so i got the 630 =D I think it works pretty well under low light....but like how low of a light?

[aznfishyfart]

would the SD700 be worth the 40 extra dollars for better pictures at the concert? i tried taking a few test pics with very little light in my room but i dont know if i like the quality of the no flash shots :/ (i'm sure there will be bright lights at the concert that might make my photos come out nicer.. i hope)

i took some test noflash pics while we were eating at a restaurant the other night. it wasnt particularly dark but the pics came out ok.

i might have to stick with the sd630 just cause the concert is next week and if i wanna switch, i'd have to do it quickly -.-;

the image stabilizer might be good for low light and concert conditions because it keeps the image sharp and keeps it from bluring...
i got the 630 mostly because it has a large LCD
basically the sd550 and 630 would be comperable, the only difference being the LCD but thats beyond the topic
u can buy a large SD memory card from bestbuy....they might still be having their sale with rebate...i got a 512mb card for i think 14$ after rebate.....
if u really want clean pictures id suggest a tripod....but thats not practical for concert

[watcher]

would the SD700 be worth the 40 extra dollars for better pictures at the concert? i tried taking a few test pics with very little light in my room but i dont know if i like the quality of the no flash shots :/ (i'm sure there will be bright lights at the concert that might make my photos come out nicer.. i hope)

i took some test noflash pics while we were eating at a restaurant the other night. it wasnt particularly dark but the pics came out ok.

i might have to stick with the sd630 just cause the concert is next week and if i wanna switch, i'd have to do it quickly -.-;

will the improvement in picture quality be worth $40 at the concert? maybe, maybe not. i dont know how dark the concert will be and have not tested the sd700 to its limits. i dont think you'll really know until you actually get the sd700 and test it out on your own. however, i can safely say that the sd700 will generally take better photos than the sd630, mainly due to it's image stablizing feature. (you can keep longer shutter speed, allowing you to take in more light without the blur from moving the camera)

also, even though the extra $40 might not be worth paying for the sake of the concert, it is DEFINITELY worth the money for all other pictures in normal lighting situations (i.e. outdoors at daytime, well lit areas, etc). your pictures will come out much sharper and compensate for the blur that occurs when you take a snapshot. after taking a look at different test shots, it's very noticeable. (unless you have the steadiest hands in the world that is...)

ps. i still think the fuji f30 is the way to go if the concert pics are the main purpose for this camera, or perhaps consider borrowing a friend/family high-end point and shoot camera (with manual controls).

edit: the sony h5 is known to shoot moderately well in low-light, and it has a high zoom (12x) as well as image stablization and a 3 inch LCD display. it's a bit pricier than the canon sd's, and bigger too. this is not a compact camera. however, it may make the difference between getting the shot you want and not. check it out at the camera store if you can.

if u really want clean pictures id suggest a tripod....but thats not practical for concert

hehe...image stablization is pretty much a virtual tripod (with limtations of course)

[yoh]

I have the Canon Cybershot SD630 and I totally approve of it. The pictures always come out clear, the LCD is very big (which is a plus for me), and my uncle-in-law once dropped it in mud but it still works fine after that. The one problem I do have with this digital camera is that it makes a small noise when you zoom in/out. It's a bit frustrating at first, but virtually ok now.

[malevolent.]

It's the one where the back is black right? It's nice but the LCD is grainy due to its big LCD size.

[[HyuNi]]

Can anyone who has this camera give me some feedback on how well it works in low light? Because I want to take really nice/ high quality pictures at the YG 10th Anniversary concerts thats next week but we're not allowed to use flash with our cameras. i bought the SD630 with a little bit of research but nothing too indepth bc I'm not so knowledgable about cameras & what exactly I should be looking for in a digital camera. I know that theres something about the camera having ISO 180??? And I think the SD630 has it. But I feel like I rushed into buying a camera without knowing if this was the best one or not. if you know about any other cameras that takes really good pics during concerts (low light) please post them up here. thanks in advance! (o and do you guys know where i can get a big memory card? this 16mb card that comes with the camera is not gunna work -.- either that, or, can i still use my old memory card from my other digicam? the website/manual says that i should use a SD [secure digital] or multimediacard. i have a 256mb sandisk memory card and it says sd card on the side. would that work??)

I don't have it, but I tested it. I don't have it right now because I still use my Canon SD400. I think the Canon SD630 is fantastic.
But if you're looking the best low light compact digital camera, I would go with the Canon SD700 IS or SD800.
Canon made these models finally after Canon users complained about digital zoom, blurred pictures, and low quality non-flash pictures. I can't say for sure that it's going to be a lot better than the 630.
But if you already got the Canon SD630, I think it should still be good enough. Just take shots up close and try not to zoom. The pictures are more likely to blur if you zoom in without flash.
Also, there's a function on all Canon SD cameras that lets you choose what style of picture you want to take. There's an indoor/lowlight setting that may fit your needs.

Regarding the sandisk memory card, that's an SD card from what you're describing. It should be sufficient enough. If you plan on taking high quality 5 megapix pictures, 256MB might be too small. If the concert is still aways away, you could order an 1 gig SD card from BUY.COM for less than $20! I bought my 128MB SD card last year for over $30!
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?loc=...p;sku=202743519
Here's the link for the SD memory card if you're interested.

Good luck!

-John

[watcher]

^ i dont know. lack of manual controls really limit how much you can use image stabilization to capture decent low-light pictures. it's something you'll have to try to figure out whether it's 'good enough.'

in terms of image quality, i still think the sd550 rocks, and much better than any of the newer models (except maybe the sd900).

[jess89]

thank you guys for all of the feedback! i had such a great time at the concerts and the pictures came out fine (they didnt care so much about flash :x) but yeah i wish i had bought a bigger memory card cause i ran out of space so fast =.=;