Panasonic Lumix DMC-S3 low light

[qwertyjjj]

Panasonic Lumix DMC-S3
I understand this has bad low light pictures? Is there anything of a comparable budget price that is better?
I want a cheap but good Point n shoot to complement a small dSLR like the Olympus E240

 

[usayit]

Define cheap.... (everyone has their own idea of cheap)

Part of the limitation of cheaper P&S cameras is rooted in the small sensor they use. Why not just use the E240 in low light?

 

[brunerww]

Hi qwertyjjj - you might want to try the Canon A4000IS - 16MP, 8x zoom & 720p video for about a hundred bucks.

Here is what it can do: Flickr: The Canon PowerShot A4000 IS Pool

Cheers,

Bill

 

[fjrabon]

Woah, so first you're looking for a point and shoot with shallow depth of field, and now you want good low light performance. And to top it off, you want cheap?

Point and shoots are bad at two things: shallow DoF and low light. You can buy the best point and shoots in the world (for my money the Lumix LX7 and Canon S100) and they're still pretty bad at those two things.

If you're going to shoot a point and shoot in low light, two things help: flash and good noise reduction software. This is where I like the Lumix LX series, because they have a hot shoe, allowing you to use a speedlight. But then again, using a speed light on a point and shoot kind of defeats the purpose. Noise reduction software is thus your only real option.

Bottom line, what you're asking for is simply impossible at this time with our current technology. Despite what you may think, the biggest reasons why people lug around huge dSLRs instead of point and shoots isn't to look professional, it's exactly more control over DoF and better low light performance (and other things too, but those two are primary).

If you don't need shallow DoF and you have great lighting, even a camera phone can take stunning photos.