Thread: Low light photography with small sensor compacts

I'll start things off with a slow shutter ISO 1600 snap (resized with no other processing) from a classic, the Fuji F30:



Some say the secret of the F30 was in the in-camera processing, but I don't think that's quite right. There was some magic in that little Fuji.

Which small sensor compacts have you found to excel in low light? Share your examples!

The Leica D-LUX4 is another great choice for low light photography. Here's a kitchen table moment at 60mm equivalent, f/2.8, ISO 1600, 1/60s (processed from RAW):

Here's a night shot with the Lumix LX3

Another night shot with the LX3 (bring a friend to keep an eye on traffic!)

I love taking night shots... with whatever camera I have at hand. Usually, it's the pocketcam.

This one was taken with the S90. It was fast enough that I was able to hold the camera still, slow enough that you can see the movement in the people on the street. I guess this one also qualifies as "street photography".

I had been taking reflection photos of the stone mosaic sidewalk, so the exposure was set by that.


The next two were taken last year, with the SD990 (my pocketcam before the S90 came out).

For this one, I was waiting to meet someone, and was able to prop the camera against a tree. That gave me the ability to drop the ISO fairly low:



This one was taken walking out of a concert. I saw the steeple, the full moon, and snapped the shot. Since it was hand-held, I had to raise the ISO. The SD990 isn't as nice as the S90, but it still takes some pretty nice pix for a pocketcam.

oops

José, very nice low light photos! Regarding your deleted post, I think it's fine to compare with a M4/3 camera in this thread or others. That's useful information!

Low light photography is my thing, and I do enjoy using small sensor compacts.

Ricoh GRD III:





Canon G7:



Canon S70:



Fuji F30: