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digimom

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is the s602 totally worthless for taking pics in the dark at night?

for nighttime indoor shots id use the built in flash but im worried that i wont be able to frame my pic cuz i wont be able to see it in either the evf or the lcd. my last digicam had an optical vf & i LOVED that i could use it to frame my nighttime indoor shots with minimal light.

for nighttime outdoor shots, im primarily looking to capture the big fat moon hanging low in the sky. of course ill use a tripod and will check for proper camera settings but again my concern is not being able to see thru the evf to properly frame my pic.

im seriously considering the s602 but am wondering if this camera can even do such pics decently. ive been reading thru this forum for a few days and i see that low light focusing is an issue with lots of cams but this one in particular has trouble in these situations. is it true? can it be done? i dont mind 'some' post processing but i wanna spend more time taking pics that look right from the get go and less time sitting at the computer trying to make them look right.

any info greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.
 
digimom said:
is the s602 totally worthless for taking pics in the dark at night?

for nighttime indoor shots id use the built in flash but im worried
that i wont be able to frame my pic cuz i wont be able to see it in
either the evf or the lcd. my last digicam had an optical vf & i
LOVED that i could use it to frame my nighttime indoor shots with
minimal light.

for nighttime outdoor shots, im primarily looking to capture the
big fat moon hanging low in the sky. of course ill use a tripod
and will check for proper camera settings but again my concern is
not being able to see thru the evf to properly frame my pic.

im seriously considering the s602 but am wondering if this camera
can even do such pics decently. ive been reading thru this forum
for a few days and i see that low light focusing is an issue with
lots of cams but this one in particular has trouble in these
situations. is it true? can it be done? i dont mind 'some' post
processing but i wanna spend more time taking pics that look right
from the get go and less time sitting at the computer trying to
make them look right.

any info greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
The 602 viewfinder and LCD aren't completely black in the dark, so you can tell where you have the moon or even bright stars in the frame. I've taken quite a few pictures of the moon and several of the constellation Orion that have turned out fine. The camera will be able to focus on the moon for infinity, but for stars you'll probably need to use a very distant street light unless Venus is available.

Bob
 
photobob said:
digimom said:
is the s602 totally worthless for taking pics in the dark at night?

for nighttime indoor shots id use the built in flash but im worried
that i wont be able to frame my pic cuz i wont be able to see it in
either the evf or the lcd. my last digicam had an optical vf & i
LOVED that i could use it to frame my nighttime indoor shots with
minimal light.

for nighttime outdoor shots, im primarily looking to capture the
big fat moon hanging low in the sky. of course ill use a tripod
and will check for proper camera settings but again my concern is
not being able to see thru the evf to properly frame my pic.

im seriously considering the s602 but am wondering if this camera
can even do such pics decently. ive been reading thru this forum
for a few days and i see that low light focusing is an issue with
lots of cams but this one in particular has trouble in these
situations. is it true? can it be done? i dont mind 'some' post
processing but i wanna spend more time taking pics that look right
from the get go and less time sitting at the computer trying to
make them look right.

any info greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
The 602 viewfinder and LCD aren't completely black in the dark, so
you can tell where you have the moon or even bright stars in the
frame. I've taken quite a few pictures of the moon and several of
the constellation Orion that have turned out fine. The camera will
be able to focus on the moon for infinity, but for stars you'll
probably need to use a very distant street light unless Venus is
available.

Bob
Click to expand...
hey thanks bob! uh i actually hadnt thought about the stars! duh! i live on a mountain with no street lights so ill be sure to plan my shooting sessions for when venus is available. ;o)

how 'bout seeing your subjects thru the evf indoors at night with a room that uses only lamp lighting? i know on the lcd of my old digital i could see shadowy pics of my kids but had to use the optical to really see what i was taking a pic of. will i only see shadows on the evf and then have to guess to take the pic with the s602? if so, good thing its digital so i can take them over and over till it comes out right. :oP
 
IMO, the s602 is just fine for 'moderate' low light conditions. Basicly, a 40 watt lamp in a small room is just fine. But, if you expect to do a lot of outdoors night photography, or taking pics in rooms with th e equivalent light of a television turned on, then you should really skip the 602. Might I suggest the the Sony F717 camera, a superb low light and no light shooter.

-Chris
digimom said:
photobob said:
digimom said:
is the s602 totally worthless for taking pics in the dark at night?

for nighttime indoor shots id use the built in flash but im worried
that i wont be able to frame my pic cuz i wont be able to see it in
either the evf or the lcd. my last digicam had an optical vf & i
LOVED that i could use it to frame my nighttime indoor shots with
minimal light.

for nighttime outdoor shots, im primarily looking to capture the
big fat moon hanging low in the sky. of course ill use a tripod
and will check for proper camera settings but again my concern is
not being able to see thru the evf to properly frame my pic.

im seriously considering the s602 but am wondering if this camera
can even do such pics decently. ive been reading thru this forum
for a few days and i see that low light focusing is an issue with
lots of cams but this one in particular has trouble in these
situations. is it true? can it be done? i dont mind 'some' post
processing but i wanna spend more time taking pics that look right
from the get go and less time sitting at the computer trying to
make them look right.

any info greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
The 602 viewfinder and LCD aren't completely black in the dark, so
you can tell where you have the moon or even bright stars in the
frame. I've taken quite a few pictures of the moon and several of
the constellation Orion that have turned out fine. The camera will
be able to focus on the moon for infinity, but for stars you'll
probably need to use a very distant street light unless Venus is
available.

Bob
Click to expand...
hey thanks bob! uh i actually hadnt thought about the stars! duh!
i live on a mountain with no street lights so ill be sure to plan
my shooting sessions for when venus is available. ;o)

how 'bout seeing your subjects thru the evf indoors at night with a
room that uses only lamp lighting? i know on the lcd of my old
digital i could see shadowy pics of my kids but had to use the
optical to really see what i was taking a pic of. will i only see
shadows on the evf and then have to guess to take the pic with the
s602? if so, good thing its digital so i can take them over and
over till it comes out right. :oP
Click to expand...
 
WmAx said:
-Chris
digimom said:
photobob said:
digimom said:
is the s602 totally worthless for taking pics in the dark at night?

for nighttime indoor shots id use the built in flash but im worried
that i wont be able to frame my pic cuz i wont be able to see it in
either the evf or the lcd. my last digicam had an optical vf & i
LOVED that i could use it to frame my nighttime indoor shots with
minimal light.

for nighttime outdoor shots, im primarily looking to capture the
big fat moon hanging low in the sky. of course ill use a tripod
and will check for proper camera settings but again my concern is
not being able to see thru the evf to properly frame my pic.

im seriously considering the s602 but am wondering if this camera
can even do such pics decently. ive been reading thru this forum
for a few days and i see that low light focusing is an issue with
lots of cams but this one in particular has trouble in these
situations. is it true? can it be done? i dont mind 'some' post
processing but i wanna spend more time taking pics that look right
from the get go and less time sitting at the computer trying to
make them look right.

any info greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
The 602 viewfinder and LCD aren't completely black in the dark, so
you can tell where you have the moon or even bright stars in the
frame. I've taken quite a few pictures of the moon and several of
the constellation Orion that have turned out fine. The camera will
be able to focus on the moon for infinity, but for stars you'll
probably need to use a very distant street light unless Venus is
available.

Bob
Click to expand...
hey thanks bob! uh i actually hadnt thought about the stars! duh!
i live on a mountain with no street lights so ill be sure to plan
my shooting sessions for when venus is available. ;o)

how 'bout seeing your subjects thru the evf indoors at night with a
room that uses only lamp lighting? i know on the lcd of my old
digital i could see shadowy pics of my kids but had to use the
optical to really see what i was taking a pic of. will i only see
shadows on the evf and then have to guess to take the pic with the
s602? if so, good thing its digital so i can take them over and
over till it comes out right. :oP
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
I don't think the Sony is going to focus on stars better than the 602 unless you can set it to infinity easily. I sometimes use lights a mile or so away to manually focus on for infinity. It takes patience. Also there's the possibility that you can turn the focus ring past infinity where you no longer hear any adjustment ticks, and then turn back a certain amount. Count the ticks after trying in daylight? I don't know how you'll determine how much to turn back to get it to infinity from the slight ways beyond that its limit goes to.

As for lamp light indoors, I have no trouble using the autofocus so long as I point the AF bracket at something with contrast and vertical lines that aren't fuzzy. And you can see what's there well below AF failure. Really, it needs to be close to candlelight (to light the room) before you couldn't see the image in the viewfinder. I've wondered why so much is said about it because I have no problem indoors. Outdoors at night without lights you can't see anything.

Bob
 
I have not had problem either, in normal low light situations. But at 'very' low light, like just a tv set illuminating a room, I do find it very difficult to get the unit to focus. The poster was specifically stating low llight and night time use, I honestly do not think the s602 is a good camera in that respect, and not suitable if that is to be the main/primary use of this camera. A contrasting, clear vertical line is not always avaialbe for focus. The AF assist lamp on the Sony indoors will definately alleviate any problems in that regard, and the IR modes of the unit are quite impressive as well. I don't know what the poster's primiary purpose(s) are. Maybe he just meant to inquire about this for occasional use, at that point maybe some of the s602's features make this a very suitable camera for him, despite it's low lite abilities.

-Chris
photobob said:
I don't think the Sony is going to focus on stars better than the
602 unless you can set it to infinity easily. I sometimes use
lights a mile or so away to manually focus on for infinity. It
takes patience. Also there's the possibility that you can turn the
focus ring past infinity where you no longer hear any adjustment
ticks, and then turn back a certain amount. Count the ticks after
trying in daylight? I don't know how you'll determine how much to
turn back to get it to infinity from the slight ways beyond that
its limit goes to.

As for lamp light indoors, I have no trouble using the autofocus so
long as I point the AF bracket at something with contrast and
vertical lines that aren't fuzzy. And you can see what's there well
below AF failure. Really, it needs to be close to candlelight (to
light the room) before you couldn't see the image in the
viewfinder. I've wondered why so much is said about it because I
have no problem indoors. Outdoors at night without lights you can't
see anything.

Bob
Click to expand...
 
my camera usage will be mostly family stuff inside my house. there will be plenty of daytime stuff but lots of things happen at night after daddy gets home from work so we end up taking lost of pics at night in the house and most of my living room lights are on. i take LOTS of daytime outdoor pics as well though so inside at night wont be my primary or only use. so, yes i was asking about this for occassional might time use.

i do have a goal to get that big low hanging moon shot so i do want to make sure ill be able to do that with whatever camera i buy. i did look at the sony but im not 100% comfortable with the laser light thingy nor the size of the baby. she sure is sweet though but i just cant pull off carrying that around all the time.

my other choices are the nikon 5700 (out of my price range) and the minolta 7i (but i keep coming back to the s602.)

as for the contrasting vertical line, can i carry in my bag a sheet of white paper with a big black line of it then hold that in front of my camera to get it to focus? is that too simple? will it work? thanks all for your input so far!

-betsy AKA digiMOM (this poster is a she!) :o)
WmAx said:
-Chris
WmAx said:
I don't think the Sony is going to focus on stars better than the
602 unless you can set it to infinity easily. I sometimes use
lights a mile or so away to manually focus on for infinity. It
takes patience. Also there's the possibility that you can turn the
focus ring past infinity where you no longer hear any adjustment
ticks, and then turn back a certain amount. Count the ticks after
trying in daylight? I don't know how you'll determine how much to
turn back to get it to infinity from the slight ways beyond that
its limit goes to.

As for lamp light indoors, I have no trouble using the autofocus so
long as I point the AF bracket at something with contrast and
vertical lines that aren't fuzzy. And you can see what's there well
below AF failure. Really, it needs to be close to candlelight (to
light the room) before you couldn't see the image in the
viewfinder. I've wondered why so much is said about it because I
have no problem indoors. Outdoors at night without lights you can't
see anything.

Bob
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
digimom said:
my other choices are the nikon 5700 (out of my price range) and the
minolta 7i (but i keep coming back to the s602.)

as for the contrasting vertical line, can i carry in my bag a sheet
of white paper with a big black line of it then hold that in front
of my camera to get it to focus? is that too simple? will it
work? thanks all for your input so far!
Click to expand...
DigiMom,

If you are concerned about the S602's ability to get a focus lock in the dark, you REALLY do NOT want the Nikon Coolpix 5700. The 5700 is a good camera, but it has an even harder time getting objects in focus in low light situations.

The Minolta 7 series is nice, but I haven't noticed a huge difference between the 7's and the S602 in terms of the ability to get focus lock in low light.

For the most part, the S602 is a very good camera, even in dark environments ... you just might not be able to get focus quickly in the dark ... so you might miss a shot or two if you're photographing moving subjects.

The Sonys are nice, but like you said, the laser hologram AF-assist is as much of a pain as it is anything else. It will help get your shot in focus, but it will also ruin candid shots as the subjects will be startled by the laser hologram an instant before you take the picture.

Long story short, the S602 is still a very good camera. That said, if you know you're going to do a ton of dark shots (and when I say dark I mean candlelight or just one weak lightbulb across the room) you really need to stick with a 35mm SLR or invest in a DSLR.

The reasons are numerous and complex, but digicams have a much harder time with AF than 35mm SLRs and DSLRs. That's just the way the technology is.

If, however, you are just talking about a lot of shots in average indoor lighting environments, you don't have anything to worry about with the S602. Just before I wrote this I did a test with my Fuji 4900 (older version of S602 with essentially the same AF system ... regardless of what others tell you). My 4900 was able to get a focus lock on 100 percent of the indoor shots I attempted to take. Keep in mind that each room I was in had at least one light on and no light coming from windows. Clearly, the S602 can get the job done indoors ... as long as you have reasonable light.
 
Certainly not totally worthless, that's for sure.
The problem is always low contrast not low light.

You shouldn't have any trouble getting lock on the moon for example, if the sky around is dark and not polutted from town lights or similar.

You can easily get lock on the faint glow of the numbers on the face of a digital clock in pitch darkness,no problem. High contrast but almost 0 lux.

Similarly, a dim TV set in low light or a dingy 40 watt bulb won't give you any problems if the rest of the room is dark.

Anytime you've got a strong difference between light and dark and where you're producing strong shadows you won't have any problems.

A room evenly lit at each end by two dim ceiling lights might give problems for example, so the solution is to switch one of them off. (Think out of the box)
Where I get problems is in even, low, diffuse light.
Something like a fairly dim overhead flourescent unit.

Or diffuse cold winter's light through net curtains at a window in the late afternoon.

As to seeing through the EVF, I think problems with that are greatly exaggerated. I have never found that to be worse in low light than my old SLR.

According to test figures however the best low light performance is from the Sony 7x7 series and the Minolta D7 series. Both of these will perform in almost 0% contrast and that goes for the 7x7 without the hologram switched on.
regards
Ian
 
digimom said:
as for the contrasting vertical line, can i carry in my bag a sheet
of white paper with a big black line of it then hold that in front
of my camera to get it to focus? is that too simple? will it
work? thanks all for your input so far!

-betsy AKA digiMOM (this poster is a she!) :o)
Click to expand...
Hi,

I have had this camera for almost a year and have taken around 1000 pictures and videos. I have had no problems with indoor, lowlight pictures. If I don't use the zoom, the pic comes out perfectly clear even if it is pitch black in the room (I was just testing the camera out) and the camera says it's not focused. Of course, in pitch black you cannot see anything through the viewfinder but how often would the room be that dark. In low lighting indoors I have not had any problem seeing through the viewfinder. Overall, I think the S602 does a great job indoors with flash in low light.

Kim
 
digimom said:
is the s602 totally worthless for taking pics in the dark at night?

for nighttime indoor shots id use the built in flash but im worried
that i wont be able to frame my pic cuz i wont be able to see it in
either the evf or the lcd. my last digicam had an optical vf & i
LOVED that i could use it to frame my nighttime indoor shots with
minimal light.

for nighttime outdoor shots, im primarily looking to capture the
big fat moon hanging low in the sky. of course ill use a tripod
and will check for proper camera settings but again my concern is
not being able to see thru the evf to properly frame my pic.

im seriously considering the s602 but am wondering if this camera
can even do such pics decently. ive been reading thru this forum
for a few days and i see that low light focusing is an issue with
lots of cams but this one in particular has trouble in these
situations. is it true? can it be done? i dont mind 'some' post
processing but i wanna spend more time taking pics that look right
from the get go and less time sitting at the computer trying to
make them look right.

any info greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
The Fuji usually has no problem getting focus lock on the moon provided the air is not super hazy. Here's an example:

http://www3.photosig.com/viewphoto.php?id=875083

Bob
 
This may seem sort of off-topic, but not really. I've found that the built-in flash on the 602 gives me consistently underexposed images of my subjects, even at distances less than 10 feet and especially at distances greater than 10 feet. Not all were this way (especially within 10 feet), but I got so tired of having to brighten indoor shots on Photoshop (even after I adjusted the flash compensation to maximum level) that I finally gave in and bought an external flash (Vivitar 283, used, $100 CDN).

Having an external flash has TOTALLY revitalized my desire to take indoor shots. Before this, I was quite dissatisfied with the 602's built-in flash capability. So, just a caution about the 602's rather wimpy flash.

As a comparison, a friend of mine has one of those little 2M digital Canon Elphs, and his built-in flash is remarkable when compared to the 602's. Why???

But I'd like to ask those who read this: How do you feel about the 602's built-in flash? Is my story unusual? Do you think maybe my flash could be defective?
digimom said:
is the s602 totally worthless for taking pics in the dark at night?

for nighttime indoor shots id use the built in flash but im worried
that i wont be able to frame my pic cuz i wont be able to see it in
either the evf or the lcd. my last digicam had an optical vf & i
LOVED that i could use it to frame my nighttime indoor shots with
minimal light.

for nighttime outdoor shots, im primarily looking to capture the
big fat moon hanging low in the sky. of course ill use a tripod
and will check for proper camera settings but again my concern is
not being able to see thru the evf to properly frame my pic.

im seriously considering the s602 but am wondering if this camera
can even do such pics decently. ive been reading thru this forum
for a few days and i see that low light focusing is an issue with
lots of cams but this one in particular has trouble in these
situations. is it true? can it be done? i dont mind 'some' post
processing but i wanna spend more time taking pics that look right
from the get go and less time sitting at the computer trying to
make them look right.

any info greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
--
djmitch
Fuji S602Z
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
 
Well now that was proof wasn't it?!! :) Good shot of the moon photobob.
photobob said:
digimom said:
is the s602 totally worthless for taking pics in the dark at night?

for nighttime indoor shots id use the built in flash but im worried
that i wont be able to frame my pic cuz i wont be able to see it in
either the evf or the lcd. my last digicam had an optical vf & i
LOVED that i could use it to frame my nighttime indoor shots with
minimal light.

for nighttime outdoor shots, im primarily looking to capture the
big fat moon hanging low in the sky. of course ill use a tripod
and will check for proper camera settings but again my concern is
not being able to see thru the evf to properly frame my pic.

im seriously considering the s602 but am wondering if this camera
can even do such pics decently. ive been reading thru this forum
for a few days and i see that low light focusing is an issue with
lots of cams but this one in particular has trouble in these
situations. is it true? can it be done? i dont mind 'some' post
processing but i wanna spend more time taking pics that look right
from the get go and less time sitting at the computer trying to
make them look right.

any info greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
The Fuji usually has no problem getting focus lock on the moon
provided the air is not super hazy. Here's an example:

http://www3.photosig.com/viewphoto.php?id=875083

Bob
Click to expand...
 
seeingisbelieving said:
photobob said:
digimom said:
is the s602 totally worthless for taking pics in the dark at night?

for nighttime indoor shots id use the built in flash but im worried
that i wont be able to frame my pic cuz i wont be able to see it in
either the evf or the lcd. my last digicam had an optical vf & i
LOVED that i could use it to frame my nighttime indoor shots with
minimal light.

for nighttime outdoor shots, im primarily looking to capture the
big fat moon hanging low in the sky. of course ill use a tripod
and will check for proper camera settings but again my concern is
not being able to see thru the evf to properly frame my pic.

im seriously considering the s602 but am wondering if this camera
can even do such pics decently. ive been reading thru this forum
for a few days and i see that low light focusing is an issue with
lots of cams but this one in particular has trouble in these
situations. is it true? can it be done? i dont mind 'some' post
processing but i wanna spend more time taking pics that look right
from the get go and less time sitting at the computer trying to
make them look right.

any info greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
The Fuji usually has no problem getting focus lock on the moon
provided the air is not super hazy. Here's an example:

http://www3.photosig.com/viewphoto.php?id=875083

Bob
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
djmitch said:
This may seem sort of off-topic, but not really. I've found that
the built-in flash on the 602 gives me consistently underexposed
images of my subjects, even at distances less than 10 feet and
especially at distances greater than 10 feet. Not all were this
way (especially within 10 feet), but I got so tired of having to
brighten indoor shots on Photoshop (even after I adjusted the flash
compensation to maximum level) that I finally gave in and bought an
external flash (Vivitar 283, used, $100 CDN).

Having an external flash has TOTALLY revitalized my desire to take
indoor shots. Before this, I was quite dissatisfied with the 602's
built-in flash capability. So, just a caution about the 602's
rather wimpy flash.

As a comparison, a friend of mine has one of those little 2M
digital Canon Elphs, and his built-in flash is remarkable when
compared to the 602's. Why???

But I'd like to ask those who read this: How do you feel about the
602's built-in flash? Is my story unusual? Do you think maybe my
flash could be defective?

--
djmitch
Fuji S602Z
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Click to expand...
The 602's flash sensor is rather wide angle. Light colored objects in its view could reduce output, even though not showing in the frame. And holding the lens barrel with fingers near or on the top can reflect back at it and reduce output. I've used that to advantage in macro shots to prevent overexposure.

Bob
 
djmitch said:
This may seem sort of off-topic, but not really. I've found that
the built-in flash on the 602 gives me consistently underexposed
images of my subjects, even at distances less than 10 feet and
especially at distances greater than 10 feet. Not all were this
way (especially within 10 feet), but I got so tired of having to
brighten indoor shots on Photoshop (even after I adjusted the flash
compensation to maximum level) that I finally gave in and bought an
external flash (Vivitar 283, used, $100 CDN).

Having an external flash has TOTALLY revitalized my desire to take
indoor shots. Before this, I was quite dissatisfied with the 602's
built-in flash capability. So, just a caution about the 602's
rather wimpy flash.

As a comparison, a friend of mine has one of those little 2M
digital Canon Elphs, and his built-in flash is remarkable when
compared to the 602's. Why???

But I'd like to ask those who read this: How do you feel about the
602's built-in flash? Is my story unusual? Do you think maybe my
flash could be defective?
Click to expand...
Also, the images look fine on-camera (i.e. well exposed), but once I download them and view them on my computer, they often look darker than on the camera. Have I set my camera's LCD too bright or is there something wrong with how I've set up my computer monitor?

--
djmitch
Fuji S602Z
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
 
djmitch said:
Also, the images look fine on-camera (i.e. well exposed), but once
I download them and view them on my computer, they often look
darker than on the camera. Have I set my camera's LCD too bright
or is there something wrong with how I've set up my computer
monitor?

--
djmitch
Fuji S602Z
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Click to expand...
how do they look printed out? could just be your monitor settings. -betsy
 
photobob said:
The Fuji usually has no problem getting focus lock on the moon
provided the air is not super hazy. Here's an example:

http://www3.photosig.com/viewphoto.php?id=875083

Bob
Click to expand...
ahhh! now thats what im talking about. fabulous shot! :o) i live on a mountain and its fairly wooded so mines gonna look just like that 'cept i'll have a tree branch silhouetted in my foreground. but your moon, bob - is FABULOUS! :o)
 
After these specfications of your use, then the s602 should be fully adequate for your purposes IMO. Though, i do recommend an external flash for any digicam with hotshoe attachment, and use a flash with swivel and tilt so you canbounce, and preferably use a diffuser dome on it as well, to get even, reltively soft lit scenes indoors in action shots(parties, family gatherings etc.). The built in flashes are quite useless, unless you are happy with the typical spot lite-like harsh lighting associated with them.

-Chris
digimom said:
i do have a goal to get that big low hanging moon shot so i do want
to make sure ill be able to do that with whatever camera i buy. i
did look at the sony but im not 100% comfortable with the laser
light thingy nor the size of the baby. she sure is sweet though
but i just cant pull off carrying that around all the time.

my other choices are the nikon 5700 (out of my price range) and the
minolta 7i (but i keep coming back to the s602.)

as for the contrasting vertical line, can i carry in my bag a sheet
of white paper with a big black line of it then hold that in front
of my camera to get it to focus? is that too simple? will it
work? thanks all for your input so far!

-betsy AKA digiMOM (this poster is a she!) :o)
WmAx said:
-Chris
digimom said:
I don't think the Sony is going to focus on stars better than the
602 unless you can set it to infinity easily. I sometimes use
lights a mile or so away to manually focus on for infinity. It
takes patience. Also there's the possibility that you can turn the
focus ring past infinity where you no longer hear any adjustment
ticks, and then turn back a certain amount. Count the ticks after
trying in daylight? I don't know how you'll determine how much to
turn back to get it to infinity from the slight ways beyond that
its limit goes to.

As for lamp light indoors, I have no trouble using the autofocus so
long as I point the AF bracket at something with contrast and
vertical lines that aren't fuzzy. And you can see what's there well
below AF failure. Really, it needs to be close to candlelight (to
light the room) before you couldn't see the image in the
viewfinder. I've wondered why so much is said about it because I
have no problem indoors. Outdoors at night without lights you can't
see anything.

Bob
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digimom said:
djmitch said:
Also, the images look fine on-camera (i.e. well exposed), but once
I download them and view them on my computer, they often look
darker than on the camera. Have I set my camera's LCD too bright
or is there something wrong with how I've set up my computer
monitor?

--
djmitch
Fuji S602Z
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Click to expand...
how do they look printed out? could just be your monitor settings.
-betsy
Click to expand...
--

I have taken quite a few indoor shots with the flash. Some while inside our deerhunting cabin and the flash drive was very good even in the lowlight conditions.

Jim
 
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